Monday Moan

Hear me moan: the weekend was not long enough.

I was feeling a little down on Friday evening and on Saturday, cheered myself up with a celluloid date with Christian Bale and the gang. The Dark Knight was fantastic! The gadgets/vehicles were superb and while other people are raving about Heath Ledger’s performance as The Joker, I find myself falling in love with the dark, brooding Christian Bale (or is it Batman) all over again. I couldn’t peel my eyes off the screen and was going ‘Cool!’ and ‘Terrific!’ every now and then. (I have one complaint though, why Maggie Gyllenhaal? Why, oh why?). I have always liked Batman (even though I may not follow the comic books) and those who played him - Michael Keaton’s cute lips when donning the mask, George Clooney’s good looks and now Christian Bale.





And the line that stuck most with me is: ‘The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you, the dawn is coming’. Funny how lines in fictional movies like that can give me a nudge.

And mind you, it’s not just another silly, mindless flick that doesn’t let you think and insults your intelligence. Instead, it grapples with an array of moral and spiritual issues with the same old classic theme: good vs evil, order vs chaos, and the escalating conflict between them. Are people basically good or basically evil? What is a hero? Does the end ever justify the means? Is there a purpose to suffering or is it all the product of blind chance?

The Joker does a good job of being bad (is that an oxymoronic statement?!). He wants to see a good man go bad. He wants Batman to break his one rule and kill. He wants the crusading Harvey Dent to show a face dissolved in the acid of hate. He wants the citizens of Gotham to give up faith and plunge into nihilism.

And under such pressure, Bruce Wayne nearly breaks. With his city burning, people dying, and those he’s trying to save blaming him for it all, he asks Alfred what to do. Alfred advises him to endure, ‘You can be the outcast. You can make the choice that no one else will face—the right choice.’ Bruce Wayne has chosen the hard way, the way of the Leader. The young man who wanted to inspire hope and galvanise action learns that there are both rewards and penalties for moral leadership. To attain their greatest good, he finds he must sacrifice the good will of the people he’s trying to help. Hence, he agrees to take the blame for Two-Face’s murders so that Harvey Dent can be remembered as a hero, prompting Commissioner Gordon to explain to his son, ‘He’s the hero that Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now ... and so we’ll hunt him ... because he can take it ... because he's not a hero... he’s a silent guardian, a watchful protector... a Dark Knight.’

Even for ordinary people like you and me, each day presents us with choices. Sometimes the choice is easy. Other times, it can be difficult. Ironically, our greatest difficulty comes when the choice is clear. Will we move forward, heedless of what people will think or say? Or will we shrink back into the shadows of safety? Are we willing to be the outcast, the pariah? Or must we be the hero, even if we’re only defining ‘hero’ in terms of popularity?

I have a good mind to bring my nephew to watch it. And I can definitely watch it again and again, Peach! (Sorry if I spoil it for the rest of you who have yet to watch it!).

After that long sitting where my legs fell asleep and I momentarily forgot how to walk again (but I have no complaints at all), my mate and I went to perform prayers before having lunch. Then we went to the shopping trinity of Ikano/The Curve/Tesco and had fun browsing and shopping before having a late dinner (made even later and slower by the confused waiter – we had to ask twice for our food and I even seriously thought of cancelling our order before we were finally served. I doubt I would ever set foot there ever again). The prayer room at Royale Bintang was quite good (albeit a bit cold).

It was a long day on Saturday indeed.

I managed to drag myself out of bed and out of the house on Sunday morning and went for a walk around the hilly neighbourhood before staggering back 8,466 steps or 4.233 km and over an hour later. I will build up the distance slowly and surely. And who knows one day I might even jog instead of brisk walk. Still a long way from being fit as Fàbregas, but better that than nothing.

No, weekends are never long enough. Time just flies when you’re out spending money (movies, meals, purchases) and simply drags when you’re trying to earn money. (Like I once said to Akak, whatever that is fun costs money and whatever that is boring and trying - like a 5-km jog - costs little or not at all. And whatever food that’s good for our body tastes blah but whatever food that’s bad for us tastes yummy. Facts of life.). And now it’s Monday again.

I think Garfield says it well too.