The Politics of The Batman(2022)

 

                                           

                      

The city of Gotham seems to be in a perpetual state of ruin- a powerful elite with a monopoly over wealth and power leave very little for the general populace, who eventually turn to the common vices of humanity- crime, drugs, and chaos become the norm, and justice is nowhere to be found. The institutions that once stood for law and order- the police, the courts, the politicians- soon enough become a just a front for even more corruption. It's in the midst of some of Gotham's worst times that Bruce Wayne builds himself to become a figure that stands for something larger than himself- he brings hope to a city clouded in fear and on the brink of extinction. The Dark Knight trilogy follows Batman across three films as he battles deeply troubled supervillains with deep resentments against the corrupt system that took everything from them. It's interesting to note that in all three films, Batman seems obsessively focused on combating crime as a means to bring justice to Gotham- he seems to believe that crime is a product of poor individual choices, and he solely faults the criminals for the wrong that they have done.

   Robert Pattinson's Batman is nearly identical to that of Christian Bale's, but one 

glaring difference is their respective political beliefs

More often than not, Batman takes the law into his own 
hands, acting on what he believes to be fair and just.

The Dark Knight trilogy features a hero who often demonstrates a belief in conservative principles. He believes in the power of the individual to fix the problems in his life. He believes that the problems facing his city are the result of faulty individual choices, and refuses to examine the deeply flawed system which gives most citizens little to no chance to survive.
He believes in taking law and order into his own hands when the necessity arises, and his impressive collection of weapons- from the tailor-fit bullet repelling Batsuit to the ridiculous otherworldly Batmobile- hints at a possible shade of libertarianism as well. However, Batman's beliefs here are seriously flawed, and in this case they merely highlight just how out of touch he is with the real side of Gotham. In many cases, Batman is simply deluding himself. Losing his parents at an early age to a senseless tragedy seems to have convinced him that he is simply another victim of the violence of Gotham, as torn apart and disenfranchised as the general population. A bit of self-reflection would have instead revealed that much of the problems facing the city are in fact the result of the greed and selfishness of an economic elite to which he himself belonged to- and that his parent's death could’ve been easily prevented, if they had taken steps to ensure a more equitable society had been established during their time in Gotham. Instead, all we see are token acts of charity from the Wayne family that don’t go anywhere near addressing the root cause of Gotham's troubles. 

Origin story- Bruce Wayne's parents are recklessly murdered
in front of a young Bruce.

     It's very hard for these films, let alone any superhero films, to be grounded in reality. So many questions begin to pop up once you examine Batman's beliefs. Why doesn't he simply give away his vast fortune if he wants to fix his city? Why does he keep bashing the heads of petty criminals when he should really be going after the corrupt politicians and CEOs that disenfranchised these people in the first place? The more you analyze Batman's actions the more insane he seems, to the point where you’d believe that if he was a real person he'd be borderline psychotic. But that's the point of films- they provide us a medium where we can experiment with our ideas without having to ground them in any sort of logical framework. There is something deeply problematic, after all, of a billionaire playboy in a bat suit smashing open the heads of lowly criminals.

The latest Batman film, The Batman(2022), comes much closer to depicting a realistic portrayal of a superhero. Gotham is still its usual, urban decaying, street rotting self, but its hero comes close to realizing his own role in Gotham's demise. Robert Pattinson's Batman almost seems to be a self hating creature, as he casts himself away in the shadows, trying to escape the creeping tentacles of privilege that perpetually wrap around him. His new found awareness is not found on his own, however- he has now the company of two citizens of Gotham, the Catwoman and the Riddler, both orphans like him, who allow Bruce to see the side of Gotham that could have easily been the world he grew up in, had he not been shielded and protected by his vast inheritance.

Catwoman and the Riddler- neither heroes nor
villains-simply victims of unfortunate circumstances.

The film focuses our attention on the inequality that is prevalent in Gotham, and more often than not the film seems to highlight the class warfare between the elite and the ordinary. The customary head-bashing and bone-cracking fight scenes still occupy much of the screen time, of course- this is a superhero film after all- but we are told the story of the prodigious supervillain, the Riddler, in such a way that towards the end of the film he is not portrayed as an outright villain, but instead as an unfortunate victim of Gotham's cruelty, a lonely outcast to be sympathized with, not castigated. The obvious left wing themes seem to be a natural follow-up from Joker(2019), which also critiqued Batman's wealth and privilege. While the Joker's nihilism ultimately made him a villain in everyone's mind, the Riddler's actions seem to have given Batman an education of how the world really works, so much so that Batman never demonstrates that he has the moral high ground at any point throughout the film. 

Batman overlooks Gotham city

A lot of talk was one suggesting that the film had gone 'woke', talk which was often echoed in the chambers of right wing media- but this film is anything but woke. In fact it seems almost impossible to create a Batman film with any sort of progressive message or commentary- after all, celebrating the privilege and power of a man with seemingly everything at his disposal against the petty enemies found in Gotham city is anything but progressive. But this film gives the Batman franchise a rare reality check, and in the process brings to light the absurd hypocrisy in trying to attach a progressive message to a hero who will always defy left wing norms. Batman will live on forever as our hero, and our children's' hero, but it might be worth our time to self reflect and ponder the following question: is this the hero we really need, or is this simply the hero we think we deserve?