I disagree about women and Batman. There is a great appeal for younger women. My daughter has already seen it three times, and she reports most of her friends are going as well. Heath Ledger is a factor, but I think it is more of generational thing.   

The Dark Knight is reflecting contemporary society and morals and all the conflicts.   I still disagree about the Joker and 9/11 - the makeup was nothing more than an artistic vision of trying to turn a comic book character into reality.   The idea of the Joker falling in a vat of acid and having his skin turn white and hair green would not fly with this type of movie. The idea of the scarred mouth and makeup was a way to make the character seem real, I sincrely doubt there was any idea of trying to reflect an image of the twin towers.

This movie has stayed with me, and most people I've talked to are saying the same thing. It challenges the audience while entertaining them - something rare in summer blockbusters.