scarecrow

According to Freud, the subconscious was simply a holding tank for all of ones repressed desires and emotions. Jung agreed with him on this point, but also believed there was another level beyond this ‘personal unconscious’ called the ‘collective unconscious’. In this collective unconscious (something that all humans shared) are archetypal figures drive us to go through stages of life, some of which might include being nurtured, accepted, courted, wed, and becoming prepared for death. These archetypes he claimed, are innate and universal, which is the reason why it is not hard to find similarities in all ancient folklore across the globe. It is why we tend to have the same symbols for the same things, and have similar rituals.

The scarecrow costume is one of these archetypes. No, not just something to scare away the crows from your fields or to follow Dorothy skipping down the yellow brick road. The scarecrow represents ‘the shadow’ archetype. The shadow, in dreams is a dark and terrible figure because the shadow is the side of yourself that you do not wish to show to others. All nice people have dark inner thoughts that they choose not to acknowledge or act upon because they identify with this mask of being ‘nice’, likewise all mean and nasty people have a shadow that is nice, which they also choose to ignore. We all have the capacity to be good or bad, but once you make up your mind to be a certain way in society, the shadow is what you have left behind.

The scarecrow is a fearful figure because for most of us, it is all the bad inside that we never want to see. It is only natural that this figure would come up in movies or print as something undesirable ranging from someone with no self confidence who wishes that he only had a brain (wizard of oz), to someone who acts upon his want to see others minds destroyed by fear (batman begins). So the next time that you see a scarecrow in film, books, or even your own dreams, you have a little insight as to why the writer (or your own mind) has put it there.

May we reconvene under the blood red moon,
-Black Widow

Within the Batman universe(s) there are plenty of fantastic villains to jazz up plotlines and make Bruce Wayne’s life something like a living hell from time to time. The silver screen has seen many of them, but recently a few got an updated look and new hype due to Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008).

First was Ra’s Al Ghul, who didn’t so much have a mental issue as he did a Grand Master Plan that he was intent on completing. The power that he held was something to be feared, as well as the fact that Bruce believed he was a friend until halfway through the movie.

Batman

Second was Dr. Jonathan Crane, aka the Scarecrow. In the film, he wasn’t entirely ‘bad’ like Ra’s. He didn’t know that the fear toxin he was developing would be spread throughout the city to cause panic and mayhem, but he certainly had no qualms using the inmates at Arkham Asylum as guinea pigs to test it on. He’s the kind of man who is so fascinated by the human mind (specifically the effects fear has on it) that he will go far past what is considered humane to further his research. He gets joy out of seeing a mind contort and collapse into itself, and he loves to pick apart people to see into their darkest corners. Batman himself intrigues the scarecrow.

Third was the Joker, my people’s favorite of the group so far. (Mr. Ledger’s performance was amazing, after all). He is a man that doesn’t follow any rules. Money, power, and human life mean nothing to him, and he does what he does just for the trill of it. He enjoys chaos and creating chaos at any cost. Unfortunately for Batman and Gordon this means that there is no bargaining with him, no deals, no threats. He simply doesn’t care. This is why some say he is the most dangerous Batman villain there has ever been and will ever be. As Alfred said, “Some men just want to watch the world burn.”

The fourth is Harvey Dent, who towards the end of the movie became Two-Face. The least ‘bad’ of the four featured in the movies so far. He is driven by his sadness at losing his girlfriend and almost-fiancé, Rachel. The Joker used him to prove a point, that “madness is like gravity, all it takes is a little push”. He wanted to prove that he could break Gotham City’s golden boy, that anyone could be broken, anyone could become a villain; and he succeeded. Harvey couldn’t cope after Rachel’s death, and decided that there was no right or wrong in life, it was all chance. So he began using his two-sided coin (one side scarred now, like his face) to make all his decisions for him. His morals were out the window now, and he went about exacting revenge on those who had a hand in Rachel’s death. Some he killed, some he set free, but all of it was based on a 50-50 chance.

I hope the next movie can live up to the first two.

May we reconvene under the blood red moon,
-Black Widow