1600-1800 English Literature Final Report
英二甲 楊宜婷
20 June 2022
Theme: Deconstruction of Heroism
Source of Analysis: The 2022 Movie the Batman
Word Count: 1500
The Redefinition of the Heroism in the Film “The Batman”
Batman is one of the oldest and most popular superheroes depicted repeatedly
in the media in the course of history. The story revolves around the protagonist, Bruce
Wayne, and his adventures of confronting different threats and defeating all kinds of
dangerous antagonists in Gotham city. Along the time, we have seen how this caped
knight with a mysterious mask bravely stands out against the evil forces and vows to
bring out justice for the citizens.
Without his real identity ever uncovered, people are already accustomed to his
image as a “hero” that has been defined a long time ago. Nevertheless, his
motivations and intensions were never truly revealed although his tragic family
background in his early childhood was briefly mentioned. It was not until the 2022
film The Batman came out that the protagonist’s dark past and traumatic childhood
which cast a shadow on his mentality are introduced in the background story. Now,
with his true purpose being brought to the light, we had an opportunity to contemplate
whether his actions were all based on moral goodness and if his alleged “justice”
along with his fragmented nature redefine the heroism.
Before digging into the theme of heroism in this film, let me have a brief
overview of our controversial protagonist, Bruce Wayne. Bruce was born in an
incredibly prosperous and powerful family that committed to the charity business
throughout generations. Although he was privileged and wealthy, Bruce’s parents
were murdered cruelly in his youth. As the witness of this entire tragic accident, he
gradually closed his heart, isolated himself from the world, and vowed to bring real
vengeance for his innocent parents and the city someday.
To search for justice for his parents’ deaths, he began to disguise himself as an
anonymous knight acting only in the dark to crack down on crimes and help the
vulnerable. Bruce called himself a “vengeance” whenever the antagonist questioned
his identity. Given the evils ordinarily hide beneath the unseen, Bruce determined to
become the shadow itself lurking in the darkness, crusading in the city street, and
spreading the fear to warn those who dared to commit wrongdoings: “Fear is a tool,
and when the light hit the sky, it is not just a call, it is a warning for them” (The
Batman). Some people regard him as an incarnation of real justice, while others
called him a “lyncher” who executed lawbreakers without legal authority because his
doings remained debatable and often seemed cold-blooded. Bruce prejudged that this
curb over sinister in the name of fear could inspire the kindness of people. Without
realizing what the potential madness and chaos lay ahead of him; however, Bruce
insisted to believe his ways were indispensable to ensure his justice was served and
that hidden ferocity must be punished.
Undoubtedly, the protagonist’s undaunted bravery against the villains may be
admirable and even viewed as heroic in the film. Yet, his character of being fearless
was not always out of real goodness but egotism. Similar to Satan in John Milton’s
Paradise Lost, Satan was portrayed as a courageous military hero in the first place; he
was the only fallen angel who dared to challenge the authority of God. Yet, such valor
was not stemmed from moral positivity and pure decency. Instead, this undauntedness
is viewed as the embodiment of recklessness and arrogance.
As the story progressed, Bruce encountered one of his most sinister villains – the
Riddler. He started to question himself and doubted his definition of “justice”. A riddle
left deliberately for Bruce was eventually decrypted, wrote: “It can be cruel, poetic, or
blind. But when it is denied, it is violence you may find.” The protagonist realized that
the answer to the puzzle was the “justice” he put every effort to defend, and the message
behind it was meant to ridicule his violent behavior.
Even though the answer struck the protagonist so hard that force him to first
undergo this kind of frustration, Bruce has not yet totally come to his senses to repent
himself and confessed his distorted behavior to serve his claimed justice. It was after
confronting a series of criminals who continued to call themselves the “vengeance of
Gotham”, the protagonist became aware of his mistake – spreading the fear in the city.
He presumed all his means were helping the city take revenge to the root of hatred and
corruption and comprehensively wipe out every possible threat. Nonetheless, it never
occurred to Bruce that his deeds were also possibly imitated by the evil force and those
adopted means were even aggravated which caused more destruction.
After the confrontation with Riddler, the protagonist reached his awareness that he
has blindly believed that his upright intention could end up justifying his behaviors no
matter how inappropriate or frightful the approaches were. Sometimes, the violence and
a certain extent of brutality were involved as desperate measures for desperate times.
Yet, this exertion of violence toward defeating the evildoers was not only taken to deter
the threats but the only way he knew to seek a sense of revenging comfort. On the surface,
Bruce seemed to calmly survive his trauma and mental suffering resulting from that
childhood tragedy. Nevertheless, the scars carved in his mind never healed, and that
suppressing rage with hate distorted his original nature, stimulating the protagonist’s
paranoid motivations. Therefore, it never struck to Bruce till now to acknowledge that
his vengeance was merely to satisfy his pathological joy and pursue inner tranquility.
Likewise, rather than simply covering his identity as a billionaire, the real purpose to
disguise himself as a batman was to conceal his weakness that he was unwilling to admit;
under the mask was his vulnerable self with that haunted pains.
Compare to Satan in paradise lost, on one hand, despite his defiant courage to
rebel after the fall, he was unwilling to admit his weakness for it represented the signs
of shame and humiliation. On the other hand, he had no courage to repent of his
mistakes which made him morally bankrupt. By contrast, Bruce was courageous
enough to confess his flaws and blunders that delivered the moral implication. While
Satan and Bruce bore the initial similarity of having undaunted determination full of
revenge, they eventually stepped on completely different paths. Since Satan
considered heroism and inferiority to be the opposite, his unrepentant nature made
his gallantry problematic and his heroism questionable. However, Bruce developed
his self-realization to reflect upon himself, which manifests his moral heroism. After
all, true heroism is a matter of moral choice; positive bravery depends on doing the
right things despite its great difficulty.
Apart from proving his positive courage of redemption, Bruce’s heroism was
also beforehand embodied by his mental strength of the willpower in which he
accepted his darker self and reconciles with the demon of the past. The moment when
he confronted his nightmares and faces his wrecked-guilt mind represents his inward
enhancement of the growth of his personality. It was a threshold for the protagonist
to begin his revelation, experience the spiritual transformation, and then to be reborn
– to be reborn as a true hero. The rebirth paved the road for the hero’s following
atonement that motivated him to return to himself with the gift of the goodness
gained in the journey. In the end, the hero completed his adventure.
In the latter part of the film, we witness that Bruce ultimately underwent this
inner transition and undisturbedly embraced his broken nature. He stated: “Our scars
can destroy us, even after the physical wounds have healed. But if we survive them,
they can transform us. They can give us the power to endure, and the strength to fight”
(The Batman). As a famous psychologist once said: “No tree will ascend to the
heaven without descending into the depths of hell.” Human enlightenment is
impossible unless we recognize the inner fears that collectively haunt us and learn to
co-exist with them. Bruce learned that his measures would neither bring real justice,
nor would it help him find his interior harmony; fear and hatred were the least things
the city needed. To make a real change for the city and himself, he had to be
something greater – a hero: “Vengeance will not change the past. Mine or anyone
else’s. I have to become more. People need hope” (The Batman). From this moment,
he is determined to step out of the shade and become a symbol of hope to lighten up
the darkness.
In general, this 2022 film successfully jumps out of the stereotypical frame of
typical heroism and displays a problematic hero with great complexity. This newest
version of Batman is also regarded as the darkest hero ever since it exhibits the darker
and shattered side of the hero’s personality, depicting the gloominess and
extremeness of heroism. Especially in terms of the heartbreaking setting of the
protagonist’s childhood that it successfully drags the audience’s minds to ponder the
definition of heroism, and thus suspect the hero’s moral decency. In conclusion, a
hero is not necessarily perfect in every aspect, nor is utterly wonderful in the essence.
Even though the darkness of humanity exists in a hero’s essence, it does not mean he
has no capacity to shine. After all, true heroic goodness depends on what he does
instead of who he is.