The Fictional Christopher Nolan

233 Pages·2012·11.33 MB·English

by  Todd McGowan

THE FICTIONAL CHRISTOPHER NOLAN
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UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS PRESS, AUSTIN
T H E F I C T I O N A L
cHrIstOPhER
n o lA N
BY TODD MCGOWAN
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Copyright © 2012 by the University of Texas Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First edition, 2012
Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work
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∞ The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of
ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R1997) (Permanence of Paper).
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
McGowan, Todd.
The fi ctional Christopher Nolan / by Todd McGowan. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-292-73782-2 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Nolan, Christopher, 1970—Criticism and interpretation. I. Title.
PN1998.3.N65M35 2012
791.4302'33092—dc23 2011048569
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For my mother, Sandi McGowan,
and in memory of my father, Bob McGowan,
who both ensconced me in a fi ction from early on
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
INTRODUCTION
The Ethics of the Lie 1
CHAPTER 1
The Snare of Truth: Following and the Perfect Patsy 19
CHAPTER 2
Memento and the Desire Not to Know 39
CHAPTER 3
The Dirty Cop: Insomnia and the Art of Detection 67
CHAPTER 4
The Banal Superhero: The Politicized Realism of Batman Begins 87
CHAPTER 5
The Violence of Creation in The Prestige 103
CHAPTER 6
The Hero’s Form of Appearance:
The Necessary Darkness of The Dark Knight 123
CHAPTER 7
A Plea for the Abandonment of Reality in Inception 147
CONCLUSION
Lying without Consequence 171
NOTES 179
BIBLIO GRAPHY 209
INDEX 215
CONTENTS
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Thanks to the Interna t ional Journal of Žižek Studies for permission to
publish a revised version of the essay that appeared as “The Violence of
Creation in The Prestige,” International Journal of Žižek Studies 1, no.
3 (2007): http://zizekst u dies.org/index.php/ijzs/article/view/58/120.
Thanks also to Jump Cut for permission to publish a revised version of
the essay that appeared as “The Hero’s Form of Appearance: The Neces-
sary Darkness of The Dark Knight,” Jump Cut 51 (2009): http://www
.eju mpcut.org/archive/jc51.2009/darkKnightKant/index.html.
I owe a tremendous debt to my students at the University of Vermont,
who have constantly advanced my thinking about cinema in general
and Christopher Nolan in particular. I’m also thankful for the support
and generosity of my colleagues within fi lm studies a t the University of
Vermont—Dave Jenemann, Sarah Nilsen, Hyon Joo Yoo, Deb Ellis, and
Hilary Neroni. Outside of fi lm studies, Joseph Acquisto, John Waldron,
Emily Bernard, and Eric Lindstrom have been invaluable.
Thanks to Andrew Barnaby for reading and providing extensive com-
mentary for the chapter on Memento. The inspiration for that chapter
came from our joint teaching of the fi lm.
I am grateful to Jonathan Mulroney for his catholic perspective,
which sees what I tend to overlook.
I appreciate Jean Wyatt and Quentin Martin’s careful reading of the
chapter on Inception. Whatever clarity it now has is due in no small part
to their efforts.
Thanks to Slavoj Žižek for his many forms of assistance and generos-
ity, which are always done without concern for recognition or plaudits.
Sarah Nilsen and Michael Ashooh provided challenges to my certi-
tudes and infusions of new thinking.
Danny Cho read several chapters and provided suggestions that
sprouted into entire new sections of the book.
I am grateful to Jennifer Friedlander for her invitation to speak on
Inception at Pomona College an d for her penetrating questions. Most of
all, I am indebted to her and Henry Krips for being theoretical comrades.
Thanks to Sheila Kunkle, who has provided years of dialogue and in-
cessant construction of new forms of fi ction, without which I would be
fl oundering.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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