"Darren New" <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote in message 
news:4b5aa2ed$1@news.povray.org...
> Captain Jack wrote:
>> I've always been a big fan of the "seven basic plots" idea.
>
> Which of those would The Dark Knight fall under, I wonder.
>

The idea of there being a basic number of plots for story telling predates 
motion pictures, by a long shot. Script writing for (American) film is 
usually done under the "three act" formula, where characters are introduced, 
a problem is introduced, the protagonist goes on a quest, there is a trial 
by fire, there is a redemption, the hero wins and learns something, and 
there is an epilogue. The plot is often subjugated to this, because 
formulaic scripts get the money, so the plot will be twisted a lot.

Around the nineteenth century or so, it became popular in western literature 
to have parallel stories, where the same basic plot happens in the story at 
the same time, on different scales. This has carried over into modern film 
making, which complicates the issue.

Add to that, with Dark Knight you're talking about a "franchise" series, so 
the main character isn't really allowed to change. Change in the main 
character is essential to traditional story telling, so, again, the plot has 
to be twisted.

More to the core, though, Batman stories in general are not about 
good-versus-evil or boy-meets-girl, which are the classic story elements of 
western literature. They are more about the conflict inherent between 
Jungian archetypes, down below the goofy tech and the glitzy special 
effects. It has much more to do with Greek tales of Zeus defeating the 
Titans than it does with the concerns of us mere mortals. It sells because 
we all want to see the bad guys go down in as spectacular a way as possible, 
but that's not really what it's about. Batman is about angst and anger and 
happiness and depression and despair; this body of work is, at its heart, 
more allegory or tone poem than it is plotted stories.

--
Jack

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