The Dark Knight Rises is in theaters this week. The world is buzzing over the film. Diehard Batman fans have been anticipating the conclusion to the Christopher Nolan trilogy since The Dark Knight was released four years ago. It’s been one of the most successful series already and the third is looking to make even more money at the box office than the first two.
The Batman movie franchise got off to a great start in 1989. Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson became two iconic characters on the big screen. Tim Burton brought Gotham City to life and people loved the entertaining aspect of the film. As the years went on, though, the darkness and edge was removed from the series. People found themselves wanting something different.
Enter Christopher Nolan.
When Christopher Nolan took over the Batman franchise it’s safe to say that most people in the movie going audience didn’t know who he was. He had directed some interesting and really good movies, but he was not a blockbuster director and writer.
Batman Begins changed that in 2005 and became a huge smash hit. The movie took the Batman story back to its roots and brought back the old fans of the series and new fans as well. The success continued with The Dark Knight and now the series ends with The Dark Knight Rises
By this point you’re probably wondering what this has to do with writing website content.
Let’s examine the storytelling of Christopher Nolan. You can use this analysis to write the content for your website. Remember that your business is interesting. People relate to stories and if you can tell a story with your business and your website you have a greater chance of earning new customers.
Let’s begin.
Flawed Characters are Appealing
People are flawed. That is something none of us can deny. We are all flawed and we all have internal struggles. In Batman Begins we get to know a very flawed Bruce Wayne. He is full of vengeance. He wants to murder the man that killed his parents. He is driven to the ends of the Earth to do what he can to take down all that is evil in Gotham City. In the end Bruce Wayne accomplishes his goal to a degree with his Batman alter ego, but he loses other things in the process. He is a flawed hero and I think that is what is so interesting about this superhero for so many people. He is a real human. He makes mistakes. This part of the story was captured really well by Christopher Nolan in Batman Begins and in The Dark Knight.
As you write the story of your business on your website remember that it is all right to admit to having flaws. Your customers aren’t looking for you to solve everything that is wrong with their world. They expect you to do one thing or maybe a few things well.
People can see right through you if you claim to be all that is good with the world. Be honest in your writing. It’s appealing to people to know that they are dealing with another human.
You can also share the story of yourself and the business on the About page. Talk about your struggles to get the business going. Talk about the successes. Telling your own flawed story is interesting just as the story of a flawed Batman is interesting.
People Cheer for the Underdog
Batman really wasn’t the underdog in the story. It was difficult for Christopher Nolan to get people to cheer for a spoiled billionaire playboy. He was able to accomplish the task by telling the real story of Bruce Wayne. Even though he was a privileged person he still had an underdog appeal to him. There was always another character in the story that had an advantage over Bruce Wayne and Batman. In The Dark Knight Rises, the Joker was the toughest mental opponent ever faced. He drove Batman crazy because the Joker was superior in psychology.
In the end Batman was able to succeed even though all the odds were stacked against him. People in the audience pulled for Batman and in the end they were able to cheer. Everybody was happy and satisfied.
People cheer for the underdog. Your story is likely an underdog story even if you don’t realize it. Tell people about how you and your company are fighting to bring the best products and services to them. You want to make it seem like you’re doing all you can and against all odds to make their lives easier. It’s an underdog story and because your intentions are good people will cheer for you and want to be part of your story.
Two Sides to Every Decision
We touched on this point earlier, but it’s important enough to mention again in more detail.
There are always two sides to every story. Bruce Wayne struggles with the decisions he makes. He knows that he wants to do only good in the world, but there is always an unintended consequence to his actions. It’s an interesting aspect of the Batman story that makes him appear more human to the viewers. When he does something there always appears to be something equally good and bad that happens to him. He can save Gotham for a time, but in the process he loses a friend or a lover or he sets up Gotham for even more pain in the future.
There is nothing more annoying in website content writing than a business that only presents one side of the story. You need to acknowledge what everyone is thinking. If you’re writing blog posts and making points think about the other side of the story. It’s difficult. I struggle with it from time to time. I’m partly writing this part of this post for myself.
It’s easy to get caught up in our own worldview about things. Consider the other side of decisions and it becomes more of a story for the reader. I think Christopher Nolan understands that and it seems to be one of the reasons the Batman series has been so successful over the years.
People Admire Drama, But Want Peace
People go to the movies for drama. A story is something that goes up and down like a roller coaster. People like that when they’re looking to be entertained, but in real life it’s much more steady. Some people try to make their lives more like a movie drama, but for the most part we look for steady peace in our lives.
Don’t fall into the storytelling trap of making your business drama-filled. People much more appreciate the fact that you’re a steady presence. Use this appeal in your writing to calm the nerves of your potential customers. You want to make sure people are comfortable giving you money knowing that you’re going to be a steady presence for them.
People want their lives to be steady, peaceful and calm. If you can provide that people will pay.
Obviously there is much more to the storytelling prowess of Christopher Nolan. You could go into detail about the stories of Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and now The Dark Knight Rises. The goal here was to pull out a few examples of how Christopher Nolan tells a story and use those as inspiration for writing your own website content.
What other ways can we take inspiration from Christopher Nolan and his movies?
Share your thoughts in the comments.
Image courtesy of The Dark Knight Rises
