~ essay on the Daredevil character & television show.
Blind x Catholic x Lawyer
Who is Matthew Murdock? The hero of Daredevil is unique in two key respects: he is blind and he is Catholic. As a superhero, these facts mark him for a variety of unique storytelling opportunities. How he perceives his world informs his practically precognitive combat capabilities, some of the most complete and satisfying in the Marvel universe. And how he harrows his soul in the work of superheroics, using exacting violence for earthly justice with religious zeal, resolves Daredevil for golden stories, often concluding inside darkly lit yet crimson-glowing cathedrals.
As a lawyer, Matt fully reveals his man-on-a-mission archetype. He never gives up, acting as a dual force of justice with fact-finding monologues and bone-crunching fists in the courtrooms and back alleys of Hell’s Kitchen. At Nelson & Murdock, you get storylines where Matt defends clients he later chases down to interrogate as Daredevil. Karen Page gifts us Matt’s heart, along with the rogue nurse Claire; Stick shows us his rage while Elektra reveals his passions, past and present.
After a life of fortuitous misfortunes and intense martial arts training at the hands of stony Stick and sexy Elektra, Mr. Murdock returns home to Hell’s Kitchen as a lawyer hero ready to save his city from within.
From who? From anyone 1) exploiting the law or 2) taking human life.
In this, Daredevil is clear in his philosophy, though not without some extreme existential wrestling on the matter soon to be borne.
Marvel Comics 1970s ~ Daredevil intro text: He dwells in eternal night — but the blackness is filled with sounds and scents other men cannot perceive. Though attorney MATT MURDOCK is *blind*, his other senses function with superhuman sharpness — his radar sense guides him over every obstacle! He stalks the streets by night, a red-garbed foe of evil! ~ Stan Lee presents: Daredevil, The Man Without Fear!
The Extended Depths of Brutality
One thing I love about Daredevil is that the show is not afraid to take the violence to the limit. A back-alley boots-on-the-ground hero like Daredevil gets face-to-face with some of the best foes in action cinema: goons and gangsters, secret societies of ninja assassins, fellow rogues crossing arcs. Blades, bullets, bodies hard as stone and as large as bears.
Hyper-violence is on display in Daredevil’s world from the jump. From moment one of episode one, we see our resident blind monk in black bandana and Muay Thai ropes around his knuckles. He is beating ass and he is doing it in long-ass takes. Daredevil houses much satisfying actioneering cinematography and marathons of physicality.
Marvel’s Daredevil | Hallway Fight Scene [HD] | Netflix:
Daredevil was a Netflix production originally, and it appeared they wanted to break the Marvel mold by going more adult. More blood and death, the real raw stuff of crime cinema.
With characters like Wilson Fisk and Frank Castle, the brutality reaches an apotheosis. Through his bouts against Kingpin and Punisher, the writing of Daredevil gets to shine. These are antagonists that Matt must overcome not just physically, but spiritually. The morality of murder and the necessity of brutality to change the rotten world we’ve been handed, these dilemmas are where Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Jon Bernthal get to absolutely cook.
To Kill or Maim // What is Justice?
One thing people always find amusing about characters like Daredevil and Batman is that they still beat people down, break bones and perhaps even maim their criminal prey. The no-kill rule may succeed in showcasing our heroes to never stoop as low as their massacre-mad villains. But it also does not preclude them from inflicting pain and suffering on their villains.
Well, it’s all part of the crime-fighting genre. Combat and violence and the physical splendors of superhero stories is the whole core of the art. So the question of whether or not to jail or murder criminals becomes a clear ethical dividing line for the supermen vigilantes that roam our comic phantasies.
For me, what is most compelling, and indeed life-affirming, about the no-kill rule, is that it abides in the endless creative opportunity of life. Creation is possible, life can move in new directions. We are not defined by our past, and death steals infinite potential. Protecting the sanctity of life is not just an absolute statement, it is an affirmation of verve in the power of the human spirit. We are capable of growth and change and redemption is possible. Execution, no matter how much blood a criminal may have on his hands, is not the humane way. It is not the way of compassion, nor of Christ.
Everyone has their own opinion on the death penalty. Certainly, everyone could one day be challenged with facing such a dilemma as judge, jury, or executioner.
Daredevil’s way of justice is tested first and foremost by the Kingpin, Wilson Fisk. But Elektra and Frank Castle meet him there too, sidelong blows to his philosophy from fellow vigilantes seeking justice, each with past pain and an invincible motive. Stick’s divine mission against the international forces of darkness previously forced Matt to seek the solo path. Elektra’s seductions nearly broke him onto another path.
What is most satisfying about Daredevil, as a show, is the culmination of every path in Season 3. As Matt faces Fisk from prison, we see the full arc of two brand new characters in Benjamin “Dex” Poindexter and Rahul Nadeem, two FBI agents who become embroiled in Kingpin’s schemes. Dex is a gifted and cursed man shown down a truly tragic transformation; Nadeem is a man caught inside of a system, seeking security and advancement and stability for his family. The various arcs and resolutions of Season 3 were truly a grand work to behold.
In the end, Daredevil proves himself to be a true hero, among the pantheon of best-written comic greats.
Looking forward to Daredevil: Born Again. ~
Thresholds of Transformation 