Bruce Wayne/Batman is my favorite figure from the comic book mythologies. He is dark, he is elemental and he conveys truth in a metaphysical and psychological way. And Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy is pure awesomeness - I must have seen The Dark Knight two dozen times in the last nine years.
The Best Superhero Origin Film Of All Time
Batman Begins stands, in my eyes, as the best superhero origin film of all time.
The film tells the tale of a man formed by tragedy, who seeks to overcome his fear, while at the same time trying to satisfy his need for vengeance, morphing it into a quest to bring justice to Gotham.
Bruce Wayne, a billionaire orphan, has come back from the dead after being MIA for seven years. What has he been doing for those seven years? His answer? Trying to understand the criminal mind.
The Skeletons In Bruce Wayne's Closet
Bruce Wayne is angry, ashamed and guilt-ridden over the death of his parents.
He blames himself for their death (it was his fear of bats that caused them to exit the opera performance early and get mugged and shot to death in a dirty Gotham alley).
He feels shame for not avenging their death (a Gotham crime boss took care of that by ordering a hit on the man who shot Bruce’s parents).
And he is angry, his heart and mind swimming in a sea of unresolved emotions.
From Gotham To Bhutan And Back Again
After wandering the world anonymously, working with criminals and living on the streets, he winds up in a Bhutanese prison. From there he is released by the main villain of the film, the leader of the League of Shadows, Ra's al Ghul. It is Ra's al Ghul (posing as a man called Henri Ducard) that gives Bruce direction and propels him forward, even though Bruce blows up his compound, after being unwilling to execute a man for murder.
We all know what happens when he comes back to Gotham and after Batman is created. What I want to do now is examine whether Bruce Wayne should have done something else with his life - electronic darts, maybe, or writing haiku. And would that have been better for Gotham?
The Question Of Escalation
Like any good superhero, he does kick ass and the criminals run scared, but is he actually creating a better world? Is he making things better, or worse?
He acts out of a dark place, without a positive vision for the future. He beats criminals to a pulp with his bare hands, but he is merely creating a vacuum that has to be filled.
Like all superhero films, this one inadvertently tries to sell us on the notion of the noble sacrifice, of doing the hard, but right thing. It subliminally portrays Batman as a just warrior, fighting a fight that MAYBE can be won, if he does what is necessary. It sells us on the fantasy that Batman can sacrifice Bruce Wayne and his happiness for the good of the people of Gotham. It sells us on the idea that those two things are separate from each other.
The better the film, the more it sells us on things we do not question or examine under the light of reason.
At the end of Batman Begins, James Gordon and Batman meet on the roof of the Major Crimes Unit. This is their conversation:
Batman: [taps the Bat-signal] Nice.
Jim Gordon: I couldn't find any mob bosses.
Batman: Well, Sergeant?
Jim Gordon: Oh, it's Lieutenant now. You really started something. Bent cops running scared, hope on the streets.
Batman: But?
Jim Gordon: We still haven't picked up Crane or half the inmates of Arkham that he freed.
Batman: We will. We can bring Gotham back.
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. Jumping off rooftops. Now, take this guy.
[pulling out a file]
Jim Gordon: Armed robbery, double homicide, has a taste for the theatrical, like you. Leaves a calling card.
[shows Batman a plastic evidence bag containing a Joker card]
What about escalation, indeed?
All you need to do is watch The Dark Knight to understand what escalation looks like.
This is its face:
I do not write this because Batman Begins needs to be analyzed. I write this because our assumptions about the world need to be examined.
There is a lot of metaphysical truth to be gleaned from films and TV shows. Some of it tells us of deeper patterns that govern human lives, while some expose us to the beliefs and prejudices of our day.
We can all agree that Batman is a product of trauma, of negative emotions, but also of great power and energy. Bruce Wayne, whether he wanted to or not, has become a powerful man. It is not just because of his money or who his parents were, but the combination of life circumstances, things that he has suffered and his inner beliefs that makes him powerful.
He believes in his power to affect change, but he lacks the vision to see what kind of a change he is creating.
Bucky Fuller said it best:
So, look at this image and tell me, did Batman bring a change for the better, or worse:
His actions create ripples all throughout Gotham. He brings hope to Gotham, but a shaky one. The people are, to an extent, psychologically dependent on their dark knight to save them and keep away the baddies.
And the baddies are running scared, but also organizing, coming together. And the Joker gets his reason for being.
In a Gotham without Batman, there is no Joker. THAT is a metaphysical truth.
Now, is it reasonable to expect anything else from Bruce Wayne, or Batman? No. But there are lessons to be learned.
Batman Begins is not a story of Gotham because Gotham is not conscious. Gotham will swing whichever way those with power direct it. This is so because Gotham is ruled by fear and insecurity. Batman Begins is a story of Bruce Wayne DECIDING to become Batman.
He could have chosen to rise from the dead and dedicate his life to building things, making his city a place where corruption cannot flourish, where people feel safe, but instead he focused on the problem. And the problem was all he saw.
Call me crazy, but if Bruce Wayne decided to become more like Nikola Tesla and less of a vigilante bat, Ra's al Ghul would have never reached Gotham.
He would have probably died from food poisoning or something. Life is strange that way.
The lesson that I draw from this is:
It may seem hard, or even impossible, to ignore the problem or do nothing to oppose or fight it, but that is what is required if we are to build something new. A thought at a time, in the right direction, and any change is possible.
If not, we might need to live through a decade of insanity and suffering, and MAYBE we can fake our death at the end and go live somewhere with Catwoman.
Until we get bored and find another problem to fight.
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