The Dent Act

[Fudgie]

More for the Batlobster;

The film would also have you believe that Dent's death allowed for the creation of a piece of fantasy legislation that somehow ended up cleaning up Gotham City. Even if you can accept that vague plot device, the passing of the Harvey Dent Act does not mean that a) crime was eradicated and b) that Batman would stop doing what he's doing. If anything, the problem in the last two films was that Gotham's police department was corrupt, and that's why a) people like Jim Gordon were so valuable and b) Batman had to work outside the law to get justice for the people of Gotham.

http://roninonempty.blogspot.ie/2012...ises-2012.html

Meanwhile, the government has enacted “The Harvey Dent Act”, a McGuffin whose sole purpose is to tie this movie to its antecedent. We’re never really told what the act does or how it does it.

http://jonqpublic.com/reviews/review...-knight-rises/

I can post more? Plenty of them out there.

[BatLobsterRises]

^ Fair enough, I hadn't read that article. But that first review seems to be doubting the potency of Harvey Dent as a DA and public figure moreso than questioning how the legislation would work, which is what we've been debating. For poor reason too. Dent was firmly established as a hero in TDK. Even though Lau's retrieval was shady, Dent was still the face of the prosecution and the guy who put his ass on the line by fearlessly prosecuting 500+ mobsters.

If one doesn't like the Dent Act, fine. But if they don't buy Dent as a "JFK" type figure then that's a problem leveled at TDK, because IMO that film firmly established him as that type of guy.

As for the second article- that is more in line with what you guys are saying. Your point has been made, so no need to post more articles (unless of course you want to). I stand corrected on the issue of this not being among the issues bloggers took with the film. It seems it is more polarizing an issue than I gave it credit for. The plot thickens.

Also, that third quote you added continues:

In fact, after the first fifteen minutes it’s never mentioned again.

Which is of course wrong. Just calling the guy out, not you Fudgie.

[Baramos]

I see the Dent Act as allegory for the various "Zero Tolerance" laws instituted about the country, with possibly some parts of the Patriot Act sprinkled in.

Zero Tolerance for the mandatory minimum sentences and no parole for violent crimes. I'm assuming it has some Patriot Act things like allowing the police to more easily get wiretaps, search warrants, etc.

[BatLobsterRises]

I think the "Zero Tolerance" comparison is very apt. Here's a little wiki excerpt on the subject that seems especially interesting in light of TDKR:

According to scholars, zero tolerance is the concept of giving carte blanche to the police for the inflexible repression of minor offenses, homeless people and the disorders associated with them. A well known criticism to this approach is that it redefines social problems in terms of security, it considers the poor as criminals, and it reduces crimes to only "street crimes", those committed by lower social classes, excluding white-collar crimes.

I definitely think TDKR was going for some of that "police state" vibe, where the new policies have helped clean the city but are also very repressive.

As far as the Patriot Act allusion, TDK certainly had "surveillance" themes going on with the sonar machine, which was even stated to be a government project. So the series had already established a light sci-fi setting wherein there are more advanced surveillance techniques in existence, as well as the themes associated with it. It's definitely become a common theme for Jonah Nolan too, considering the entire premise for his show Person of Interest is based around the idea. It's not essential to consider in relation to the Dent Act, but it makes sense and is good food for thought.

[spanky_jones]

Im writing about the Dent Act in my Intro to Prisons class. any info or ideas on it is very helpful.

[Mr. Wooden Alligator]

Well, Spanky, the Dent Act allowed Bruce to hang up the cowl. Therefore the Dent Act gave the police the jurisdiction to weed out the rest of the mob in a Batman-like fashion, using the Batman's vigilante style of justice.

[babbage]

Originally Posted by Fudgie

http://www.quora.com/The-Dark-Knight...k-Knight-Rises

Besides points 1, 2, 19, 45, 50a and 51, that pathetically-long list is one of the most obtuse things I've read in a while. Shameful.