Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Friday, March 25, 2016
The Semiotics and Ideology of The Dark Knight Returns Part 1
Hello All,
Since Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is set to premiere soon (or has already premiered IDK when you're reading this) and the massive internet discussions I've been having about the character has forced me to dig-up and old old graduate paper.
I want to apologize for some of the content. I wouldn't write a paper like this today but at the time I had like three 15+ page papers due that week so it was a bit rushed.
I've added some silly photos to keep you awake while reading this piece of academia.
Without further explanation, if you're having trouble sleeping please give it a read.
When
studying semiotics and ideology it is important to understand how closely
associated the two things are and what they mean. Jeff Bernard states “sign work causes the
transformation of an already socially given (signatum), mediated by a material
antithesis (signans), to a social result, i.e. the sign itself” (Bernard
p.47). Signs have applied meanings based
on what society mandates. The meaning
that certain signs have, come from the idea that is placed on it by
society.
There
is a debate about what comes first ideology or semiotics Winifired Noth says
“if an ‘ideology’, in its broadest sense, is ‘a system of ideas’, semiotics,
the study of sign systems, is predestined to make essential contributions to
the study of ideologies” (Noth
p.11). Semiotics is an important aspect
in the study of ideology. It is not
possible to study ideology and how ideas come to being without understanding
the signs that are involved in those ideas.
Eero Tarasti believes that semiotics comes before
ideology “in the history of semiotics, the concept of ideology arises in many
contexts. Of course, its weight varies
greatly with different scholars and periods”
(Tarasti p.23). When studying
semiotics it is very common for the idea of ideology to come into focus. Whatever the case may be semiotics and
ideology are very closely associated with one another. Which makes analyzing the two separately
difficult. For the purpose of this paper
is not important to determine which comes first.
 |
| A quick Google search has provided me this picture of Eero Tarasti. I;m not sure if he's the dude on the left or the right though. |
This paper will highlight the use of signs and political
discourse in Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. It will show how Batman is an anti-platonic
character through his actions and the use of semiotics. The Dark Knight Returns It is a story
about a retired vigilante known as Batman living in a city riddled with fear
and crime. Bill Radford describes it as
“an aging Batman who returns
from retirement to face a world filled with ineffectual politicians, murderous
teen gangs, twisted villains from his past and a new police commissioner
opposed to his style of vigilantism” (Radford).
The story is a commentary on American cities in the twentieth century.
Watching the world
around him Batman realizes that he alone has the power to change things for the
better. He returns to wage his “one-man
war against crime” (Miller p.11). Harry
Thomas descibes the story as taking place “back in 1986 when Ronald Reagan was
president, the Cold War was at full boil and comic-book artist Frank Miller
wrote and drew a graphic novel called The Dark Knight Returns” (Thomas p.98).
The Dark Knight
Returns dealt with the issues that
surrounded 1980s America. “A
scorching condemnation of its times, Miller's Batman was rage incarnate, a
half-nuts citizen-soldier who kicked Superman's ass for kissing up to Reagan”
(Thomas p.98). It was a politically
charged graphic novel telling people to take control of their own
destinies. According to Raoul Mowatt
“Miller took numerous jabs at pop and political culture of the time”
(Mowatt). The political discourse in the
book creates Batman as being the anti-platonic character that expressed to
people not to follow but to lead.
 |
| With this image one could argue that Batman is the Charioteer in the Phadrus and thus the definition of a platonic persona leading people to their destiny and also completely ruining my argument but fuck you it was the mid 2000s and I was trying to get a grade, okay!!! |
There
are semiotics all throughout the graphic novel.
Commissioner Gordon describes what he sees when he looks at doorways in
Gotham. “Me, I can’t look at that
doorway over there without thinking about the seventy-two corpses I’ve found in
spots like that” (Miller p.58). To him a
doorway is no longer just a doorway. He
associates certain doorways with all the murder sites he has witnessed in his
police career. A doorway has a different
meaning to him than it would for other people.
When looking at the Batman’s alter ego Bruce Wayne he
chose the icon of the bat because it is the creature he most fears. He is placing his own meaning on the sign
that others may not share. The bat is
described by Bruce Wayne as “Gliding with ancient grace unwilling to retreat”
(Miller p.19). When he sees a bat he
thinks of it as a terrifying unyielding creature. To him a bat represent something more then a
nocturnal animal that flies. “When you
came for me in the cave I was just six years old” (Miller p.187). He remembers an instance in his childhood
when he first saw a bat and how much it terrified him.
 |
| I am so fucking scared right now! |
To him the bat is a sign, the animal is the
signified, and the fear that is brought on in his mind when seeing a bat is the
signifying. “Eyes gleaming, untouched by
love or joy or sorrow breath hot with the taste of fallen foes the stench of
dead things, damned things” (Miller
p.19). He talks about the bats breathe
smelling like the things it had killed and eaten. He refers to those things as damned just like
the criminals that he hunts are damned.
“Surely the fiercest survivor glaring, hating claiming me as his own”
(Miller p.19). He embraces the fear he
has of the bat and uses it as his symbol against criminals. He wants the criminals to feel the same fear
he felt when he first encountered the bat.
The fear from the bat is the meaning he assigns to it and wants
criminals to associate with as well.
The bat is to Bruce Wayne what Batman becomes to
criminals. Batman is a sign of fear
against those who commit acts of injustice.
Commissioner Gordon describes just what Batman is a symbol for in the
war against crime and why he supported him.
Gordon talks about Pearl Harbor to explain what Batman means to the
people of Gotham and to himself. “Hell,
we were scared. We didn’t even have an
army. So there we were, lying in bed
pulling the sheets over our head and there was Roosevelt, on the radio, strong
and sure, taking fear and turning it into a fighting spirit. Almost over night we had our army” (Miller p.36). Gordon goes on to talk about how years later
he heard rumors that Roosevelt new that Pearl Harbor was going to be attack and
how he was so conflicted that the President would let so many innocent people
die. “It bounced back and forth in my
head until I realized I couldn’t judge it.
It was too big. He was to
big” (Miller 36).
 |
| You can't get more badass than Barry Bostwick playing you in a movie. |
This supports the claim that Batman is more then just
a man in a costume but he is a symbol for all people to follow. His presence is what inspires people to do
the right thing. Commissioner Gordon
believes that Batman is the answer to the crime problem in Gotham City. As Tarasti states “value is something that
does not exist in an ‘absolute’ manner, but only as a part of structure, as
does any sign or term” (Tarasti p.33).
The value that is put on a sign is not definite or permanent. The people looking at that sign associate the
respective meaning to it. The value that
is placed on Roosevelt and Batman is different for different people. For Gordon, Batman is the structure for putting
an end to the crime that consumes Gotham City.
Tarasti goes on to state that “values ‘rest’, so to
speak, upon facts. If there are two
completely identical physical facts, such as two painting in an art exhibition,
and if one of them is said to be of excellent quality, then the same must be
said about the other” (Tarasti p.38).
Gordon believes that Roosevelt is a great man. He sees Batman as someone who is identical to
Roosevelt in what he is doing. Therefore
he is assigning the same value to Batman that everyone assigns to
Roosevelt. “What is involved is a
logical relationship between values and facts” (Tarasti p.38). Gordon is logically relating the two figures
as something iconic and too large for him to try and control.
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| I'm just using this picture in the hopes it increases my web traffic. |
Works Cited
 |
| I wish a picture of Danny Devito could be used in place of all Works Cited |
Abrams,
Judith Ann. “Plato’s Rhetoric as
Rendered by the Pentad.” Rhetoric Society
Quarterly 11. 1 (1981)
24-28. EBSCO.
Bernard, Jeff. “Inside/Outside, Ideology, and Culture.” Semiotica 148. 1-4 (2004) 47-68.
EBSCO.
Hofstra U Lib.,
Hempstead. 16 May 2006 <http://search.epnet.com>
Gordon, Jay. “Techne and Technical Communication: Toward a
Dialogue” Technical
Communication
Quarterly 11. 2 (2002) 147-164. EBSCO.
Miller, Frank, Klaus Janson, and
Lynn Varley. The Dark Knight Returns. New York: DC
Comics, 2002.
Mowatt, Raoul V. “Batman gathers fellow heroes to set things right in DK2” Chicago
Tribune (IL)
08/30/2002. (2002) EBSCO.
Hofstra U Lib.,
Hempstead. 16 May 2006 <http://search.epnet.com>
Noth, Winfried. “Semiotics of Ideology.” Semiotica 148. 1-4 (2004) 11-21. EBSCO.
Radford, Bill. “Batman fans eager for return of the Dark Knight.”
Gazette, The
(Colorado
Springs, CO) 12/06/2001. (2001) EBSCO.
Hofstra U Lib.,
Hempstead. 16 May 2006 <http://search.epnet.com>
Richards, I.A. “The Philosophy of
Rhetoric.” The Rhetorical Tradition Readings from
Classical Times
to the Present Second Edition. Ed. Patricia Bizzell, and Bruce Herzberg,
Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001. 1281-1294.
Richards, I.A. and C.K. Ogden. “The
Meaning of Meaning.” The Rhetorical Tradition
Readings from
Classical Times to the Present Second Edition. Ed. Patricia Bizzell, and
Bruce Herzberg, Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001. 1273-1280.
Thomas, Harry. “The Dark Knight.” Rolling Stone 867
(2001) 98. EBSCO.
Hofstra U Lib.,
Hempstead. 16 May 2006 <http://search.epnet.com>
Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
Friday, March 18, 2016
Conan Error on St Patrick's Day
Bill Tull made a "St. Patty" but the patty only performed one miracle. To be a saint you must perform at least 2 miracles.
Saturday, March 12, 2016
Friday, March 11, 2016
Joe’s Family Remembers.
Joe’s
Family Remembers.
Many of you have been asking for more stories about the
mysterious owner of “I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®. Here are some tales as recanted from his own
family members.
I remember Joseph at Day 1: his father saying…to
anyone…even me…”come and see my son…his name is….Joseph Jr.”
I remember Joseph at 7 when Billy and I would hold him
down and try to put Mary-Kate's shoes on him....and when he kept his money in a
boot. He would hit us and say “That’s
what you get for trying to put girl shoes on me.”
I remember Joseph at 7: locked out of HIS house, with
NO key, showing off his skills in the Driveway.
I remember Joseph at 10: he would wolf down Grilled
Cheese &; French Fries and show off his “skill” on the Chessboard.
I remember when Joseph was around 11 or 12 years old, and we
were staying at my Aunt MA and Uncle Gerry’s house for the weekend when my
parents went away, and all he did was talk about the time he stayed at Aunt
Rose’s and how much fun he had, so Uncle Gerry pulled over the car and told him
to get out and go stay at the Econo Lodge on Old Country Road. Good thing I put a stop to it or he’d still be trying to
find his way home.
I remember high school aged Joseph drinking too much at
a house party I threw with my friends and singing the John Lennon song
"Nobody Told Me" very loudly (and off key) in the backyard. He was probably getting revenge on you for forcing him to
try to wear his sister’s shoes!
I remember Joseph at 18(?) getting lost on his way back to
my house after visiting his father at Winthrop Hospital and calling from
Friendly’s up on Jericho Turnpike asking for directions on how to get back.
JOSEPH’S
RESPONSE
I was 15 when I got lost going from Winthrop to Aunt MA and
Uncle Gs. I didn’t call and ask for directions. I ended up walking
up to Jericho I was at Friendly’s and used that as the landmark to track down the
house via Jericho Turnpike. I was 14 or 15 when I sang the John Lennon
song it was the inspiration for creating American Idol. I’m so glad you
were all considerate enough to copy my wife on the emails after she said “I do.”
I didn’t get house keys until I was 8. I was probably 10 or 11 when I got
locked out because that’s when my mom started student teaching.
Written by
Joseph's Family
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
Sunday, March 6, 2016
Friday, March 4, 2016
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