Batman v Superman: Why I Stand with Superman
Stephen Robinson @ser1897
*header graphic by Kenji Terai kontrastism.com
February 13th 2016
Stephen Robinson @ser1897
*header graphic by Kenji Terai kontrastism.com
February 13th 2016
Comic book fans might appreciate Batman for his darkness, but upon examination, neither he nor his alter ego Bruce Wayne are in the same league with Superman/Clark Kent.
If you’re a lifelong comics fan or just ran around the backyard playing superhero as a kid, it’s hard to understate the excitement you probably feel for the upcoming Zack Synder blockbuster BATMAN v. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE. Batman and Superman have never appeared together in live-action media, and this time, they're gonna fight.
If you’re a lifelong comics fan or just ran around the backyard playing superhero as a kid, it’s hard to understate the excitement you probably feel for the upcoming Zack Synder blockbuster BATMAN v. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE. Batman and Superman have never appeared together in live-action media, and this time, they're gonna fight.
It’s hardly a clash of the titans, though: Bruce Wayne wasn’t bitten by a radioactive bat. He has no special powers that would allow him to go the distance with a man who routinely defies gravity before breakfast. Why would anyone head over to their nearest IMAX to watch a demigod wipe the floor with a “mere mortal in a Halloween costume”?
Well, superhero comics are all about wish fulfillment, and there’s no greater appeal to fans than the perceived moral victory of a normal man overcoming herculean obstacles and defeating someone whose abilities are a mere quirk of fate. More appealing is the fantasy that while it’s already too late for us to be a “strange visitor from another planet,” it’s still possible for us to become Batman. He’s the “everyman” hero with an edge.
This is, of course, hogwash. Superman, despite all his physics-defying powers, requires only one major suspension of disbelief: He’s an alien. Batman, however, like the equally inaccessible James Bond, requires multiple disconnects from reality. Even if he could survive more than a month of being regularly shot and stabbed, Batman is hardly your "average Joe." He might have honed his body to perfection, but the raw material was a genetic gift. And he inherited enough money from his murdered parents to pay for multiple Batmobiles so he doesn't have to take public transit to the latest crime scene. Whenever fans hold up Batman as the "accessible" hero, it's almost as eye-rolling as when Mitt Romney or Donald Trump described themselves as "self-made" men.
Superman, however, is the flying personification of FEMA. He is the first responder who emerges unscathed from burning buildings. He minimizes the impact of hurricanes and tornadoes. He prevents plane crashes one-handed. As long as natural disasters exist, he remains relevant, protected from gentrification. Unfortunately, this also can make him dull for audiences who want to see their hero punch someone. SUPERMAN II (1980) and MAN OF STEEL (2013) provided more immediate physical threats to character, but it lessens him at the same time.
During the mid-1980s, when Batman had shed fully the civic-minded air of Adam West, Superman was revamped as more of a true “man of the people.” Yes, he was a duly deputized member of the Metropolis police, but that meant he was actually accountable to someone. And his first action as an official law enforcement operative was to arrest Lex Luthor, the billionaire who ran the city and believed himself above the law. Superman showed him that he wasn’t. He refused to be bought and controlled, which made him Luthor’s lifelong enemy. No matter what Kryptonite-fueled killing machine Luthor sics on him, Superman always prevails and not simply because he’s physically powerful but because he’s morally incorruptible. Superman is the one man Luthor was never able to buy or control. Prior to Superman arriving in Metropolis, Luthor had already used his wealth and technology to make Metropolis a global city — under his one percenter control, of course. But if you’re willing to overlook Lex’s megalomania, you have to concede that the true villain of Metropolis is in many ways more effective than the hero of Gotham.
After all, the notion that a billionaire who owns not just Gotham's primary industry but half the city itself would have to resort to costumed vigilantism to "clean it up" is less realistic by far than extraterrestrials with X-ray vision. Bruce Wayne, the citizen, doesn't just possess immense economic power but also corresponding political clout. The justification for Batman's existence is usually that the politicians are all crooked and on the take, allowing the bad guys to run rampant. This is a popular right wing view of government, but it doesn't hold water in Gotham City where no one should hold office without Wayne's approval.
Batman is often presented as the “only man capable” of handling the bizarre cadre of villains who are based in Gotham. But why? Isn’t it more efficient for him to fly in all the ninjas, detectives, munitions experts, and so on who trained the young Bruce Wayne and have them make the Gotham City police department the best-equipped in the country? If Batman can train random teenagers to fight alongside him, he shouldn’t have much trouble with graduates of the police academy. Batman claims to hate guns but he doesn’t offer the police department the expensive alternative weapons he keeps in his utility belt. Batman has few abilities that aren’t “transferrable” to the public. This is what separates him from Superman, Spider-Man, or Captain America, who would love to not be the only one with their immense responsibility.
Maybe the sad reality is that Batman is just a rich guy who enjoys spending his nights beating up poor people. Sure, there are rapists and muggers in there, but also probably junkies and the mentally ill, desperate people trying to survive in a town depicted as an urban hell despite Wayne's vast wealth. This is the part of the Batman myth that ages poorly — over the decades, Wayne has gotten wealthier (a billionaire now, compared to the millionaire playboy of his creation) while Gotham has failed to keep pace with the progress of cities like New York and San Francisco. This is necessary because a costumed Travis Bickle in the 1970s East Village might make a dark appeal, but now, we’re right to wonder why Batman isn’t focused on the true criminals of the city like the Maddoffs and the engineers of the financial collapse. But they are most likely all buddies of Wayne. They’re just glad someone’s beating up the muggers.
Batman’s operating outside the law is depicted as a one-sided benefit. He rarely lets a first time offender go with a stern warning. No, he crosses the legal lines that are depicted as coddling criminals. Some examples: He withholds medical aid to a suspect who's bleeding out unless he gives him the information he wants. He tortures a low-level drug dealer into squealing on his mob boss. Few of these coerced confessions or brutal arrests would ever hold up in court, but that’s all immaterial for most readers. They are too delighted by the fantasy.
Superman’s origins are humbler than Batman’s. His adoptive parents are midwestern farmers and his biological father, Jor-El, was a scientist, who predicted the destruction of the planet, but despite the science supporting him, the ruling council dismissed his claims as “fantasy” and arrogantly believed themselves indestructible. Sadly, this almost 80-year-old origin story is currently playing out at home with the ongoing “debate” on climate change.
Clark Kent, unlike Bruce Wayne, truly serves the public as a newspaper reporter. He holds the establishment and power structure accountable. It’s argued that Superman could permanently “clean up” Gotham over a long weekend, but an ace reporter could expose the corruption that has the city in its grip far more effectively and without using super strength.
Bruce Wayne, separate from Batman, has little interest these days in the community. The 1960s Batman, both on TV and in the comics, was a philanthropist, who spent his days as a board member of numerous charities and arts organizations. By the 1980s, Batman was written as using the Bruce Wayne identity primarily as a smokescreen for his night-time activities. In the Christopher Nolan films, Bruce Wayne is publicly known as a wastrel who squanders his time and money on fast cars and faster women.
The fans who fancy themselves “anti-establishment” are quick to flock to Batman’s side in this epic battle of the superheroes. They dismiss Superman as a “boy scout" and a “square." Snyder cites THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS as a major influence. Frank Miller’s 1986 miniseries perhaps solidified the public’s view of Superman as “government stooge” and Batman as Clint Eastwood-style cowboy rebel (he even rides a horse into battle). Although the child in me will always hold a special regard for Batman, the adult is putting his money on Superman.
Contributor Bio
Stephen Robinson was born in Greenville, South Carolina, attended college in Athens, Georgia, and spent fifteen years in Manhattan. After some time in Europe, he is settled for the moment in Seattle, Washington. He has lived many places but usually feels at home someplace else. His first work of fiction, Mahogany Slade, is available on Amazon as a paperback and Kindle download. |