Reality behind the Bat

So spending some time watching Batman films and reading over the comics and I started asking myself the question of how real the world of Batman is. Ok so I did watch Glass too, but that is not the point.

It is easy to understand why so many people hold Batman in such HIGH regards when it comes to comic book heroes. I used to think it was because he was a regular guy without superpowers. Then you think about it and you say he is not a regular guy, he is a billionaire. So it is not the regular guy without superpowers deal that makes us love this character. When you look at it again you see we love Batman, his villains, and Gotham because we are these characters and live in that city. We are all broken and fractured beings that live in beautiful nightmarish places. We all have this DARK & LIGHT side to ourselves that we constantly battle. We all put on masks, with friends, family, employers, teachers, enemies, oh, and of course with the cops. There is not one person reading this that has not become “Johnny Dogood” when the cops pull them over. I think we envy Batman and the Joker because then they know that they are broken and have picked a dominant side. Where most of us are like Two Face we know there is an issue but we are unable to pick DARK or LIGHT so we are constantly flipping the coin for an answer.

This all makes me ask the question of how F#$@Ked up are we as a society. I mean so much so that we can allow the truth of our nature to be told in between the lines of books that are labeled to be amusements for children.

People don’t see themselves as Superman, simply because of the god complex that goes along with it, which is a different conversation altogether. One that I would be happy to get into in a separate thread.

So DC Nation I ask you are we all tragic citizens of Gotham, simply waiting for the one bad day for each of us to spill over the edge, or is Batman, The Joker, and Gotham City all simply fiction and I am a mere looney that has lost a grip on reality. If you think I am the looney I can except that, or in the words of the late Heath Ledger’s Joker “Maybe I am just ahead of the curve”.

As always look forward yo reading your thoughts!

No offense, but I find this to be a very derivative stance on Batman and why he appeals to so many people. It’s not that he’s a regular guy or a billionaire that makes him a fan-favorite, it’s the fact that he can truly be whatever you want him to be. You can paint him into any picture you want, be it exploding sharks, alien invaders, or grisly murders, and you can still hit the right notes and make a Batman story for the ages. And in the end, it’s not because of the shark repellent, space rocket, or brilliant power of deduction that we root for Batman, it’s because we enjoy seeing a protagonist face near impossible odds and still have the tenacity to win the fight. And that, the willingness to keep going and never stop fighting, is what I think most people find so inspiring about Batman, and why he is held in such high regard.

So to answer your question: No, I don’t believe we as readers see ourselves as broken, fractured minds who could relate to Batman’s rogues as we wait for our “one bad day”. On the contrary, I think we all (at least, we should) look to the hero of the story as someone who doesn’t crack, or at any rate can pick up the pieces and never quit. Either way though, I don’t think you’ll find anyone in this community who sees all this as strictly fiction to be taken at face value. In truth, the modern comic book isn’t much different from the mythologies of ancient civilizations (The Epic of Gilgamesh comes to mind, not to mention ancient Greek/Roman mythology), and as such I think we can all learn something from reading comics.

@Batman0803 there is absolutely no offense taken. I simply shared an opinion as you have. I do not see any right or wrong answers here. I will agree to a point with the “He can truly be whatever you want him to be”. Now I will directly ask you if you “Do you not deal with the duality of man within yourself”? This is what I am referring to when I say he is broken. Because we have seen it time and time agree Bruce Wayne and Batman are two different people. I merely compared that to us as people being different depending upon our environment. Which would support your point…of being whatever one needs to be when they need to be it.

In short, I am merely saying masks are not always physically seen items, but we all wear them. We also wear the required mask to accomplish the needed result.

Much respect for your response.