Batman Begins (2005)
Jim Gordon: What about escalation?
Batman: Escalation?
Jim Gordon: We start carrying semi-automatics, they buy automatics. We start wearing Kevlar*, they buy armor-piercing rounds.
Batman: And?
Jim Gordon: And you're wearing a mask and jumping off rooftops. Now, take this guy: armed robbery, double homicide. Got a taste for theatrical, like you. Leaves a calling card.
Batman: I'll look into it.
Jim Gordon: ¿Que pasará con la escalada?
Batman: "Climbing?
Jim Gordon: We start carrying semi , they buy machines. We started using Kevlars *, they buy ammunition capable of penetrating
Batman: What?
Jim Gordon: And you use a mask and jumping from the rooftops. For example, look like this: armed robbery, double homicide. It has a taste for the theatrical, like you. He left a letter (the joker of the deck)
Batman: I'll see it.
* Material used in bulletproof vests.
Versión alternativa
The Untouchables (1987)
Malone: You said you wanted to get Capone. Do you really wanna get him? You see what I'm saying is, what are you prepared to do?
Ness: Anything and everything in my power.
Malone: And then what are you prepared to do? If you open the can on these worms you must be prepared to go all the way because they're not gonna give up the fight until one of you is dead.
Ness: How do you do it then?
Malone: \u200b\u200b You want to know how you do it? Here's how, They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of His to the morgue. That's the Chicago way, and that's how you get Capone! Now do you want to do that? Are you ready to do that?
Malone: \u200b\u200bYou said you wanted catch Capone. Do you really want to catch? Look, what I'm saying is what are you willing to do it?
Ness Whatever is in my hands
Malone: \u200b\u200b And then you're willing to do? If you open a door with these worms you must be prepared a ir hasta el final porque ellos no van a darse por vencidos hasta que alguno de los dos esté muerto.
Ness: Entonces ¿qué debo hacer?
Malone: ¿Quieres saber cómo hacerlo? así es como: si ellos sacan una navaja, tu sacas una pistola; él envía uno de los tuyos al hospital, tu envías uno de ellos a la morgue. Así es como se hace en Chicago y así es como atrapas a Capone. Ahora, ¿eso es lo que quieres hacer? ¿estás dispuesto a hacerlo?
Escalada is defined as "rapid and alarming something." In this context, The 'scale effect' could be associated to the process in which a situation starts to worsen progressively until they are completely disastrous consequences, reaching a point where it is too late to act without worsening the situation or the solution involves a significant sacrifice on the part of either party involved.
How could an effect seen in the daily escalation?
Everyday you can see examples of 'scale effect' in various situations and between different actors. In the final analysis, this phenomenon is a product of social interactions among individuals, institutions, companies and of course, the government and the governed. Both scenes Batman Begins (Christopher Nolan, 2005) such as The Untouchables ( The Untouchables , 1987) illustrate two approaches to analyze this particular phenomenon.
In the final scene of Batman Begins a conversation between Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) and 'Batman' (Christian Bale). Batman The commissioner questioned by the 'scale effect' that have generated their activities and whose consequences are evident in The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008). First, Gordon explains what the escalation: If the police force made an improvement in their weapons, criminals will too, and so to every action on one side, a reaction arises from the other side. Gordon explained that criminals caught Batman, although they were dangerous regular, and their arms and modus operandi . Of course, with the arrival of the hero (or avenger?) Weapons are inadequate and are easily defeated. In this context the rise was swift and the reaction occurs in the form of the Joker (Heath Ledger). Intelligent, smart and definitely a lot of care opponent and cause horrific scale disasters, as later seen in the sequel. Given this, the question arises: Is Batman the cause of the rise of the Joker? When viewed from the perspective of the scale effect, the joker is the natural response to the new criminal force embodied in law enforcement Batman. On the other hand, it could be argued that the Joker would have emerged anyway without the prior existence of Batman, but at least in the film opts for the argument favoring the hypothesis of escalation. Before a judge who uses extraordinary methods, the scale effect is reflected in an extraordinary criminal methods.
Another approach to the analysis of the scale effect shown in the film The Untouchables (Brian de Palma, 1987), particularly in the scene showing the conversation that hold Sam Malone (Sean Connery) and Elliot Ness (Kevin Costner) into a church when the latter asks Sam to help in the capture of Al Capone (Robert De Niro). At that time, Malone test the extent to which Ness is willing to go in achieving its objective. When Ness says he will do whatever is in their hands to catch Capone, Malone explains his particular vision that definitely fits into the scale effect. If criminals pull a knife, the response from the police is acting with guns, if the criminals send someone to the hospital police force, the answer is to send one of the criminals to the morgue. Each action is a reaction (perhaps applying equal and opposite the third Newton's law, but this analysis deserves a separate post.) Maybe that's why in a later scene, when the Untouchables will give her first blow to Al Capone and his business, Sam asks Ness last time if you're willing to get involved to the bottom and accept the consequences of the escalation effect that he would start. As the movie illustrates, the scale effect resulted in a progressive worsening of the situation, until you reach a point of no return. Finally, a party won, but the sacrifice was big enough Malone had predicted in a cruel irony of fate.
Although the two cases referred to the two parties involved are criminals versus villains precisely the aim of this paper is designated as the scale effect can occur in many situations and with different participants. A concrete example is the Cold War. In the conflict between the United States (USA.) And the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), the effect was climbing at various levels and dimensions. The most visible in the military. Both EE. UU. and the USSR were involved in an arms race in which the announcement of a new weapon by one side, the other responded with another military-technological advance. In this case, the scale effect is related to zero-sum game (the gain of one is the loss of another) and the domino effect. If a party that a country could adopt its ideology, there must be a reaction from the other side to continue climbing, otherwise, as explained by the domino effect, the surrounding countries also tend to adopt the ideology of his neighbor. Fortunately, in this case did not reach a point of no return, but the tension in this period was latent and constantly feared a direct confrontation broke out caused by the escalation effect.
Perhaps the key was exactly where the effect was not climbing on one level but on several, and the economic and related Soft Power (the dimension given by Joseph Nye). The economic outlook is associated with the assumption that competing ideologies were based on its economic model. Why it was so important to react to any sign of economic strength of the opposing side. Other less obvious battlefields were in the level of soft power, represented by culture, science, technology and even sports. For example, in the Olympic Games during the Cold War era, the rule was given by the capitalist versus communist countries, especially USA. UU .. The effect is escalating in what he was willing to make each side to defeat the other. In some editions was up and other other side. However, as in The Untouchables, the victory earned a high price. Just look at the athletes of that time and the terrible consequences of their bodies and health, in some cases irreversible, due to the 'aid' extra sports. There are other fields that can be analyzed from the standpoint of the effect the conflict escalation EE. UU. USSR, as the space race. The truth is that this phenomenon is presented with different intensities and shades of the Cold War and perhaps that is not fully developed in the dreaded camp, as there are other points of vent.
IN THE NEXT POST: What would be the balance between inaction and the scale effect?
