So, I'll start with where I got confused and why I followed this train of thought to begin with. Ever since we've seen the photographs of the attack on the stock exchange I've been left with this lingering feeling of, "Yeah, but why?"
What could Bane's reasoning behind attacking the stock exchange possibly be? We know he kidnapped Pavel and faked Pavel's death with the blood transfusion machine in prologue, so we've always felt like Bane's major threat to Gotham involved some type of Thermo Nuclear device or a doomsday weapon. We extrapolated this because in some of the documents released during the Prologue event had details regarding Pavel's occupation on them. Granted, I don't have them in front of me now and can't remember exactly what it was he did for employment, but I think I'm close enough to suit my purpose.
If Bane is just going to blow up or decimate Gotham with some doomsday device that Pavel helps him build, then what the hell is the point of attacking the stock exchange? To get at the rich members of society right away? And, I personally think that the attack on the exchange might be one of his first appearances in Gotham altogether. So why start there? It just didn't add up to me, there was something we were missing. We got the missing piece with the Rykin information today.
If you think about it, any stock exchange is almost always the fiscal epicenter of any major metropolis (See also: Wall street). Another thing the stock exchange does, is give you some sort of route to the major financial players in any city - assuming you have a tool to access their records and information. With this new development from Rykin Technologies, I think we know why he attacks the stock exchange.
If he brings his program from Rykin (however he gets it, thats not the point of this post) to the stock exchange and is able to gain access to the financial background, important fiscal documents and accounts for the rich members of Gotham's society, then he can use that technology to wipe their digital fingerprints from any database they might be tucked in. Complete equality at the stroke of a key, perhaps?
Bane has always been marketed as a match for Batman not only in physique but also in mental capacity - and he's been billed as a genius from some reports that we've read (I think!?). Bane understands that destroying Gotham physically is a very temporary solution to a very permanent problem. Eventually, the people with money will find a way to prove they have wealth and the ability to rebuild Gotham - and they'll start the rebuilding process. They could even end up building Gotham back in their image, which to Bane - may be even worse than it originally was before he leveled all of the buildings.
Could this also be the reason construction sites are being vandalized per the newspaper article? To delay the rebuilding inevitably? The idea about the reasoning behind the construction sites being tampered with is a pretty thin line of thought, but I'm going to throw it out there and see what sticks.
He isn't willing to let that rebuilding happen. He needs a solution...something final. Using the Rykin program, he can destroy whatever digital image every citizen of Gotham has - or at least any citizen who has something to lose, that is. We also know that Batman gives chase to a thug on a motorcycle who we believe was present at the stock exchange attack, and that the thug has a computer-esque or tablet device that Batman investigates. Could this be related to the Rykin technology? I'm going to go out on a limb and say probably.
I think the thing that stuck out to me, is that without a digital identity (especially in this decade) members of society essentially stop becoming identifiable people. Think of it, our social security cards, our birth certificates, license plate numbers, registrations, businesses, taxes, homes, etc - everything is stored digitally. While this grants us a relative amount of comfort and convenience, it leaves us extremely vulnerable to this type of attack with Rykin.
I'm going to jump topic briefly and then come back to Rykin and the loss of digital identity - please try to stay with me, I understand this is a bit convoluted.
The film has always been pitched as a 'war' film. The gritty, war torn overtones in pictures and the various trailers have supported this. However, in any war you have two sides. I've constantly thought how is Nolan going to identify sides in his Batman 'war' film? What are they fighting over? Granted, I know that the criminals (for the most part) are going to side with Bane and the police will side with Batman in the final conflict over Gotham's soul, but I think in typical Nolan fashion - there is more at work here than at first there seems to be.
I also started thinking about the reasons we fight wars in general. Typically, we fight over property and rights, land and money, wealth and privelage. Specifically the right to retain that privelage and property or take someone else's that you don't rightfully own or deserve. But all in all, that's a pretty thin logic (even if its accurate) and surely Nolan must have something more interesting for us to bite into than just what shows at face value.
So, if Bane destroys Gotham physically with his doomsday device, and wipes out all of the digital identities of all of the members of Gotham's society - then what do they have left to fight for? Wait for it....
Their ideals.
Nolan's films have dealt in extremes most of the time, or at least shown a very extreme point of view in some variation. In this type of film, I can't help but think that most wealthy human beings identify themselves by what they own, or the cars they drive, or the jobs they have, or the boats they don't need, etc. Conversely, most poor human beings in Nolan's universe probably identify themselves by what they don't have; comfort, shelter, food, basic human amenities. Granted, this could be viewed as accurate for the world a lot of us live in today, but I don't want to label people as Rich or Poor in real life because that's not the way I personally think.
What if you take away everything both the rich and poor use to identify themselves? You take away the buildings, the cars, the homes, the credit cards, the bank account statements, the checkbooks, the financial records, etc. What are folks left with? They're barely even human beings anymore, folks. They stop being men and women, at least not to themselves or anyone around them in the same predicament. All they have left is what they believe in.
If they aren't men and women....they aren't corruptible. They act in accordance with what they believe at a very base human level. They stop being effected by outside influences, they become personifications....or...
.....Symbols. "Ideals, Mr. Wayne."
And I think that's where Nolan is drawing his war movies' battle lines. Bringing it all full circle for us, back to the roots of what drove Bruce to become Batman. Where the people that live in Gotham stop becoming John, or Selina, or Miranda - where they are all just simply a 'citizen of Gotham' standing behind whoever's ideals they find more relatable; Bane's or Batman's.
If Bane uses Rykin on Gotham, he steals it's identity. And Batman, acting as the symbol that he's become - the beacon of hope for the citizens trapped in Gotham to take their city back by force - leads the good people of Gotham against the tyrants who would seek to see it destroyed.
The ultimate battle of Good vs. Evil, with none of the physical and fiscal complications standing in the middle of the battlefield. Just one group who believes in anger, pain and oppression - and another group across from them who believe in each other, and the power to lift each other up into a better place than they sit now.
We're in for a treat. Feel free to make comments, its just where my mind is currently as to what we'll see and the common themes in the film.