Review of Defendor (2009) by Connie C — 09 May 2010

The Dark Knight has to be, by far, the best superhero (if you want to call it that) movie ever, I'm sure most of you will agree.

I think Defendor ranks second.

Years ago, I read this comic book spin-off tale of Batman, titled Real Worlds. In it, the Batman character was an intellectually disadvantaged young man with a heart of gold whose main purpose in life is portraying the caped crusader while going about his simple life in a simple neighbourhood, helping his neighbours and being loved for it. At the end, our hero paid the hefty price of nearly losing his life, and his naivete and earnestness.

I'm not sure if the writers for Defendor took a page from that little comic book but this movie, and Woody Harrelson's great performance, delivered a similar portrayal.

Arthur, aka Defendor, is a simple man who works at construction by day and serves as vigilante crime fighter by night. Like the Dark Knight, he has no amazing alien-born powers, he is merely a man with tools, driven by a purpose not unlike Bruce Wayne. He befriends jaded streetwalker Kat who uses him for her own selfish purposes but in turn learns a hard lesson about honesty and sincerity - a lesson Arthur demonstrates to the entire city when his story was highlighted in the media. Like all classic superhero stories the bad guy falls, but our heroes pay the price for that. Foolhardy though Arthur may seem, but like all great heroes, he never falters from his path of righteousness and honesty and remains true to the bitter end. He inspires goodness.

It's not the perfect movie and as the plot developes you do find yourself questioning the integrity of how events played out and why certain characters didn't seem to respond in ways you think they should. I for one am wondering about how the crooked cop, tortured and interrogated by Defendor and simply emerged in the next scene like it was another typical day in his life. No immediate repercussions there. I wonder, also, why our female lead returned to the bad guy knowing full well there'd be trouble awaiting. Plot happens, for the sake of happening sometimes.

Still, when you balance the pros and cons about this film, you can forgive.

One thing rather true in this film though, while a community is generally eager to be sympathetic to someone with intellectual or any kind of mental disabilities, we seem less inclined to want to understand them or really listen to them. In our sympathies, we put ourselves on a pedestal and look down on them, talk down to them, and be ever so quick to dismiss them, no thanks to the label of disability.

In the film, we see that clearly in the the legal system who acquitted Arthur on account of his mental status. We see the police closing one eye on him which unfortunately also means being blinded to the valuable information he carries. We see the streetwalker, Kat, mooching off Arthur only to learn the value of his friendship at the end. The psychiatrist too, begins her assessment with skepticism and mild frustration but sees the value of what Arthur represents at the end of her assessment.

What is probably hardest for me to deal with, is the "friend" who has been custodian for Arthur, who should be the one to look out for him and know him best. When you look back at the entire story, he (and his wife) seems to be the one who understands Arthur the least though they know the most about him. Ever so concerned with keeping to the norms of social expectations, they neglect the importance of what meaning and purpose means to a man, and in their attempt to save Arthur, nearly destroyed all the life that resides in him. Arthur, fortunately, doesn't stay down for too long. And in the words of Harvey Dent, he certainly didn't "live long enough to see (himself) become the villain".

People who do not fit in to societal norms do make us nervous. We are concerned about how they stand out and if they're close to us, we are concerned about how they make us stand out as well. I'm not going to say that you got to "look at the beautiful person inside" or that "everyone's a unique snowflake". Sod the cliches.

Just take a moment think whenever you next come across someone who doesn't fit in, someone who stands out. Just think. If nothing else, think about how much these individuals contrasted the cow you have become in your herd of millions; and how at that moment when you are so thankful for not being like them, you have so unknowingly reinforced that herd mentality for yourself.

If you should be concerned about how these people are different, try to understand why they are different. The why always gives meaning to the how.

And think twice before you use the label "abnormal".