Christopher Nolan Defends Fans' Irate Response to Dark Knight Rises Reviews
The Dark Knight Rises director Christopher weighed in about the brouhaha that flared this week after some passionate Batman fans threw a fit after a spattering of negative reviews, resulting in aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes' decision to disable user comments for the time being. Nolan's final stint in the trilogy is expected to fetch box office records this weekend and so far reviews have been mostly positive, but a few critics gave TDKR a thumbs down and some fans went ballistic. Wednesday night at the film's London premiere, Nolan appeared to defend fans' emotional response.
[GALLERY: Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway & Co. at the Dark Knight Rises premiere]
"I think the fans are very passionate about these characters the way a lot of people are very passionate. Batman's been around for over 70 years and there's a reason for that," A.P. reported Nolan as saying. "He has a huge appeal, so I think you know people certainly respond to the character."
RT's editor-in-chief Matt Atchity said in an open letter on the site that the venomous push-back may alter their policies going forward, changing its commenting system so that it no longer allows for anonymity. "You'll have to stand by your comments, just like a critic does. So you'll still be able to argue about a movie you haven't seen, but people will know it was you," wrote Atchity.
In an unrelated bout of TDKR mini-controversy, Nolan also offered up his take on conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh's opinion that the pic's villain, "Bane" is a not so-subtle reference to presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney's former employer Bain Capital, decrying the movie and its makers for maligning the former Massachusetts governor who continued to hold a major investment in the company after departing its day to day operations. Liberals have accused Romney and Bain of "outsourcing American jobs overseas."
"I'm not sure how to address something that bizarre, to be honest," said Nolan. "I really don't have an answer for it, it's a very peculiar comment to make." Morgan Freeman, who plays Lucius Fox in Rises called the whole thing "ridiculous."
The Bane character originated back in 1993, first appearing in DC Comics' Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1, according to Wikipedia.
[Source: A.P., Rotten Tomatoes, Wikipedia]
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Comments
I wish no forum or comment section offered for anonymity. If you are going to comment anywhere publically, you should have the courage to stand by your comments.
But what if Batman fans take charge, some populist comes into power saying elites are no longer going to get a free pass when they mock popular taste? If some astute critic has the bravery to direct people's attention to what is wrong and foul out there, I don't want him or her easily shunted to the side (coward!) for doing what they might just have to do -- make their post anonymously.
Right now it is really quite easy to condemn swaths of the public -- perhaps the entirety of the public -- as ill-mannered, asinine morons. Personally, I think this is because right now most of the public kind of enjoy soldiering through life's abundant afflictions, makes them feel like they don't ask for much out of life and deserve whatever good things do come to them. Watch out if they decide -- firmly -- that they've now had enough taking. In the climate that'll come out of that, note how many critics really seem like they're acting bravely, standing firmly by their comments or whatever. I promise you that a good many of them will suddenly start seeming alarmingly in sync with fans' emotional response, wondering what the rest of their peers are doing in inhibiting the development of a popular, communal, optimistic national consciousness.
A hoity-toity response for a bunch of people who HADN'T EVEN SEEN THE MOVIE YET. There is no excuse for that level of stupidity.
Appears Steve Nash is one of those passionate fans http://youtu.be/5IgXmvhX_9o
I wonder what Nolan thinks of the shootings that happend in Colorado at the premier of TDKR.
also I wonder if people will try and connect the shooting to the flick as tends to happen when people are looking for a source of blame besides the individual who has carried out such a vicious act.
I wouldn't call that "defending."
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