Leaving Bane's Prison Pit in Dark Knight Rises - Analogy to Happier Abroad and Leaving the Matrix?
Posted: September 20th, 2012, 5:15 pm
(Warning - Batman: Dark Knight Rises spoilers)
The analogy of leaving America for friendly foreign lands to leaving The Matrix is repeated here often. Oddly enough, the early morning that I began my flight out to Manila I didn't feel much like Neo. But I sure felt a whole lot like Batman. Well, Bruce Wayne specifically.
In the movie, Batman had his back broken by Bane and was cast into a prison pit. Like Bruce Wayne, I was dealt a crippling blow (divorce) from which I slowly awakened and had to bring myself back to health before I could even begin to think about escape. The prison drove men to madness. Many men would call the prison pit "True Forced Loneliness" and I know the torment they speak of.
The escape hatch from the pit shines bright, reflecting the hope for the future and the prospect of having a healthy and long-lasting romantic relationship. The path to get there, however, is a daunting one. It requires a treacherous climb to a great height, followed by a leap from a platform to a remote ledge. Nonetheless, I trained and trained and attempted one escape effort after another. All failed. The rope tied around my torso saved me from the perilous fall after each failed climb.
The rope represents fear, and the reluctance to take risk. Each failed attempt brought about more anger and determination. These were the tools I used to refine myself and come closer and closer to escape. Ultimately though, I found out that I had to attempt my escape without the support of the rope to have a chance at success. The only way I could get where I needed to go was to untether myself from my safety rope of fear.
I, Bruce Wayne, braved myself for the riskiest escape attempt yet. The other prisoners cheered me on with chants. I climbed the steep walls to reach my ledge. Without my rope of fear, the leap appeared more dangerous, but the adrenaline surged greatly. With determination, I make the leap of faith, the leap of freedom to the escape ledge and now removed from the prison, leave to discover the new sunny world around me.
It is said that only a minority of American men are brave enough to follow through and pursue love abroad. Very few have the mettle to make the climb and keep persisting after so many failed attempts. To me, the failed attempts to escape the pit resemble my previous attempts at relationships with American women. I tried and tried but inevitably found myself bound by the rope that constricted me and limited me to local women. I cast the fear aside and tried something even fewer Americans would risk - putting away the rope of fear. I shed my fear of long-distance relationships and began to view going abroad as a means to an end to get the true love and healthy relationship I wanted. Only after putting aside the rope did I see that it was the only realistic means of escape, even though it was a whole lot riskier of a jump.
Like Bruce Wayne's escape from the pit. I can't recommend going abroad for everyone. It's not for everyone. It takes a lot of faith, patience and persistance to escape. But if your prison has haunted you for too long, your will is strong, you are willing to grow as a man and your anger is focused, then it can be done.
The analogy of leaving America for friendly foreign lands to leaving The Matrix is repeated here often. Oddly enough, the early morning that I began my flight out to Manila I didn't feel much like Neo. But I sure felt a whole lot like Batman. Well, Bruce Wayne specifically.
In the movie, Batman had his back broken by Bane and was cast into a prison pit. Like Bruce Wayne, I was dealt a crippling blow (divorce) from which I slowly awakened and had to bring myself back to health before I could even begin to think about escape. The prison drove men to madness. Many men would call the prison pit "True Forced Loneliness" and I know the torment they speak of.
The escape hatch from the pit shines bright, reflecting the hope for the future and the prospect of having a healthy and long-lasting romantic relationship. The path to get there, however, is a daunting one. It requires a treacherous climb to a great height, followed by a leap from a platform to a remote ledge. Nonetheless, I trained and trained and attempted one escape effort after another. All failed. The rope tied around my torso saved me from the perilous fall after each failed climb.
The rope represents fear, and the reluctance to take risk. Each failed attempt brought about more anger and determination. These were the tools I used to refine myself and come closer and closer to escape. Ultimately though, I found out that I had to attempt my escape without the support of the rope to have a chance at success. The only way I could get where I needed to go was to untether myself from my safety rope of fear.
I, Bruce Wayne, braved myself for the riskiest escape attempt yet. The other prisoners cheered me on with chants. I climbed the steep walls to reach my ledge. Without my rope of fear, the leap appeared more dangerous, but the adrenaline surged greatly. With determination, I make the leap of faith, the leap of freedom to the escape ledge and now removed from the prison, leave to discover the new sunny world around me.
It is said that only a minority of American men are brave enough to follow through and pursue love abroad. Very few have the mettle to make the climb and keep persisting after so many failed attempts. To me, the failed attempts to escape the pit resemble my previous attempts at relationships with American women. I tried and tried but inevitably found myself bound by the rope that constricted me and limited me to local women. I cast the fear aside and tried something even fewer Americans would risk - putting away the rope of fear. I shed my fear of long-distance relationships and began to view going abroad as a means to an end to get the true love and healthy relationship I wanted. Only after putting aside the rope did I see that it was the only realistic means of escape, even though it was a whole lot riskier of a jump.
Like Bruce Wayne's escape from the pit. I can't recommend going abroad for everyone. It's not for everyone. It takes a lot of faith, patience and persistance to escape. But if your prison has haunted you for too long, your will is strong, you are willing to grow as a man and your anger is focused, then it can be done.