Is George W. Bush Batman?

Forget Bruce Wayne. I think Dubya is actually the Caped Crusader. In her excellent review of “The Dark Knight” the latest in the Batman franchise, Slate scribe Dana Stevens writes, “[T]he 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 ...

593900_080719_batman5.jpg
593900_080719_batman5.jpg

Forget Bruce Wayne. I think Dubya is actually the Caped Crusader. In her excellent review of "The Dark Knight" the latest in the Batman franchise, Slate scribe Dana Stevens writes, "[T]he 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."

Forget Bruce Wayne. I think Dubya is actually the Caped Crusader. In her excellent review of “The Dark Knight” the latest in the Batman franchise, Slate scribe Dana Stevens writes, “[T]he 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.”

Stevens does a great job of deconstructing the copious references to the war on terror in the film, but I feel a need to explore her point about Bush at little bit more carefully.

Warning! There may be a few mild spoilers here:

Batman
Dubya
Lives in an enormous mansion attached to a vast secret underground complex
Yes
Yes
His Arch nemesis is _____ whose goal is to ______.
The Joker; “burn down the world”
Al Gore; warn the world about global warming
His parents were:
Killed by a small-time criminal.
Threatened by a small-time dictator.
Commits himself to an aggressive plan to rid the world of evildoers.
Yep
Check
But his plan subsequently backfires, making him extremely unpopular.
Yep
Yep
When innocents are killed, as a result of his actions, he:
Broods, considers hanging up his cowl
Quits playing golf
Builds a massive surveillance network, which upsets his most loyal employees.
Yep
Yep

 

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