Dark and light

This morning I witnessed something beautiful, light, joyful, and full of love: I was graciously invited to the wedding of a couple of my parents' friends. These friends have been together for 37 years, and they were finally making it official. Why now? Because they both happen to be men. Whatever your opinions about what's natural or appropriate, I'm of the opinion that a 37 year commitment transcends them. I felt honored to be there and to see the love written on their faces as they said their vows. That kind of love makes me believe in equality.

Tonight I watched The Dark Knight, which was incredibly good. Much more complicated and darker than I expected, though, given the tone of Batman Begins. I'm so impressed with what the actors, director, and writer did. The fact that a blockbuster film, a superhero film, can be a moneymaker and still maintain its artistic integrity makes me hopeful about the state of filmmaking today. Maybe it was the success of the first movie that enabled them to be so uncompromising on the second movie. Whatever the case, they did a wonderful job.

I'm not sure I could find any fault with the movie. I did enjoy it, was very impressed by it, but it left me feeling kind of raw. It is satisfying, but not in the easy way most superhero movies are, giving the audience those moments of triumph and the bad guys all defeated in the end. The script was great, full of twists and turns, playing heavy on the morality theme and surprising you again and again just when you think it's played out. Subtle, too; the direction so assured, the performances so precise, obliterating any other performances you might've known in the past (if you were worried about that sort of thing).

What great writing, great acting, great vision. I'm so interested to see what they'll do for the next one.