[bobdrake]

Possible spoilers for Batman Begins. Don't read if you don't want to find out.

Economic collapse in the movies seem to be all the rage these days. First there was the "Peak Oil" movie on FX. And this year there is "The Deal" starring Christian Slater and Selma Blair. Coming out in '06 is Southland Tales (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405336) starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and The Rock. From imdb.com "Southland Tales is an ensemble piece set in the futuristic landscape of Los Angeles on July 4, 2008, as it stands on the brink of social, economic and environmental disaster."

I thought a theme in "Batman Begins" was economic collapse. They mentioned the "Great Depression" several times and how Gotham was able get out of it. Liam Neeson said the method that the "League of Shadows" was going to use to destroy Gotham was "economics" this time. Public transportation in the form of a commuter train seemed to have a large presence in the film both a a plot point and an early scene with Bruce Wayne and his parents. The commuter train is able to efficiently shuttle the Gotham residents to their jobs and Bruce's father suggested that the train and his companies saved Gotham in the Great Depression.

Economic collapse seems to be on filmmaker's minds these days.

[I_Like_Plants]

Yeah I saw a thing about it on the main PO site, it has me interested in this movie.

And yes I do think PO is starting to seep into the general consciousness.

[MicroHydro]

I was floored when I saw the movie. Just as in the old Soviet Union, in these times, US filmmakers must communicate through subtle symbolism. The movie was chock full of references to a corrupt government of the decadent economic elite, indistinguishable from its organized crime partners and economic warfare (from Asia!) resulting in a depression.

So I was very pleased to see the essay about the movie online today and posted it to the news.

[I_Like_Plants]

Wow I want to see it now, amazing this stuff gets through to the mainstream, considering all of our media is run by about 5 guys. And inter-owned by the big corps etc.

The real underground stuff is at Sundance etc which means 99.9% of us never get to see it.