Prompt 2: Performitivity

I've had trouble thinking of an example for this one, but I think I have something that works. In the final sequence of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, Jim Gordon performs an act that Harvey Dent intends to be infelicitous. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F2M6sgjXTE. It is a fairly common thing for a father or a mother to tell their child, "everything's going to be alright". It is almost as common for a parent to do so when they don't know the true outcome of a troublesome event. Also this scene hints at the fact that Two-Face had to tell the love of his life that that everything would be alright just before she is tragically blown away by The Joker. What I like about this scene is that although Dent intends for Gordon's statement to be one of deception and malice, the Caped Crusader turns this performative act into one not of malice but of truth. For Gordon's child everything is going to be alright (in relative terms). If Batman had not intervened Gordon's kid could easily be dead, bring victory to Dent in his lustful vengeance. It is also interesting to me to see how much Dent is affected not by Rachel's death in general, but in how he handled the situation. It is devastating to him that he was the one who was saved instead of her, and what's worse is that He told her it was going to be okay. Because Dent was unable to follow through on his performative act by saving Rachel, he is forced to strongly question his character, motives and his very existence in Gotham City. Consequently, Dent's identity is changed forever. He becomes Two-Face, the obsessive super criminal who no longer considers himself citizen of Gotham, but rather an instrument manipulated by The Joker to bring about chaos to the unsuspecting people of Gotham. Because Harvey is unable to follow through with making everything "all right" for Rachel, he loses his sense of self. This forces him to project his anger on to Gordon, who's version of the same performative act is made valid by the intervention of Batman. This of course sets an entirely new story in motion. One where Batman must wear the mask of villainy in order to protect not only Harvey's reputation but the entire city of Gotham.