Reply #105: What an odd set of circumstances. Warning: potential spoilers

[The Backlash Cometh]

First of all, the internet blogs hatched because the media lost their ability to criticize. The art of criticism, was therefore safely being practiced on the tubes, while the papers were busy being toads for their newspaper bosses. We have had to make do on our own, so we are now of independent thought. I'm guessing that's why this movie critic sees the public discourse on the net as "mob mentality." Since we've learned to live without the middle man, our combined voices must appear like a unified movement, even though it couldn't be further from the truth. Most of us feel very isolated, which is the reason we jump on the net to begin with.

BTW, I saw Dark Knight and found the concepts refreshing. It is so true that A) people want a white knight, but B) that white knight has to remain pure in order for people to continue believing in him, therefore, C) all the other guy has to do is destroy the white knight's public image, by getting the white knight to cross the line so there is no difference between him and the people he's trying to put behind bars. i.e. Elliot Spitzer.

So, the movie basically exposes the human conundrum. Nobody can meet our expectations 100%, so someone has to play the dark knight, doing things which break the rules (homeland security intrusions), but they also have to be willing to take the ire from the public for those breaches.