Occasionally I find myself at the movies with college kids.
This week a few of us saw the new Batman movie, seventh in a series.
A dystopian tale. It is mostly dark, raining, and night throughout the film. The city is rat infested, full of corrupt politicians and a citizenry in despair. Every single thing they’ve trusted has hurt them—government, police, education, the economy.
As “we the people” rise to fix things, the vigilante character appears—Batman.
Be sure to notice the underlying soundtrack. It’s J. S. Bach’s classical music. And as Batman and one good cop look over a destroyed city landscape so tragically broken, the policeman spontaneously utters the word “Jesus!” There is the answer to the city’s woes, but it’s no more understood than a simple swear word.
I asked the college kids, “What’s the take home message of this movie?” Their answer was that statism is a false god and leads us to despair. And in the police officer’s one word expletive—“Jesus”—we learn the answer if we could only understand what his name means. —Stephen
