July 18, 2008

Does Dana Stevens actually watch the movies she reviews?

By: Sonny Bunch

First there was her assertion that Knocked Up features “nonexistence of abortion as an option,” which was, on its face, an absurd notion. Then this, on The Dark Knight:

In short, Chris Nolan does more nuanced thinking about the war on terror than we’ve seen from the Bush administration in seven years. And despite a falsely heroic closing speech from Gary Oldman’s character, police Lt. Jim Gordon, the movie seems to arrive at much the same conclusion about Batman as Americans have about Bush: Thanks to this guy, we’re well and thoroughly screwed.

Leaving aside the asinine, obligatory Bush-bashing (he’s a dunce! I’m so morally superior!), the last sentence is, simply, wrong. That’s not at all the conclusion reached by Jim Gordon or the movie. I don’t want to spoil the ending, but that’s not at all how the movie wraps up. It ends with a moment of monumental self-sacrifice, a moment that defines Batman as both the hero Gotham City wants and needs.

This is what happens when you let politics trump your critical faculties. It’s why I hate it when conservatives get self-righteous about the little things in movies (demonizing pollution in Wall*E, excessive cursing in Hancock, etc.)…because then we start sounding like Dana Stevens. And nobody wants that.