RAH, RAH, AH, AH, AL GUHL: TALIA AL GHUL

The following is an opinion piece written by Kristina, which does express the entire site’s opinion on the subject matter below. 

Talia al Ghul is a beauty that leaves you lusting. Your own lust would lure you into an intimate kiss of death, which would be a lovely way to die at the feet of such a woman. Her lips were never meant for you to claim, it is not what her father wishes nor does she wish. It is for The Detective. She is the daughter of the famed Ra’s al Ghul, the love interest of Batman (The Detective), and the mother of Damian Wayne who is the current fifth Robin. If the introduction to her was not a dead give away that she is not Batman’s average love interest who falls victim to pity villains’ plots. She is the villain! She is also the hero. It is rather confusing is it not? Hence, why I titled this post as RAH, RAH, AH, AH, AL GUHL: TALIA AL GHUL this is similar to my Poker Face: Catwoman. Where I have taken another Lady Gaga song, “Bad Romance”,  and related to a female Batman character. I would like to state that I am not a fan of Lady Gaga, but my best friend continues to think everything is just Gaga. I listened to the song and it works well with Talia al Ghul. Since I wrote Poker Face: Catwoman, I should try and give a chance to Talia. Throughout this post, I state a brief bit of the character tying into her anti-heroism and how she would be portrayed in The Dark Knight Rises if Christopher Nolan made Miranda Tate’s entity as Talia al Ghul.

Talia al Ghul is both villain and a hero, which makes her an anti-hero. Anti-heroes are just the best because they are not like regular heroes who have images of being exceptionally brave and charismatic that makes people idol them for their deeds. Anti-heroes are not like villains where their actions are acts of evil. Anti-heroes hold lovely place between good and bad just like black and white; anti-heroes are the grey between what makes things polar opposites. Anti-heroes are the ones who make looking sinister attractive and cool. These are the people who are motivated by their own personal gains and desires. If their actions lead to either the good or the bad, it is more or less circumstantial. They can steal something without remorse because they are using it for good, or they can help the police because they are the ones leading the police away from interfering with their underhanded deeds that maybe bad. They are the grey between black and white giving balance to the world around them, which makes these anti-heroes dangerously idolized in pop culture.

Talia al Ghul is another anti-hero in the Batman universe who can be good one second and bad the next.  When she is being good, she can be very helpful in Batman’s cause for justice. However, her bad side comes out when she is blindly loyal to her father, Ra’s al Ghul.  The two men in her life can cause Talia’s barometer to jump between the worlds of good and bad.  However, when she is left to her own deeds she is as grey as the color. According to Red Hood and the Outlaws ,  Talia works to make Jason Todd (former second Robin) to become a fighter again by introducing him to the Ancients who teach him how to fight better. Now, please do not take this as a total sign of goodness she does this to gain her good graces with Batman. Since her father was a direct reason for why Jason Todd died and was resurrected to become a crazed Red Hood filled with hatred and anger against Batman for not saving him. This is just a simple example of Talia’s anti-heroism for which she chooses to do good deeds to benefit herself with others.

Now, you would ask why is she obsessed with Batman approval? Is is she a stalker? Talia is not obsessed or a Batman stalker who sneakingly gets pregnant by Batman to birth their son, Damian Wayne. Well…she is not obsessed, but that did kind of happened. The reason why this happened is because Batman refused to become heir to Ra’s al Ghul’s criminal empire. His refusal also meant not marrying Talia, who is interested in Batman as a potential partner in continuing her father’s work to change the corrupt world at any means. Ra’s al Ghul is a total villain conceptually speaking.  However, Talia does like Batman as Bruce and Bruce does like Talia. Their relationship is very complicated, which is why when my friend told me about “Bad Romance.” I titled the post with the beginning chorus line of the song. I must say the song ties very well to her relationship with Batman:

I want your ugly
I want your disease
I want your everything

As long as it’s free
I want your love
Love-love-love
I want your love

I want your horror
I want your design

I want your psycho

I want your love
And I want your revenge
I want your love
I don’t wanna be friends

‘Cause you’re a criminal
As long as your mine

I want your love
And I want your revenge
You and me could write a bad romance

The song is a nice touch to the relationship between Talia and Batman. It refers to how she likes him for who he is at the masked vigilante. Unlike like Batman’s other love interests including Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Talia accepts his duality as Bruce and Batman. This is much appreciated by Bruce because it is tough for him to be loved since vengeance and justice has become him. Any average woman would not accept this because it is a bit weird and awkward to speak with a man who dresses up as a bat. Even for Selina Kyle who has her own duality as Catwoman. Bruce and Selina would never work because their duality are part of their lifestyle as normal Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle. They would not be able separate between being Batman and Catwoman, which makes them incompatible. Talia, however, is not phased by this and she does not have a duality for she is a whole personality. What you see is what you get. Fortunately for Bruce/Batman, this is a strong woman who sees pass the duality and accepts the man as he is. As long as Batman is her interest as potential partner/husband in Ra’s al Ghul’s empire, he will forever be part of it hence the birth of their son, Damian Wayne.

Talia has become iconic as being a very strong female character in the Batman universe. She is claimed to be one of the sexiest comic book female characters in Comics Buyer’s Guide.  Even her name represents her well. When you translate Talia al Ghul’s name, it means “Next Demon Head.” However, when you look up the real name Talia’s name means “Dew of God,” which means that she is a sprinkle of blessing. Sometimes, a blessing can also be curse.  This can relate to Ra’s al Ghul’s name, which means Demon’s head. His name relates to his villainous ways to perfect the world into his own ideals of what a world should be. This can be found in my DKN peer’s work on Keeping the Detective’s Villains Fresh, where he discusses Ra’s al Ghul. Ra’s is similar to Satan who creates his own world of Heaven that is Hell. Talia’s personality is unlike her father’s, although she does carry out his plans and sticks by his side because that is her father.  Her presence by her father’s side shows her loyalty. Talia has her own thoughts about the world, but since she is the grey. I am sure she does not care how perfect the world is. She is out for her own interest, good and bad is just a circumstantial process that will find its way in the world. She accepts this concept, but will always follow her father’s wishes when she sees it is best for her benefit. Talia’s presence in this world is blessing because she does not wish to harm nor help the world. Thus, her name, Talia, sprinkles a bit of her presence when she sees fit to her moral compass to act either to help or harm it is her choosing as an anti-hero.

For the longest, since Marion Cotillard’s character photos of her in a silk pink top with brown pants and knee high brown boots leaving a Gotham City building with henchmen around her. Cotillard’s character’s name is Miranda Tate, in which the actress has stated that her character is a good guy and is not Talia al Ghul in anyway. However, such an actress who won an Academy Award for his portrayal as  Édith Piaf in La Vie En Rose , would do a simple minor character in the biggest most successful franchise of this generation’s Batman? She must think we are fools, YOU ARE TALIA, DUH?! It is just that Christopher Nolan is not calling her character that. If Miranda Tate is Talia al Ghul, her character in The Dark Knight Rises would be to avenge her father’s death by crippling Bruce/Batman by becoming his love interest and destroying him later. What could happen is that Talia al Ghul falls for Bruce and sees that his loneliness and lost has already tortured his soul. The death of Rachel Dawes leaves him vulnerable to looking for compassion for a woman who might represent her. Talia will see this as opportunity to get close, but sees that his Batman days are over and falls for who Bruce is a tortured soul. However, when Bane comes into Gotham I believe she would be reminded of her reasons for getting close to Bruce and take vengeance. This my opinion of Miranda Tate as Talia al Ghul. We do see TV spots and photos of Miranda Tate with Bruce on a number occasions as well as her being decked out in a silk top gi with hench men around her. This could mean that she is Talia al Ghul in the utmost.

More or less, Nolan knows of Talia al Ghul as an anti-hero would put a spin on her character as an ally and become an enemy who loves Bruce making him a long loved interest, which this caters to the song, “Bad Romance.” A romance that is toxic and destructive, but attractive enough to fall for over and over again. Talia would never accept Batman as a simple desire, but a love interest that she would never have of course that would not stop her from being part of his life. This goes for Batman as well for she is one of the women who accepts him as a whole for the drama, the ugly, and his revenge. They could write a bad romance in The Dark Knight Rises, I wonder if Nolan will?  We will soon find out if Miranda Tate is just Miranda Tate or an entity of Talia al Ghul.

Rah, rah, ah, ah, al Ghul!

Comment below or on DKN Facebook about what you think of Talia al Ghul as an anti-hero or as a straight up villain? Do you think Nolan is going to feature Miranda Tate as Talia al Ghul? Is Bruce’s relationship with Miranda Tate going to be similar to the relationship of Batman and Talia in the comics?

-Kristina