Is George W. Bush the Inspiration for Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight?

Stay the course is not a strategy, say some of President Bush's most ardent critics. As people die, a shift in strategy is needed, as attested by his low poll numbers. It is time, others reason, for him to abandon his cause of endurance, because it is a futile and unpopular policy.

But perhaps the most interesting thing of all is that all of these possible ideas on such a theme dissipate when these critics walk into a movie theater: what was once considered a "devastating" policy based on misguided arrogance and an unshakable desire to see the truth manifests itself in roaring applause and whole hearted support when the protagonist is being given the advice from Alfred, the dutiful and sagely butler at Bruce Wayne's side.

As the world burns into flames around him, facing diminishing support and a desire to just cave into what characters adamantly refer to as absolute terrorism, Gotham's Dark Knight is ready to cave. He wants to give in - if he just shifts plans, if he just gives himself up as the terrorists demand, maybe people will stop dying and a ray of hope will shine in on the people of the city who have suffered hospital bombings, selected assassinations, citizen kidnapping, and even video tapes of torture sent in to local news media.

However, as the billionaire is at his weakest, he confides himself in his friend.

"What would you have me do Alfred? People are dying," he tells him as he is burning his documents in total preparation of giving in to the Joker's demand to unmask himself.

"Endure," Alfred tells him. He goes on to explain that the road ahead is going to be an unpopular one, people will not like his decision, which will undoubtedly result in the deaths of more innocents - from civilians to police officers to elected officials. He tells him that he must, in essence, stay the course, and the people will not love him for it, but it is what needs to happen.

Initially when I walked into The Dark Knight, I was readying myself for what was told to me to be a heavy handed attack on the Bush Administration's domestic surveillance policies, which manifested itself in a form of protest from Lucious Fox, the character played by Morgan Freeman. It is true that when Batman is at his darkest hour of need, in an attempt to locate the Joker and undo everything that has been loosed on Gotham, he does set up a surveillance system that allows him to monitor every cell phone in the city. What's more, each cell phone emits a kind of sonar that allows him to map out every individual action in real time of every person using such a device.

The idea that this represents any kind of attack on the Bush Administration is largely cast aside, however, as much like the current Democrat controlled Congress, Lucious, despite an initial protest, concedes to the point, that catching the Joker is an imperative goal, there is no other option.

The film, throughout its course, runs a gamut of themes that are surprisingly benevolent towards the currently unpopular president, bringing to light a cadre of issues that seemingly turn the moral philosophy of anti-war critics upside down when the shimmering camera light of the Associated Press is replaced by an IMAX theater.

Throughout the film, Gotham's most ardent heroes are constantly tried to their very foundations by the world of madness around them.

With the body count piling, loved ones appearing on hit lists, and no end in sight to the terror unleashed by Gotham's most frightening foe, figures from Harvey Dent to Commissioner Gordan find themselves imposing tactics to catch the madman that they would not otherwise.

In one particularly telling scene, Harvey Dent manages to kidnap one of the Joker's men, and brings him to a remote and macabre place where the man is tied to a chair for interrogation. He is wearing a name tag that reads "Rachael Dawes", an absolute message from the Joker that this woman, who happens to be Harvey Dent's love interest and potential fiancee, is the next target.

Faced with what he feels to be no other options, what can be described accurately as psychological torture is unleashed on the man.

In a form of Russian roulette, Harvey threatens the man with a gun, and warns that a game of heads and tails will determine his fate. Although the game is rigged, and both sides of the coin are heads thereby insuring that the man will suffer no permanent damage, the effect is clearly seen on the man throughout the scene before Batman arrives to stop Harvey. The intent, he advises, is not to stop him from doing something morally unscrupulous, as the caped crusader unleashes his own volley of torture throughout the film (even dropping one particular subject from a third or fourth story balcony with the sole intent of breaking his legs for information), but because of the damage it would cause to the man's image.

Better for Batman to remain the villain than the public defender, District Attorney Harvey Dent.

The Dark Knight is a film built on a Machiavellian premise, told ultimately through the advice of Alfred, who consistently explains the illogical mentality of men who only want to do harm unto the world. In one particularly blunt examination of the film's philosophy, he explains how in Burma to catch a bandit who was stealing from the local government, when all their wit was at an end, they finally captured the man by lighting the entire forest on fire, which seems to unlock something in the grieving Bruce Wayne.

The final premise of the film, told in Batman's flight from the police, is that the dark knight is not a hero, and he does not ask to be, but rather does what is unpopular so that he can do what is right. The Joker, indisputably, needs to be stopped, as his reign of terror represents nothing more than a psychological addiction to chaos.

But all the same, a bereaved people call on Batman to just meet the terrorist's demands, and despite all of this, he is advised to stay the course, to fight the terrorists, and endure the unpopularity of such a decision.

This ushers the question of whether or not, with so many similarities to the stay the course strategies against modern terror, George W. Bush represents the current icon or inspiration of Christopher Nolan's own Dark Knight.