But fortunately, the Joker isn't the only one calling the shots. In one scene in the movie, the Joker puts the lives of two separate groups of people in each other's hands. His ultimatum—kill or be killed. The setup is one to prove that chaos rules and that any choices we make along the way will only be a product of our own flawed nature. But, let's just say the outcome proves to be a bit more complex.

In another moment of impending doom, life and death hang in the balance waiting for no more than the "decision" of a shiny coin spiraling through the air. The claim of the coin's owner: This world cares no more than the coin whether we live or die; so why should we believe that our lives mean anything at all? But as the root of even his torture acknowledges, lives do matter, actions do make a difference, and we can step in and change outcomes for the better.

Far from absent, Batman still proves key to saving many lives from the Joker's web of chaos and destruction throughout the movie. Creating a system of almost citywide surveillance, he becomes momentarily Godlike in his knowledge. It is a difference in perspective like that between the traffic helicopter advising us on our morning commute versus the reporter stuck right next to us in traffic. And in that moment, he proves that as much as any power greater than us may be easier to fear than believe in, we still need it.

Cue the final scenes of the movie. They are sad, they are confusing, and they are maddening. I admit, at first, I hated the movie's conclusion and wished it could have ended some other way. But as the film's entire story has begun to sink in more, and the complexity of its myriad of questions, ideas, and messages has continued to swim around in my mind, I have to say, the way it ended was probably the only way it could have.

Like I said, in The Dark Knight, Batman actually becomes a bit more of a Christ figure than a human hero. And the end of the film follows that idea. If Batman is a Christ figure, then The Dark Knight is the story of what it actually looks like for us to have a savior in our lives. At the same time that he is depended upon, he is also despised and rejected. As much as his supreme power is needed, he also recognizes the need for the people of Gotham to know a hero with a face. And as much as his ability to take down entire warehouses of thugs may be a mighty tool in the fight against evil, he recognizes that the most powerful weapon the people of Gotham can have may very well be their own ability to see themselves as empowered, to know that their desire for good can triumph over their vulnerability to evil, and to believe that no matter how dark their lives may become, there is one who is willing to take that very darkness on himself so that they may continue on in hope and freedom instead of in imprisonment and despair.

"That's the point of Batman," Alfred (Michael Caine) tells Bruce Wayne/Batman. "He can make the choice no one else can make, the right one."

You could look at the end of The Dark Knight as a lie. You could see it as the ultimate deception. Or instead, you can see it as a different take on forgiveness, as a grittier look at grace, and as an honest representation of the amazing power that lies in both when paired with the freedom of choice we all possess

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