Second of all, I think you're getting a little overzealous about proving your points; it's called an opinion, and yes...people will have a different one than what you think. Commenting on a CNN blog won't change someone's mind, I'll be the ranch on that one.

Batman's lines are blurred, and that is all.

Likening the Joker to a terrorist is ridiculous, considering terrorists actually have reasons for their actions.

Oh yeah, if you say there were 'plot holes' and stuff, you obviously fell asleep.

Although the movie was long, IN MY PERSONAL OPINION it was one of, if not the best movie I've evers seen. It had every element in it that I enjoy in movies, and there's no amount of badgering me via angry blog comment that's gonna change my mind

Also, the military doesn't make their own decisions; if you know anything of our government, you'd know that it is ran by civilians who give the military the objectives and a certain amount of leash to accomplish these objectives. It's not like Army guys said 'Hey, let's go to Iraq and kill people we think are terrorists!' or choosing to get into firefights with insurgents.

Just reading this, I see that some of you folks REALLY need to relieve your stress.

Go watch some cartoons.

I respect the service and sacrifice YOUR FATHER gave to our country. But that doesn't mean your opinions are automatically right or gives you the right to disrespect the opinions of others. We must simply agree to disagree. And I believe that too is what the previous generations fought for.

I did not bring up the issue of torture or any specific method. You did. In fact I personally do not believe torture is very effective in extracting information from foreign combatants. My opinions are aimed at more of a general nature. The very moral quandaries this movie and the fictional character The Dark Knight faces when fighting evil in this world. What are the limits when the tactics and methods of evil changes.? To what lengths are we willing go and what are the limits when people's liberties or their very lives are in immediate danger? I brought up past presidents like FDR and Kennedy (both Democrats) who have been accused in the past of overstepping their Constitutional powers and yet they are routinely praised in hindsight for doing "what was necessary" at the time. In hindsight, perhaps we could think up of ways they could have acted but that's a luxury we do not enjoy. And its not just these two but other Presidents and people of power who have been accused of overstepping their bounds and trampling on the Constitution. What I'm saying is, sometimes things have been done "off the book" or "off the reservation" and that its nothing new.

I think we fundamentally disagree on this one thing. I truly believe this country, with all its faults, mistakes, and crimes, that Americans ARE GOOD and eventually choose to do the right thing. Whether by learning through mistakes or just doing it. Our history bears it. Our most recent example is Iraq. Going into Iraq may not have been a good idea. The way our Military and civilian political leaders handled the "reconstruction" after the Baathists were overthrown was horribly botched with corruption and criminal incompetency. But recently Gen. Petraeus and our brave soldiers have turned things around dramatically when most people wrote off Iraq as a "lost cause". They've learned how to implement an effective counter-insurgency. They've brought former feuding Sunni's and Shiite's together, earned their trust, and convinced them its in everyone's best interest to work together and throw Al Qaeda out. Its a fragile peace but there is undeniable improvement which even mainstream media grudgingly admit. Sunni's and Shiite's might have a chance to live together in peace without a dictator forcing them by gunpoint.

I also don't believe our democracy our Constitution is teetering on the brink and we're on the slippery slope towards Totalitarianism, like some on the Left would have us believe. The Left accuse the Right of using fear to get what they want. But so does the Left. I believe in the goodness and the "can do" spirit of the American people to do what's right. Again our history and record bears it. And despite the past mistakes our brave soldiers in Iraq is a testament to that fact.

I don't need a lecture from you on how we have to sacrifice and get ugly in the defense of our country. My father lived it in WWII. It didn't get any uglier or horrific than what he saw when he helped liberate the concentration camps. It didn't make him any more willing to trample over our Constitutional rights and freedoms. How is it that he was smart enough to know what is really important? Fear is what is driving us now and that is also ugly. If we are scared into giving up our civil liberties, then you will see what is really scary and evil. These are not just principles. The Constitution isn't just an old yellowing piece of paper, it's a living, breathing statement of who and what we are. If we become like the very terrorists we are fighting, then we have lost the war. The reason they attack us is because we are who we are. We are the beacon of democracy in the world. This new government that our founding fathers created was unlike any other ever in history. They knew it would test us to live by these freedoms and liberties. But they thought we had the guts to live up to them.

For those like you who think it's just words or principles and dismiss it lightly, then you are the ones who are ignorant. You don't even realize what we have. We have what no one else has. We have always been tough and willing to fight and die for our country and what it stands for. There is no reason to abandon that now. I don't need you or anyone else to tell me that we are fighting a new and extremely dangerous enemy, one without any borders, no nation state, hard to find, cunning and evil. But if we torture and incarcerate those who are only suspected of being terrorists without any evidence, then we are no better than these monsters that we are trying to defeat. Then we have lost who we really are. These principals are ones that our brave soldiers have died for through the years. If you give them up, then all of our soldiers and their sacrifice and deaths were for nothing. That's what is at stake here.

If you don't have any freedoms, you ARE dead. I am shocked and appalled that there are people like you who would give up the precious freedoms that the founding fathers gave us. They form the foundation of our democracy. They embody who and what we are. If we lose them, then we have nothing.

We have always been confronted with threats throughout our history, but we have somehow managed to keep faith our innate civil liberties. FDR said that we have nothing to fear but fear itself. In 1932, it was the depression that was our enemy. But we managed to survive and thrive without destroying who we are as a people. We fought two World Wars and came out stronger than ever. We defeated the tyranny of the Nazis. Now are we to become tyrannical in pursuit of Al Qaeda, our new adversary? We have always been able to defeat our enemies and I believe that we will ultimately triumph over Al Qaeda. But we won't do it by throwing out the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

My father served in WWII and was with the American soldiers that liberated the concentration camps of Bergen Belsen and Dachau. What he saw there was so unspeakable that he was only able to take about it years later. But my father came out of that experience, that horror more convinced than ever that democracy is a precious idea. He saw the worst in humanity, but it made him believe in our freedoms even more. So don't lecture me about what it takes as a military man to win against our enemies. You are so blinded by your hatred of so-called liberals that you can't even see the irrationality of your own argument.

If we destroy who we are in the pursuit of terrorists like Al Qaeda, then we won't have to worry about being killed by them. We will have killed ourselves.

Does Todd Leopold hit the theme on the head? In my opinion, no. But, there is definitely (almost) always a theme developed behind the story that holds the story together. No, this is not JUST A MOVIE MEANT ONLY FOR ENTERTAINMENT AND NOTHING ELSE. It most definitely stands for something much deeper.

What it is can be speculated, unless actually expressed by the writer. Usually the writer will be happy that people get anything out of their work, even if it isn't their original message.

P.S. I enjoyed the film

Those of you that are pouncing on the movie for various reasons... you went to the same party as a huge amount of people. You didn't have a good time – we all did. It doesn't mean the movie is bad or overrated, it more than likely means that it wasn't for you. There's a big difference. You should about it.

The thin plot points that anyone has talked about have all been plot points that intelligent viewers were able to follow because they didn't need their hands held unlike those that obviously needed a cliff's notes version of the movie.

Are you referring to my last post? Are you referring to the Watchmen graphic novel by Alan Moore?

A Superhero without a badge can't arrest someone, but sometimes they do leave them tied up for the authorities. But sometimes they don't. Sometimes they dispense judgment and their brand of justice on their own. I'm no philosophy major but in many ways these "superheroes" like The Dark Knight are Nietzchean "Ubermensch" "Over-men" or "Supermen". They create their own rules, live by their own laws, and have their own ideas of justice. It is society that seeks everyone (including those who are exceptional) to follow the same rules laid out by society. But what is society to do when its own infrastructure and rules are undermined and corrupted from within? What is society to do when its own laws are infeffectual in the face of overwhelming circumstances. They'll look away or be complicit when someone is willing to take that risk and work outside those self imposed borders.

As far as the Presidency its not just Bush. Democratic Presidents like F.D.R. and JFK have also been accused of working outside their Constitutional limits during periods of crisis. While some historians choose to interpret their actions as merely furthering the powers of the Presidency. Sometimes people want or need their Presidents to act like a Nietzchean hero. And sometimes they'll crucify them while benefitting from their actions at the same time.

Nick, do you believe that Sparta operated as a mercenary force for Athens? Read again; they were enemies. Sparta had no art, no music, no kindness or humanity; they produced nothing that lasted except a scary memory; that's us with you military guys in control and every man drafted by age five. Athens was much better, and they had a great military.

ian, your 2nd paragraph: WATCHMEN. How can a superhero with no badge 'arrest' someone?