**WARNING: Profanity up ahead**
There's a particular reason why the quote above is from the Dark Knight Rises. Besides the fact that I've had this movie on repeat since Saturday night, it's going to be a Batman thing this time. Sue me. I'm a fan.
Before anyone gets lost because they don't know what the hell I'm talking about *coughthosewhodidntseethemovieyetcough* The Dark Knight Rises takes place 8 years after the last movie, The Dark Knight. Batman/Wayne takes the fall for Havey Dent's murder and disappears from the public eye, becoming a social recluse. For 8 years, Bruce has been angrily simmering inside his home due to the events that took place in the last movie. I refuse to provide any significant spoilers; watch the movie! For those who have seen the movie, shush. Let other people have nice things.
This particular conversation I'm going on about is 25 minutes into the movie, more or less. It's when John Blake pays Bruce Wayne a visit in order to try to convince him to be the Batman again. He knows that Wayne is the Batman but he doesn't understand why he took the fall for Dent's murder. What Blake does know, however, is what it means to have a sort of rage running deep in the bones. He explains that his mother died in a car crash when he was small and his father was shot over a gambling debt. I don't know about you, but something like that would make me even angry at the world.
"Not a lot of people know what it feels like to be angry, in your bones. I mean, they understand, foster parents, everybody understands, for awhile. Then they want the angry little kid to do something he knows he can't do, move on. So after awhile, they stop understanding... I figured it out too late. You gotta learn to hide the anger, practice smiling in the mirror. It's like putting on a mask."
It's true. Everyone understands for a while. They talk to you and are there for you like they said but after that while is over, those same people, legit just get sick of your shit. They give up tolerating you, dealing with you, and eventually, wanting to have some sort of relationship with you (friendship or relationship; take your pick). Everything gets so damaged because everyone stops trying to understand and get involved as to why.
That's when the anger just gets shoved down and locked away. It doesn't disappear. It simmers so deep that it settles in the bones; by then it's second nature. That's how the smile that can hide all the pain and sadness gets formed and perfected. With just enough practice, no one would ever be able to tell because no one can understand the reason why; they can't be bothered to. No one ever stops to really ask, "why?" and I mean, really ask. It's easier to just give up and walk away from the person because the situation got overwhelmingly difficult.
Things like that only add on to the anger that's already there. It's not any better, just a little worse. But no one really, truly cares to be bothered to deal with it; they just tell the person to "get over it" and "move on". If it were only that easy, I'm pretty sure that person would've done that by now.
Whatever the case may be, the end result is this mask and secrets no other outsider would be able to know about. For some people, their sort of difficulty is worth it because underneath all that rage and fake, yet perfected smile, is the real individual. If ever they show this part of themselves, consider yourself lucky.
