The Dark Knight Rises: Is Your Safety Net Hurting You?
Do the safety nets we give ourselves stand in the way of our success?
In The Dark Knight Rises, Batman has been “gone” from Gotham City for eight years. After the death of Harvey Dent (Two-Face), many consider Batman a villain, and Gotham hasn’t needed him. The police have violent and organized crime under control. Bruce Wayne is a recluse.
Until a new villain, known only as Bane, arrives in Gotham. He plans to first tyrannize and then destroy Gotham with a nuclear detonation. Bruce Wayne comes out of retirement and becomes Batman again to protect the city, and is betrayed into Bane’s hands. Bane cripples him and dumps him into a prison that’s essentially a hole with only one way out—straight up.
“Why didn’t you just kill me?” Bruce asks.
“You don’t fear death,” Bane says. “You welcome it. Your punishment must be more severe.”
Bruce is willing to die, so death won’t hurt him as much as seeing Gotham turn to dust. Bane leaves a television active so Bruce can watch the plot unfold.
Even while he is in the prison and claims to fear death, Bruce says, “I do fear death. I fear dying in here while my city burns and I’m not there to save it.”
It wasn’t death he feared at all. It was dying, forgotten, in a hole, rather than dying a hero, in the process disappointing everyone who depended on him—losing his ability to be Batman.
Bruce Wayne, unlike most people, didn’t need to stop fearing death. He didn’t fear death. He feared life.
After his wounds heal, Bruce makes two attempts to climb out. Anyone who wishes to escape ties on a rope (to keep them from dying when they fall) and tries to climb the curved, vertical wall.
Both of his tries fail. He’s running out of time before Bane concludes his reign of terror by killing everyone.
Finally the man in the next cell tells Bruce the secret. He has to climb out the way the only one who ever succeeded, a child, did—without a rope. To succeed, he has to be willing to risk complete failure because the fear that comes with it will make him strong. It’ll make him fight harder than he otherwise would have.
Sometimes you have to let go of the rope if you want to succeed.
When Bruce leaves behind the safety net of the rope, he’s able to make the jump. He’s also able to realize that Alfred (his faithful butler) was right when he accused him of being afraid of living and moving on beyond Batman. Batman was the rope, the safety net, in his life.
Not all safety nets are bad. My husband and I keep an emergency fund in case we have unexpected expenses. When I rode horses, I always wore a helmet.
But I’ve also cut some safety nets because I’m better, stronger, and happier without them.
Grief can be a safety net. So can anger.
Because my mother-in-law has been divorced four times, my husband and I agreed before we got married that we’d only consider divorce in the case of adultery or abuse. Without divorce as our safety net, we had to be certain we were making the right choice, and we’re forced to work hard to keep our marriage good.
Blogging and being on social media cut my writer’s safety net. Now if I fail, I do it publicly. And if I quit, you’ll all know it. I don’t have the safety net of anonymity anymore.
What safety net might be holding you back from a happy life?
Aug 06, 2012 @ 13:44:20
Interesting! I haven’t seen this yet, because I went to Total Recall instead. Huge mistake on my part! As for safety net…mine was holding onto a job I really didn’t like for the safety of having a paycheck. It became a good excuse for not writing, for not following any dreams at all, for coming home and falling into a stupor every night. I let go of that job, and now I’m flying out here without a safety net…writing. Following a dream. With no choice but to see it through. It’s scary out here, but in a good way 🙂
Aug 06, 2012 @ 19:44:50
That’s one of the reasons I jumped into freelancing as soon as I finished my master’s (I worked another part-time job on the side to make ends meet at first). I knew that if I got into a career with stability and a regular pay check, I’d never reach my dream. So I cut the safety net.
Aug 06, 2012 @ 14:11:28
I was like Melinda. I stayed at a job for the same reasons too. I decided the fear would be there either way, so it was better to go after the thing I really wanted.
Great post Marcy!
Aug 06, 2012 @ 19:47:59
Regular jobs aren’t even as safe and stable as they once were, so I agree – it’s so much better to go after what you really want.
Aug 06, 2012 @ 17:46:57
Some of the happiest changes in my life started out pretty anxiety or frustration-filled. One huge perk of being highly sensitive (like most writers ;)) is discomfort with what others find comforting. For me that’s routine, “safe” jobs I don’t love and seemingly safe relationships I sense aren’t right.
Lately, I’ve been progressing from writing fewer, larger non-fiction projects and articles versus many smaller, but steady, pieces. Your post has reminded me that the mild discomfort with less consistency is a great thing—and a sign of personal growth.
Aug 06, 2012 @ 19:47:11
You’re so right about mild discomfort being good for us. It forces us to work harder and push ourselves in ways we wouldn’t have before.
I also passed over a couple safe relationships because I knew they weren’t right. My husband was a huge risk because we had a long distance relationship right up to our wedding and we were from different countries. But walking away from the safe and taking a risk allowed me to end up married to my best friend.
Aug 06, 2012 @ 20:00:06
I haven’t seen this yet, but I’m always amazed at the great topics you can find from movies, Marcy. And I agree, safety nets can be harmful. I struggle with mine a lot – putting myself out there is scary, but the cliché of no reward without risk is so true!
Aug 09, 2012 @ 01:47:59
Thank you! The little lessons are how I see the world. Sometimes it drives my husband crazy 😉
Aug 06, 2012 @ 20:25:10
I saw The Dark Knight Rises this weekend, and this is the exact same message (one of them) that I took away from the movie: you’ve got to cut the rope of safety if you want to succeed.
Like you and your husband, when I got married, I’d already lived through one divorce – my parents when I was seven. So we decided that unless there’s adultery, the only way out was death. We even tattooed our wedding date on our shoulders with the Japanese symbol for unity.
In order truly succeed, we have to want it bad enough to not have a safety net. We have to *know* that this is it, we’ve got to make it work, we’ve got to succeed. I took away that lesson for not only my personal life, but also my writing life. Take chances, without a safety net, and you’ll find a way to succeed.
Thanks for the great post, Marcy!
Aug 09, 2012 @ 01:50:20
I love the idea of having your wedding date tattooed on. My husband would have jumped at that idea, but I’m terrified of needles.
Aug 06, 2012 @ 23:10:34
Great post. I can see your point, though that wasn’t the first message I got out of the movie. I think conquering our fears is a constant struggle. Bruce conquered his fear of death, of bats, of society’s views, his identity, of losing those he loved – but he had to conquer his fear of living well. He could exist – he had that mastered, but Alfred challenged him to live well – face the truth live well. Maybe I should blog about that…. 🙂
Aug 09, 2012 @ 01:50:58
I’d be interested to read it if you do. A lot of movies have more than one message to them.
Aug 06, 2012 @ 23:11:56
I also have a day job that could be a safety net – but with a family and a husband who’s self-employed, it would be irresponsible for me to leave that. I also have wonderful coworkers who are also my readers, and get inspiration for stories there, so I’m not sure I’d want to.
The safety net I’m cutting is only writing longer projects. I’m writing the first short story I’ve attempted since college, and it’s a little scary – so little time to get all that characterization, emotion, and yes, plot in!
Aug 06, 2012 @ 23:31:32
Even while cutting our safety nets, we still need to be smart and responsible. Since your husband is self-employed, I don’t think your job is a safety net. Your job is a necessity.
Short stories are challenging. We don’t have nearly the room to develop things. They force us to write tight and choose the perfect details.
Aug 06, 2012 @ 23:13:04
Nearly a year ago, trying to rebuild my life in the middle of a bitter divorce, I decided to take a chance on a new career. I was doing well financially where I was but I hated my job. The new job was a risk because I was told there won’t be a lot of work for a few years but the door is open NOW. While this year has been a struggle financially, I made as much in the one month that I actually worked as I would have in 6 months in my old job and there’s more coming. To sum up, I agree. Without the willingness to take a chance, we will never be free. One other point… there truly is nothing we can’t learn from Batman!
Aug 09, 2012 @ 01:53:08
It’s sounds like you might the right choice. Sometimes we have to sacrifice in the short term to end up where we want to be down the road.
And you’re right – Batman is one of the great sources of wisdom 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!
Aug 07, 2012 @ 02:53:56
This post really struck a chord with me. And not just because I’m a sucker for anything comic book related. I’ve refrained from watching the movie. Partly because I followed the books for years and knew what Bane meant for Batman and partly because I’m not emotionally ready to see it.
Safety nets are great. They help us build the confidence we need, but you are right, they can become a crutch, an impediment to true success. We have to be willing to take the consequences of our actions, for good or for bad. If I might quote another geekdom: “There is no try. Only do.”
Trying is practice. Doing is, well . . . doing. Either you do and succeed or you do and fail. Succeed or fail, you learn. You learn to trust yourself and to let yourself continue to do.
Aug 07, 2012 @ 19:38:07
Oh there you go making sense again.
Very nice post, Marcy and a fantastic way to relate a “fiction” world and character into the real world. Fiction is based on reality after all so we need to look a little deeper I think into the fiction worlds we create as writers.
Patricia Rickrode
w/a Jansen Schmidt
Aug 09, 2012 @ 00:52:06
Love, love this post, Marcy. I completely empathize with the analogy. Like you, I had to “let go” to be on social media. Recently, it took me a lot of self-confidence to admit that I am a writer, and even more to publish my book.
In the first movie, Bruce had also to face, and eventually embrace, his fears. Thanks for reminding us that we all should do it.
Aug 09, 2012 @ 15:25:35
I love these movie posts you do, Marcy. I have lots of safety nets if I sit down and think about it. Blogging and social media took away several but there are a few more to be examinned. 🙂
Aug 09, 2012 @ 20:34:11
Great post Marcy! I’m gonna have to think on that one 😉 I think not fully committing was a safety net in my past. Something that took years to overcome. So long as I didn’t fully commit, I couldn’t fail. But then, I didn’t succeed either. Since fully committing to my life, I’ve seen massive change in my inner life, which has directly affected my outer life in a great way. Thanks for makin’ me think!
Aug 16, 2012 @ 04:02:46
INteresting analogy. Good read. I wrote a review of the Dark Knight Rises. If you’d like to read it, let me know. I enjoyed your take with this blog. Thanks for sharing.