More Allegories, PLEASE

Did you know that, if you think about it, the new Batman movie is actually the perfect Batman movie for 2008? Because the Joker is a terrorist and Harvey Dent is Obama. Batman is traditional notions of America because he teaches us that black-and-white two-dimensional superheroes don't really exist anymore, and that sometimes the best we can hope for is the illusion of justice. The Batmobile is Darfur, and Michael Cain is the Internet. Heath Ledger is Industry and Maggie Gyllenhaal is melty pig face Hilary Clinton. Morgan Freeman is either God or Nelson Mandela with moles. The rest of the cast is the cast of How I Met Your Mother. I don't know what the caged bird is.

Anyway, a lot of people think that this is just some stupid blow-em-up action movie based on a cartoon like what babies watch, but it's actually almost as highly intelligent as reading while listening to Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. You can tell because the plot sounds like what your friends say when they say what Noam Chomsky says.

Interestingly, every preview before the Batman movie -- save James Bond which needs to get in my face already -- is also a self-conscious allegory of the contemporary condition. As predicted by this very blog years ago, the world is getting so much smarter. And, thankfully, it's rubbing our face in it, like all the best smart things.