Daily Dialogue — December 27, 2016

“Dear Bruce. I need to be honest and clear. I’m going to marry Harvey Dent. I love him, and I want to spend the rest of my life with him. When I told you that if Gotham no longer needed Batman we could be together, I meant it. But now I’m sure the day won’t come when you no longer need Batman. I hope it does; and if it does I will be there, but as your friend. I’m sorry to let you down. If you lose your faith in me, please keep your faith in people. Love, now and always, Rachel.”

— The Dark Knight (2008), screenplay by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan, story by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer, characters by Bob Kane

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Failure, suggested by Melinda Mahaffey and Will King.

Trivia: In one draft of the script, a reference to Robin being related to Rachel Dawes was considered. The character of Dick Grayson was not explicitly mentioned, however Rachel Dawes is revealed as being a relative of the Grayson family. Christopher Nolan had it removed because he didn’t want to build hopes up about the Robin character appearing in a future film.

Dialogue On Dialogue: The contents of Rachel’s letter is delivered as voice-over narration over a series of images featuring Batman confronting the dire results of his failure to stop Joker from killing Rachel and causing Harvey Dent to be badly burned. It is a pivotal low moment in Bruce Wayne’s life in the movie causing him to deeply reflect on who he is and what he’s doing in the following scene with Alfred. Both scenes are included in the clip below.