The Dark Knights

When I was 16-going-on-17, unlike my Sound of Music counterpart Leisel, I wasn't dancing around in rainy gazebos with my Nazi-wannabe boyfriend, but I sure did like them. Boys, that is. Not Nazis. Especially bad ones, or in this case, lost ones. I distinctly remember sitting in a dark movie theatre with several of my girlfriends, watching Jason Patric, Keifer Sutherland, and the other Lost Boys and I was mesmerized. I mean, I'd witnessed male beauty before. Andrew McCarthy in Pretty in Pink and Duran Duran had taken care of that. But this was different. The bad guys were just as compelling and sexy as the good guys, maybe even more... Plus, they were vampires, which I've touched upon before:

Vampires are cool. Forget the translucent skin, dire need for a tanning bed, and somewhat confusing ‘undead’ status for a moment and think about it. And just to clarify, we’re talking about the seductive vampires here, like Chris Sarandon in Fright Night, Stuart Townsend in Queen of the Damned, and Gerard Butler in Dracula 2000, not the bald, nasty bat-like things they turn into if you pour too much holy water on them, or the Nosferatu type. {shudder} Definitely not that kind. I’m talking about the graceful, cat-like, sense-enhanced kind, who wear dark clothes and pay a lot of attention to your neckline. Maybe that’s it, the whole neck thing - I mean, isn’t the vampire’s ‘kiss’ really just the mother of all hickeys? I don’t know about you, but I can think of a lot worse ways to go than having a gorgeous stranger go to town on my neck for an indefinite amount of time. There’s also the enhanced strength, hypnotic and telepathic abilities, and let’s be honest, these people know how to dress. Silk and velvet, flowing cloaks, scarlet lips, and classic black all around – elegant and sophisticated. It’s not just the bad lighting that keeps them out of Wal-Mart. And they’re smart, too. Think about it – they stay out of the sun and they’re immortal – coincidence? I think not. Their aversion to garlic implies that oral hygiene is a priority, and the fact that they can look so good without ever having to check in a mirror is well, impressive, to say the least. And from all the films and books that have been dedicated to them, I’m guessing that I’m not alone in my observations, either.

So when I heard recently that they had cast Heath Ledger as The Joker, Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two-Face, along with the ever-so-lovely Christian Bale as Batman in the next Caped Crusader film, I smiled to myself. Because 20 years later, the fight between the good guys and the bad guys rages on. And I just hate choosing sides, don’t you…?