“The Dark Knight,” a movie directed and produced by Christopher Nolan, depicts the way a system of justice deals with terrorism. If an archetype is defined as a symbol that exists instinctively in the collective consciousness of the human race, the terrorism in Batman The Dark Knight represents an archetype through the violence, murder of the innocent, mayhem and mass destruction. Governments often lay down laws and procedures for a country to function, and to avoid anarchy. The laws promote wellness, equality, and justice, but sometimes even these entities of justice are forced to break the law for a greater good. In contemporary U.S. history, President Barack Obama, the head of one of the most powerful countries in the world, decided to introduce a select team of individuals into Pakistan, in an illegal manner, in order to kill Osama bin Laden, the head of an international Islamic terrorist group known as al-Qaeda. In the movie these two sides of justice are represented by two “knights.” On one side, Batman, who is constantly referred to as the dark knight and on the other Harvey Dent, who is referred to as the white knight. The words “white” and “dark” have two specific connotations, one which brings to mind the concept of light, an archetype that symbolizes purity, justice, hope, and clarity. The other invokes into mind the concept of darkness, an archetype which embodies fear, ignorance, despair, and the unknown. The use of this archetypical antithesis throughout the whole movie is an allusion to the two sides of justice: the “white side” and the “dark side.” Terrorism is represented by the criminal mastermind known as “The Joker,” a cynical clown that is very similar to Islamic terrorists, an archetype of the devil figure. The most prevalent real life terrorist in current world news is Osama bin Laden, the head of al Qaeda. He plans and orders attacks onto specific targets through suicide bombings, representing the notion…
