And our hero dressed in demonic body armor and beats the crap out of them with his bare hands.
Why is this significant? Because Penguin, Scarecrow, Riddler, et al, are firmly in denial. They prance around in the garb of civilization, yet they undermine its foundations at every opportunity. (Or used to, in Riddler's case) The Joker is most likely an exception to this, as he firmly mocks society at large and its values.
Batman, on the other hand, sees himself as what he is: a warrior. He's at peace with that, and dresses accordingly. He doesn't hide guns in umbrellas or use chemical weapons in fist-fights because he doesn't have to; his place in society is already secure.
On the other hand, Penguin, Riddler, Joker, Two-Face ( who even wears a two-colored custom suit, too! ) and don't have the same identity crisis as Batman. They've merged their inner demons into their regular wardrobe, and are a composite between monster and man. Batman has staunchly separated himself into two identities, a ditzy playboy and a dark knight.
ReplyDeleteIt could be argued that even though Batman saves lives instead of taking them, what he's done is even unhealthier. Of course, the people who argue that tend to view Batman as a whiny man-child with anger problems, and that's not really a hero I like reading about. Perhaps the lesson here is that everyone has their demons, but Batman channels and unleashes them at the right targets?
I tend to be of the mind that Dark Knight and Ditzy Playboy are both two masks worn by the real Bruce Wayne, who's not entirely either. He's certainly more Dark Knight, since Ditzy Playboy is almost entirely a facade, but when written well, he's more amicable to his friends and allies than the typically stern and oftentimes scary Dark Knight.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'd argue that most of his enemies have a dividing line between who they once were (Crane, Dent, Nigma) and who they are now (Scarecrow, Two-Face, Riddler.) It's the infamous "one bad day" the Joker was so enamored of in The Killing Joke; the event horizon when who they were died. Of course, Bruce Wayne had the same type of event, but the ability to slip back into the Ditzy Playboy has always been a part of his "schtick", just as much as Crane's focus on human experimentation and Dent's coin tossing is.
The relevant point, I think, is still that Batman doesn't dress his new identity in a false mask of civility.
Incidentally, Catwoman doesn't really fit into any of these molds, further making her unique among his foes.
Ahhh. In that case, I agree about the villains.
ReplyDeleteThough I'm tempted to think back to David Carradine's Superman monologue in Kill Bill, and think the " civilian identity being a mockery of human weakness " applies better to Ditzy Playboy Bruce.