batman

‘Apply a paradigmatic analysis to any Hollywood film. To what extent are these paradigmatic oppositions aligned with the manichean divide of melodrama?’



In this essay i intend to show how my chosen film fits into the preconception of classic Hollywood narration. The film which i have decided to study is Batman, staring Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton. Batman is ‘the’ classic comic book movie and i would say it has been the blue print for all of its predecessors. I am going to closely analyse the two main characters, Batman and his arch enemy The Joker. I will show how linear there relationship is and how much these protagonists have in common.

Because of the comic book influence Batman is a perfect example of mainstream Hollywood narrative. The strong melodramatic plot of good verses evil follows right through the movie. The trajectory which each character takes is quite different yet these two centres of power always end up on the same path. For example Kim Basing...