To Bat or not to Bat: That is the Dissonance

Cognitive Dissonance in Batman

I know, I'm writing another blog about Batman, but he was my favorite superhero growing up and remains so today because of the depth of his character and the other characters involved in his universe. This week, I want to apply a communication theory called Cognitive Dissonance to The Dark Knight. First, I'll give a brief description of the theory, its major components, and how it works. Then, I'll give a brief synopsis of the film, followed by my application of cognitive dissonance to Batman to examine the dissonance he experiences and how it affects and shapes his character. Firstly, I'll sum up the major points of the theory.

Cognitive Dissonance is a theory first developed by a man named Leon Festinger in 1957. Festinger was a social psychologist who first coined the term "cognitive dissonance" while documenting UFO cults and their beliefs. The theory documents an evasive technique done in our cognitive thought process. Cognitive Dissonance attempts to explain why we avoid viewpoints different or in opposition to our own, why we seek reaffirmation after making a difficult decision, and why we often change our beliefs to match popular behavior when our beliefs are no longer justified. In short, the theory seeks to explain what happens when our beliefs collide with others and we find ourselves with conflicting goals. More detail on Cognitive Dissonance can be found here and here.

Now that we have a grip on the theory, I'll sum up the film. The film picks up roughly one year after the events of Batman Begins. Commissioner Gordon and Batman have been working together, systematically rounding up and imprisoning the criminals in Gotham City. With the help of a new District Attorney named Harvey Dent, they even manage to bring in the infamous, notorious, and powerful Falcone mob. Seeing the success that Dent has had in putting away these criminals, Bruce Wayne begins to hope that he may never have to become Batman again and that Dent may be the hero Gotham really needs. However, just as Wayne is beginning to think this, a new and sadistic criminal mastermind begins to usher in a wave of chaos. He is The Joker. Batman's struggle against the Joker becomes complex and deeply personal, forcing Wayne to come to face to face with his idealistic beliefs and his pragmatic behavior, with what he wants to do and with what he must do. More detail on the plot of the film can be found here.

Now I'll begin to apply Cognitive Dissonance to the film. Almost immediately in the film, Wayne encounters an example of cognitive dissonance. In one of the first scenes, an illegal deal is being done between the Russian Mob and the Scarecrow, who you might remember as the antagonist from Batman Begins. Batman quickly appears on the scene -- or so it would seem. There are several Batmans, each wielding a gun. The Scarecrow remarks that none of them could be the real Batman because the real Batman would never use a gun. Shortly after, the real Batman arrives, bashes the bad guys and the Batman wannabes, and ties them up for the police. As Batman leaves, one of the bound wannabes calls out to him, "What gives you the right? What's the difference between you and me?" Cynically, Batman responds, "I'm not wearing hockey pads!"

This is never what Batman wanted for Gotham. He wanted to paralyze the criminals in Gotham with fear, not encourage and inspire other citizens to take up his banner of vigilante justice. When the wannabe calls out to Batman and asks him what the difference is between them that allows Batman to fight crime, but not the wannabe, Batman's beliefs are challenged. The wannabe believes that there isn't or shouldn't be a difference between him and Batman, that anyone can do what Batman does. This is not at all what Batman's belief is. In that moment, Batman feels the tension of a Cognitive Dissonance between his belief, that he and he alone must defend Gotham, and the wannabes' belief, that anyone and everyone can defend Gotham in the same way. Batman absolves this tension by quickly retreating to the Batmobile, retreating from the conflicting, challenging idea, and insulting the wannabes as he goes.

A reoccurring theme in the film is how the opposite of what Batman wants to do is what he needs to do. He experiences a sort of Cognitive Dissonance here because of his own, internal and conflicting goals. He knows what he needs to do, what he must do. Yet what he wants to do is quite the opposite, and this produces a cognitive tension. In the final scenes, Batman chooses to take responsibility for the murders committed by Two-Face (a revenge-stricken and deranged Harvey Dent) so as to protect Dent's heroic memory. Dent couldn't do those things and continue to be a hero.

In a dialogue between Batman and Commissioner Gordon, Batman brings this very thing up, saying, "I can do those things because I'm not a hero, not like Dent. I killed those people. That's what I can be."
Gordon says, "No, you can't! You're not!"
Batman responds, "I'm whatever Gotham needs me to be," and the scene cuts away. When it cuts back, Gordon's son has joined Commissioner Gordon as they watch Batman run away into the darkness. Gordon's son says, "Batman? Why's he running, Dad?"
Gordon says, "Because we have to chase him."
Gordon's son replies, "But he didn't do anything wrong."
Gordon explains, "Because he's the hero Gotham deserves. But not the one it needs right now. And so we'll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent gaurdian. A watchful protector. A dark knight."

Batman didn't want to take responsibility for those murders, but he knew he had to take that responsibility. Batman wants more than anything to fix Gotham, to establish peace in Gotham, to improve and change Gotham just as his father had envisioned, but he realizes now that he isn't the one who can do that. Ironically, in doing what he didn't want to do in taking responsibility for the horrible murders that Two-Face committed, he accomplished what he originally wanted to, becoming a figure to be feared. He becomes a figure that Gotham sees will stop at nothing to get things done. Though Batman wants to be the idealistic hero and savior of Gotham, that isn't what Gotham needs him to be. Gotham needs him to be the fearsome, dark, and brooding figure he really is. Gotham needs him to be the Dark Knight.

Works Cited

1. "IMDb - The Dark Knight (2008)." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 28 Nov. 2011. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/>.
2. "Theory Resources—A First Look at Communication Theory." The Book—A First Look at Communication Theory. Web. 28 Nov. 2011. <http://www.afirstlook.com/edition_8/theory_resources/Cognitive_Dissonance>.