Christian Bale and his Messiah Complex

This short commentary about Mr. Bale is not intended to be malicious but only an example of the grandiose ambitions of actors/actresses in the performing arts.

I have wondered whether or not Christian Bale suffers from a messiah complex in the roles he chooses to play in film. It came to my attention over the Easter weekend where I spotted him playing the role of Jesus in one of the many apocryphal tales on the subject. I watched for a couple minutes and changed the station only after I had established a certain trend about this actor. It seems that this early role where he plays Jesus was the precedent for more popular roles where he was attributed with the title of the savior. Well the three most prominent roles that emphasize my point are his role as Jesus in a forgettable film, Mary, Mother of Jesus (1999), about Jesus and his mother; his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman in the Christopher Nolan trilogy (2005, 2008 & 2012) where he plays a caped capitalist crusader pitted against various crime factions (external and internal) that wish to affect his lucrative investments; and lastly his role as  John O’ Connor in Terminator Salvation (2009) (Salvation ring any bells) who wages the last great resistance against the dominant machines which is the only hope for mankind. Everyone in filmdom is aware of his famous tirade on the set in a particularly emotional scene.  In The Fighter (2010) he does portray someone, Dicky, who is the source of inspiration for his brother Micky (Mark Wahlberg).  In that film the ego of the character, or Bale’s, shines through especially as a supporting actor he dominates the screen and, initially, it seemed as if the film is about to tell his story. This is not to say anything against Bale but this exemplifies how people can assume roles that they will never be qualified for in day to day living especially as it requires a supernatural effort of physical prowess, concentration and dedication.  When Christian Bale was turned out of the house of a popular political figure in China under house arrest we see the menace of a man who lives out his fantasy in reality. He staged this furor shortly after filming The Dark Knight Rises (2012). It also makes you wonder about the other actors/actresses that have messiah complexes associated with their celebrity status which is more often than not generated following their various representations on screen as individuals that most people in the audience cannot relate to in their day to day living. Even the representation of a real live character in human history can be represented in the most grandiose fashion making them appear godlike to the insignificant other on the other side that has to pay to be thrilled by the fictional experience in most cases.