Political Scandals

Gotham's "White Knight"

In “The Dark Knight,” Harvey Dent, the district attorney of Gotham City, is portrayed as the “White Knight” of Gotham because he fights crime during the day and uses the legal system to criminalize thugs and mobs, unlike Batman who works during the night and uses his fists to clean up Gotham; hence the “Dark Knight.” But the focus here is on Dent. In the movie, Dent goes from being a public hero, to a two faced antagonist, no pun intended, which ultimately leads him to his downfall. The reason is because he was influenced and tempted by unethical tactics to get through criminals the hard way, but Batman advises him not to because it would lead to political scandal, resulting in mistrust and malaise in government of Gotham. It is not until when the Joker corrupts him to madness which only then now believes that the use of any force, ethical or unethical, would clean up Gotham of its injustices.

Gotham's "Two-Face"

America's "Tricky Dick" Nixon

            This theme directly relates to the political scandals that have happened in the United States, especially in the presidency. First and foremost, I would like to start off with the rise and demise of President Richard Nixon. President Richard Nixon’s first term went amazingly well, he did the things Lyndon B. Johnson could not do. He, like Dent, was tough on the policies of law and order, wanted to relax tension with China and Russia, which he did, and ended the Vietnam war. Most of the American population loved Nixon, and as obvious result of his reelection in 1972. But suspensions started to surface and it showed Nixon’s true “face.” According to the document “Senator Sam J. Ervin Explains the Watergate Crimes” in 1974, Nixon was charged with bribery, espionage of the Democratic party convention at the Watergate, installation of recording devices in the White House, blackmail, and public deception all in the name for his reelection. Americans started to notice that Nixon’s contributions and actions as commander in chief were just factors of necessity to ensure a second term. After the sad truth, people felt a malaise with the government and concluded that even elected officials at the highest level cannot be trusted. Another scandal that people also took to heart was Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky, also resulting in disbelief that even the President himself cannot combat the unethical behavior of the new age.