Forbes in Denial Over 'Dark Knight's Occupy Wall Street Slam

Most liberal film critics and journalists have taken a unique approach to the conservative themes coursing through “The Dark Knight Rises.”

They’ve covered their ears and recited a nonsensical phrase over and again to drown out the facts.

(Warning: Mild Spoilers Ahead)

The latest scribe to ignore the obvious is Forbes.com writer Erik Kain. He contends “Rises” doesn’t swat the Occupy Wall Street movement at all. Could have fooled me – and everyone else not blinded by liberal ideology:

All three of Nolan’s villains – in all three of his Dark Knight films – may as well be natural disasters: Ra’s al Ghul is a plague; The Joker is a hurricane; and Bane is an earthquake.

Gotham, thanks to its corruption and its economic woes, doesn’t have institutions capable of managing these three massive disasters.  There is neither the bulwark of civil society and community or a functioning government to withstand these powerful, destructive forces.

Actually, Gotham City is thriving as the third film in the trilogy opens. Harvey Dent’s legal legacy is so profound there’s no longer a need for Batman. He’s retired, bum knees and all, while crime continues to decline. So clearly the city’s punitive system isn’t corrupt, and we certainly don’t see mass economic woes.

That comes later, when Occupy surrogate Bane takes over Gotham.

Did Kain not hear the rhetoric spewing out of Bane’s mouth – or mouth-type thing, to be more precise, as his army wrested control of Gotham from its decent citizens? Did he not witness the vandalism by Bane’s minions? Has he not seen countless news reports of actual OWS members smashing property or plotting bomb attacks?

And what about Bane’s literal assault on a Wall Street institution mid-film?

The fact that a villain like Bane could rise up is not a critique of our system. No society can permanently wipe out crime and moral decay, and evil is always willing to return if given the chance. To blame the system for Bane’s actions is the kind of moral equivalence routinely practiced by those on the left.

Kain tries to support his argument by quoting … wait for it … Think Progress, a far-left group with a heavy investment in steering the Bat-critique away from the Occupy movement. If you’re gonna wave the nonpartisan banner, don’t start with a link to Think Progress.

Here’s a howler line from the Think Progress essay: 

Virtually no screen-time is dedicated to Gotham’s social dynamics or violence by the people against elites.

Huh? Don’t we see the rich being sentenced to death by Bane’s army for being … rich (AKA elite)?

For what it’s worth, the “catwoman” character (Anne Hathaway) serves as the film’s moral compass. When we first meet her she’s a soulless thief whining about the rich and why they deserve to be stripped of their wealth. But what she really wants is a clean slate, a chance at redemption. When she finally gets one she begins her path to redemption and goes cold turkey on the OWS nonsense.

Sounds downright conservative to me.

Follow Christian Toto on Twitter @TotoMovies