Batman: Dark Knight Rises – Esoteric Analysis

Note the class warfare element of the poster. Very Ayn Randian.

By: Jay  http://jaysanalysis.com/2012/07/20/batman-dark-knight-rises-esoteric-analysis/
False Flag shooting event analysis broken here first.
-Spoiler Alert-
Update: The blending of fiction and programming has extended into reality like I predicted, with the New York Police Commissioner (like Commissioner Gordon) saying the villain was “The Joker,” and the NYPD will keep everyone safe from “The Joker” and/or Bane. 
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“Bruce Wayne’s grandfather founded Skull & Bones.” -Batman tv show
Batman: The Dark Knight Rises is the final installment in the Christopher Nolan trilogy and, in my opinion, is excellent.  Like the previous two, the concluding film is just as esoteric and filled with predictive programming as the others, yet stands out as preeminent.  This final film is the climax of this version of revelation of the method par excellance.  The entire essence of this film is concerned with how the system itself operates on the deepest levels—levels far beyond what most people are able to comprehend.  Like the rest of Nolan’s films, this one resonates with a particular Jungian ethos, almost to the level of Inception. In fact, Dark Knight Rises is very similar to Nolan’s Inception, and, believe it or not, Jim Henson’s Labyrinth. 
In fact, Nolan even takes Dark Knight to the higher esoteric level of including actors from previous films and roles to play them again in this film.  As I myself and Ross have discussed on Jay’s Analysis, this often turns out to be the case, especially in the case of the top Hollywood figures—figures like Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, and now, it seems, Rachel Weisz.  Among males you can see it with Robert DeNiro Nicolas Cage, Johnny Depp and Tom Cruise.  Granted, some roles are chosen on the basis of having a certain “look” adapted from another role, but as I argue, and as we see in films like Mulholland Drive, roles are often chosen for deeper, occult reasons.  Think about Heath Ledger in Batman: The Dark Knight, and then his role in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and then his strange death. 
“What?” you say, “Why, that’s wacky.”  That’s because your view of the world isn’t the same as those who understand liturgy and ritual.  The study of liturgics is not some dry, dusty, arcane academic discipline for old religionists to haggle about.  Liturgics to those who know, is the very heartbeat of the universe itself.  It is itself the meaning of things.  Granted, one can learn about metaphysics or science in philosophy or at some university, yet these are merely fields that operate in the realm of bare knowledge.  Knowledge itself is lacking in that it is static and merely one of the divine energeia.

All the bad guys rolled into one.

To combine will and action in harmony with intended purpose in the service of God in symbolic act is meaning, and thus all of life becomes a liturgical ritual.  Most ancient religious traditions have some notion of this.  Thus the standard exposition most “conspiracy theorists” and/or critics give is done at the most basic level of plot, interpretation of meaning, technical achievements, and possible “Illuminist” symbols.  While there is a place for all of that, none of them understand the principle of the film itself, including the actors and their own experiences, the set, the script, etc., all coming together at a certain time, with a certain zeitgeist behind it. A couple good books on this I would recommend would be Mircea Eliade’s The Sacred and the Profane, Abraham Heschel’s The Sabbath, and any basic introduction to liturgy.   Such a radical alteration of perception is only achieved by investigation into, and participation in, liturgy.  Those who have experienced this will understand, and those who haven’t will not.  But regardless, films are themselves a kind of ritual ‘working,’ and whether the 99% of the critics out there acknowledge or know this is irrelevant: it is true.

“Baroness, why do I feel like Cobra Commander is wearing a Bane mask and once again ripping off my style and screwing us over?”

In fact, as I write this, it has just happened that several people have been killed in a Dark Knight Rises premier in Colorado.  Readers of this blog will be aware of Colorado being outlined in other films and in reality as a new, more secretive command base for various elite factions.  Think of the Denver Airport and the Columbine events.  The RT article states:

“Police say that the assailant initially opened a gas canister. Witnesses recounted hearing a hissing sound and smoke, and then the shooting started.
Some say that when they first heard the gunfire, they thought it was some new type of special effect.
“It was chaotic, it was surreal, it was like in a movie,” one of the witnesses told 9news Denver TV station.
Initial media reports suggested that two gunmen were involved in the rampage. But police later said there was only one person involved as far as they know. The gunman was carrying a rifle and a handgun at the time of his arrest, police said at a media conference. One suspect was taken into police custody.
Witnesses reported seeing a tall, shotgun-wielding man clad in body armor and wearing a gas mask in the theatre. The attacker have set off some kind of a tear gas canister.
An apartment building was evacuated after the suspect told police there were explosives planted there following his apprehension. So far police have failed to find any traces of the alleged bombs.
Police responding to the shooting evacuated the area over fears that an explosive device might be on the premises.
Ten of the victims were killed right on the spot while four others died from injuries in hospital.
Aurora medical services were alerted to attend to the large number of injured. At least 50 people have been taken to hospital following the shooting, although it is not clear yet how many of them are in serious condition.”
(The number “6″ shows up prominently in the film, as a side note.)
Amazingly, this would seem to fit into the plot of the film itself, as the article even explains people stating that it was “like a movie.” Was this a ritual attempt itself?  Was this something planned?  As more details emerge, it will become clearer, but it’s interesting that the shooter was wearing body armor and a gas mask, reminiscent of Bane, the film’s villain. 
Bane is who we see immediately, murdering the CIA agent on the plane.  The CIA, representing the classical enemy of the communists, are symbolically disposed of here. We learn eventually that Bane inhabits the underground—appropriate, given that communist syndicates and cells are also the “underground,” much like the Weather Underground.  The underground is preeminent in the film, representing the criminal underground, the underworld of Hades and the underworld of the subconscious.  Bane looks like a cross between Destro (From G.I. Joe), Humongous (from Road Warrior), and Darth Vader. 

“Dear Warner Brothers…you have nothing to fear. Please open the door. Cast me as Bane. No one will get hurt. I was Bane before Bane was Bane.”

As archetypal evil, Bane has emerged from the hardship of being born in an underground prison and has risen from “the pit” (it’s referred to the pit and the abyss in the film) to challenge “Western civilization,” which has fallen into a decay and in need of revolution.  This brings to mind the references in the book of Revelation to the demon from the abyss, Apollyon or Abaddon. Bane is several times referred to as a “shadow” a “shade,” a thing from the “dark,” and from the underworld.  Bane is a Satan character, and a member of the League of Shadows.  As you recall, the League of Shadows represents anti-western (far Eastern) secret societies that actually do exist, outlined in my Batman Begins analysis, and used in Alex Jones’ analysis here.  Bane, it’s important to understand, is like the Joker—they are chaotic evil. As chaotic evil, Bane cannot be the evil mastermind.  We will discover that he is not. 
Bane leads a literal, all out communist, Leninist, violent revolution with the siege of Gotham (New York).  The violent revolution takes on an eerily similar approach to the French Revolution.  Having studied the French Revolution in-depth in upper level history courses, I was amazed at the similarities.  Bane operates like a Marat, Danton or Robespierre, first by utilizing terror, and freeing the inmates in a move echoing the storming of the Bastille, where the revolutionaries claimed many of the oppressed had been imprisoned by the monarchy (which actually wasn’t true—only a few people were in the old prison).  Scarecrow performs the role of revolutionary judge like Robespierre, sentencing the wealthy to exile or death (exile in this case means death).  In fact, when Bane emerges in the midst of the football game, the camera pans past a section that reads “RED ZONE” – appropriate, given the openly communist nature of Bane.  (Bane is also played by Tom Hardy, who played Eames in Nolan’s Inception.)

Bane is the Satanic red bloody revolutionary seeking radical egalitarianism and total class warfare.

Much like Eyes Wide Shut as I noted in my analysis, masks are common in the film in the background, often on bookshelves.  Masks in Jungian and existentialist analyses refer to the alter ego and or the demonic side.  The dark side is hidden and must be channeled in some form or fashion, lest the “inner Bane” emerge.  In fact, there are even lines in the film to this effect—that Bane emerges from the dark underside of the subconscious.  Dark Knight Rises also has a masked ball scene reminiscent of Eyes Wide Shut, where Batman begins to merge with his anima, who in this film will be Catwoman. As is common in Jungian and alchemical frameworks, the male principle is lacking and imbalanced without the union with the feminine principle.  

Athena with the owl of wisdom.

Just as there are communist images behind Bane, there are capitalist and imperial symbols behind Bruce Wayne in many scenes.  Athena can be seen, who from an esoteric perspective fits well into this narrative, as well as Catholic saints like Mary and Paul or Peter. Traditionally seen as the establishment and capitalist, the red revolutionaries opposed these forces as imperial and corrupt.  In Dark Knight Rises, both Bane and Catwoman learn that their communist terrorstorm was a failure—Catwoman in particular realizes the revolution is a failure and is reconciled to Batman and becomes his lover. 
It should also be mentioned that in Catwoman’s bedroom a book titled “Labyrinth” is visible, which hearkens to both Labyrinth and Christopher Nolan’s Inception, which is very similar.  (See my analysis of Inception here.) In fact, one of the most fascinating turns is that Batman’s seeming love interest Miranda (Marion Cotillard) is the shade character, and who also turns out to be the Ra’s al Ghul’s daughter.  Marion Cotillard played the shade character in Inception!  The Ra’s al Ghul is a kind of Satan and shade character, and Miranda turns out to be a kind of communist sleeper agent who actually runs the League of Shadows following the death of Ra’s al Ghul.  In regard to Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, the prison where Bane was born, and where Bruce Wayne is banished, is itself laid out like the M.C. Escher based maze in the Henson Labyrinth.  In this Labyrinth, Bruce Wayne must face even deeper personal demons and emerge from the underworld/subconscious prison like Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) had to do. 
In “The Process of Individuation” by M.L. von Franz in Carl Jung’s Man and His Symbols, explains of the meaning of the labyrinth as subconscious:
“The maze of strange passages, chambers, and unlocked exits in the cellar recalls the old Egyptian representation of the underworld, which is a well-known symbol of the unconscious with its abilities. It also shows how one is “open” to other influences in one’s unconscious shadow side and how uncanny and alien elements can break in.” (pg. 176)

The M.C. Escher/Labyrinth-like prison of Bane – representing the subconscious and the Underworld.

Another important element is the free energy conspiracy, which Bruce Wayne feels the world isn’t ready for.  It’s mentioned as a kind of “fusion” (cold fusion?), which is perfectly clean and free.  Bane kidnaps a Russian scientist who invented it and forces him to arm it. This brings to mind both Mission Impossible 4, The Saint, and The Sum of all Fears—particularly the last in regard to the bomb going off at the NFL game.  In The Sum of all Fears (also starring Morgan Freeman), it’s a nuke during a football game. Bane also engages in an actual armed attack on the NYSE, as well as using a backdoor program to attack the stock market and wipe Wayne Enterprises clean, causing Bruce to go bankrupt.  From a predictive programming perspective, be on the lookout for backdoor attacks on the markets like we see in Live Free or Die Hard, or attacks during a big football game.  Batman and other summer blockbuster films are generally big-time indicators for upcoming terror events. This film in particular should be all the more analyzed, due to the mass murder that just occurred in Colorado at the premier. 

Robespierre and his ad hoc national convention.

Bane refers to himself as “necessary evil,” and as the harbinger of a “new form of western civilization.”  This is no mere film, but a powerful working intended to signal coming events—look for a monetary attack and a terror attack intended to bring down western civilization by radical communists influenced by the eastern doctrines of total relativism.  While this film has suddenly been given a lot of bad press, the film is anti-communist.  It does not portray Bane as a good guy, even though the audience is supposed to sympathize with him.  It could be that the film is trying to portray patriots as evil as some have said, but Bane is an all-out, clear-cut radical Jacobin.  Bane is not a Ron Paul style capitalist: He is the antithesis of capitalism and Bruce Wayne.  One of the corporate heads who gets killed is Mr. Fox – as in Fox News. Bane brings to mind Rousseau, in that he constantly claims his revolution is “for the people,” and which amounts to a dictatorship of the proletariat. It is also worth noting that the polive are turned against the people.  Ironically, this is preciely the method that will be used to divide and conquer the U.S.  However, Bane’s revolution fails, as do all communist revolutionaries.  Bruce Wayne, the John Galt character, triumphs. The radical red revolution is crushed: as it should be. 
The film ends with Commissioner Gordon reading the famous line from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities about the French Revolution, quoting him before his guillotine death in the French Revolution:
“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”
“Bruce Wayne’s grandfather founded Skull & Bones.” -Batman tv show
See here for Fox updates.
Dark Knight parallels to shooting