Does "The Batman" have a political agenda?

 As I was leaving the theatre, I felt like there was some kind of angle that was trying to be pushed onto the viewers.

This feeling of either sadness or realisation of the kind of world we live in washed over me as I came to notice what director Matt Reeves was doing to show off that even in the fictional city of Gotham the corruption and lies can easily show up anywhere around the world and affect everyone.

Looking at it like this shows that while Gotham is indeed very corrupt and has many social and economic issues one of the messages that seems to be trying to be put forward is that billionaires can work for the people as well as making sure corruption goes away. This message is shown mostly in the climax of the movie when Batman helps those trapped under rubble trying to show he can be a beacon of hope and change for the people.

While going through reddit to find out what other people thought of the movie I asked a few questions to people on what they thought of it and if they think it has a political agenda in any way. They all had the same opinion, meaning they thought that while the movie was very good, they weren’t impressed with the weak political tone the movie takes and how it is eerily similar to the Qanon conspiracies of current time. “If they wanted to make sure the audience was paying attention, they didn’t need to clumsily add in a plot about The Riddler having people idolise him on social media to the point they participate in a terrorist attack on Gotham.”

Another person who wished to remain anonymous also thought it was a bit weak to add in the terrorist attack just to drum up a final act. They went on to say, “Since it was in the trailer, I guess they had to show the destruction of the ports and other less sturdy foundations, but it still seems a bit contrived for it all to work.” Other people agreed with this point because it makes sense to those who have watched the movie, The Riddler’s plan could have easily backfired if anyone checked the docks and saw the trucks parked.

The last person that I interviewed had a different opinion to those other people, they thought that it was actually a good thing to include because it makes it feel like our world could exist at the same time as the movie because of the similarities that they both have. They went onto say “while many people don’t think it’s a good idea to do something similar that is currently ongoing the script was written in 2017 so it isnt a complete copy of current events but I can see why some would think so.” In the end I think it’s quite clear that while the intention wasn’t as obvious “The Batman” does still have quite a heavy-handed political agenda leaning more towards the left than the right, especially with the ending painting Batman as the hero the people deserve and should look up to because he will work and help for the people.

Article used for reference here

How Charlie Brooker presents his work

 In this piece I will look at the works of a feature writer and discuss the things that stand out and are interesting and also the things that are an annoyance.

Charlie Brooker uses his style of writing in a way that makes the audience agree with his opinion, he does this by his use of persuasive language and an informal tone to show his views. I think he does this to show how he is a completely different writer than most and is willing to go the extra mile to have his work stand out and get people talking. Brooker obviously writes to get a strong reaction from his readers by showing that they could be being manipulated or lied to. I feel like his style is the main reason many satirical news sites or news pieces are getting really popular in recent years, and I also think the ways in which news is presented is also due to the way that Mr Broker presented his work in the mid 2000’s.

In this article that I found (“Don’t judge me, but I love sniping games”) Charlie describes his love of sniper-based videogames, particularly Sniper Ghost Warrior 2 and sniper Elite V2. His use of language and writing to convey his words is really interesting yet overly simplistic enough for people who are not necessarily fans of videogames would understand what he means when explaining the core mechanics. For example, he mentions how in Sniper Elite V2 you are often rewarded with “astonishing slow-motion sequences depicting your bullet exiting the barrel… passing through the body of your victim”, now that sounds really harrowing but the way Broker writes about it, it somewhat makes it charming and just a normal conversational piece instead of a horrifying part of the game.

Another thing that gets me interested in Charlie Broker’s words is how once again when describing a crucial part of the mechanics of being a sniper is that the game has a shocking amount of detail of the inner organs. “It actually shows specific internal organs being ruptured in graphic detail, so you know whether you’ve hit them in the lung, liver or the kidney”. This shows me that while Charlie Broker is clearly a fan of the game he is also somewhat disturbed by the level of detail on the internal organs, he also mentions that you can make the enemy’s testicles explode “like a pair of microwaved eggs” showing his colourful use of language. (With this piece about sniping games, Charlie Broker ended up being a pre-order bonus for Sniper Elite 3 being one of Hitler’s commanders).

This piece about sniping video games is really interesting mainly with the use of words and how things are described in detail but also explained really simply. It really stands out from when I have been reading other articles and news pieces about sniping games because those writers only talk about the game, how it plays and what they think of it rarely do they go into detail and add little anecdotes like Charlie Broker does throughout this piece making it immediately stand out and be different. This writing style is the main reason why I enjoy Charlie’s work and am always interested in the new ways that he uses his own experiences when playing games especially when he goes on a big long winded way of saying how much more impactful and gruesome the kills should be in Sniper Elite 3 “after an even more explicit close-up of the bullet boring a path through some Nazi intestine, the camera hurtles to the other side of the world and shows his sweetheart’s expression” he then goes onto say in the next paragraph “At this point it’s probably worth stating that in real life I’m so squeamish I have to close my eyes while browning mince” shows a complete contradiction of what he is like when playing these sniping games.

In this second article that I found (“Forget those creative writing workshops. If you want to write, get threatened”) Charlie Broker writes about how he seems to have struggles of his own when trying to get ideas for writing articles and how to make these articles make sense. His very honest tone with this piece definitely makes it seem very real and a personal struggle that he goes through when coming up with ideas for stories, “there isn’t much advice I can give them and partly because I suspect they’re actually seeking encouragement rather than practical guidance”.

Another thing that has me interested in this article is how honest Charlie Broker is when giving advice where he does not want to give any because in his words “I’d prefer you to never achieve anything, ever” this shows me that he is sick of giving people advice when they could just write normally and see if it gets seen by anyone or by a group of people that would be interested in the things they talk about. Further in this article Charlie talks about things that many writers go through that being writers block this specifically hits me when writing about how hard it can be “Some days I’ll rapidly thump out an article in a steady gaze, scarcely aware of my own breath. Other times it’s like slowly dragging individual letters of the alphabet from a mire of cold glue.” The language and words used here make this article a lot more interesting to read because it is not boring to read or a slog to get through it is simply compelling to hear about an acclaimed writer go through the same troubles and struggles that I myself have went through when writing and coming up with ideas for a short story.

“Anyway the trick is to teleport yourself into that productive trance-state as quickly as possible, therefore minimising procrastination and maximising output”. This tells me that Charlie Broker is often thinking aloud when wanting to solve some issues like these ones and how well he can get to the point in his work and how much hes wanting to get a hold of being able to concentrate. His colourful use of language also shines through near the end when mentioning how to get good at writing and how well a deadline will work to get people motivated to do writing that will get noticed. “Forget about luck. Don’t fret about talent. Just pay someone larger than you to kick your knees until they fold the wrong way if you don’t hand in 800 words by five o’clock. You’ll be amazed at what comes out”. This is the kind of advice that many people would laugh at and think would be pointless considering it sounds a bit over the top but that’s just the way that Charlie Broker writes using his colourful use of language to show how different he actually is as a journalist.

There are things that I like about these articles mainly the ways that they are written and how well worded they are having some parts comedic effect, more parts serious tone, final part great writing. The few things that I do not like that much about this article is how much time is spent on telling the reader that people should not go seeking advice from prolific writers and just keep writing and eventually they are get better at it. Another thing that I do not like about this article is that the less supportive language is used in the beginning parts while near the end it just mentions actually advice for writers contradicting itself. (But I feel like it was written this way on purpose to get people reading to see if there is any actual advice)

 

 

Bibliography:

Forget Those Creative Writing Workshops. If You Want To Write, Get Threatened. [online] Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/aug/16/charlie-brooker-writing-deadlines> [Accessed 22 December 2020].

Don't Judge Me, But I Love Sniping Games | Charlie Brooker. [online] Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/mar/17/dont-judge-me-i-love-sniping-games> [Accessed 28 December 2020].

Gamergate: The Internet Is The Toughest Game In Town – If You’re Playing As A Woman | Charlie Brooker. [online] Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/20/gamergate-internet-toughest-game-woman-enemies> [Accessed 29 December 2020].

Fast 8 review

Within the first few minutes, Fast 8 features the same things the series is known for illegal street races in huge expansive countries around the world. This time around the race begins in Havana, Cuba, with leading man of the family Dominic Toretto going up against someone his cousin made a deal with (over a car). Dom wins the race after using Cuban NOS, he gives the keys to his Impala to his cousin (after burning up and crashing his cousin’s car). 

Next up a meeting between Cipher and Dom where Cipher tells him to betray his family for one simple cause. (To protect his child). After this the crew go on a journey to find an EMP which results in Dom turning on the crew to deliver it to Cipher. When this happens, The Rock has his truck/tank crashed and flipped over sending him to a secure prison with bad guy Deckard Shaw run by Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russel). 

The crew regroups to think of a plan to get the EMP back from Dom and Cipher including using God’s Eye (a bit of tech the crew use to pinpoint someone’s exact location). After the re-planning section, the crew go to a fish packing plant to find some cars that would be strong and fast enough to track down and control Dom. Then some crazy sht with self-driving cars happens in New York Shaw “dies” then the hackers (Tej and Ramsey) work to retrack down Dom and find out why he’s doing the things he is. 

Then some crazy sht in Russia happens but got too stupid. 

The end.