Mann, Justin., “The Vigilante Spirit: Bernhard Goetz, Batman, and racial violence in 1980s NY”. George Washington University, pg. 57-66
Rising in the late 1980s the ‘vigilante spirit’ as explain by Justin Mann was brought upon by the regularity of “crime and unending hostility” (Mann) that plagued the streets on New York. It was in this time graphic novelist Frank Miller sought to captivate his audience in a “more realistic” (Miller) representation of New York which was the model for Batman’s ‘Gotham City’. The vigilante spirit presented during this time coincided with a sense of “color-blind racism” (Alexander 2012; Bonilla Silva 2014) that was built on the fear of ‘white-city dwellers’ being vulnerable to minority crime. Frank Millers
…show more content…
This creates a deeper moral issue for the viewer as well as Bruce and Batman.
Mara Sophia Ellen Weiss, R.O., Th.D.. The Christ Complex. www.gnostic.org/articles_teachers/christ_complex.htm.
Committing himself to a life of seeking justice following his parent’s death it can be implied that Bruce Wayne channels himself into what Mara Weis refers to as the ‘Christ Complex’. Weis explains the Christ Complex as an “individual fixed on superiority and claim of being a savior” (Weis). Disregarding the obvious extreme of this which includes psychopathic murders, Weis claims there are varying ranges of ‘subtle conditions’. This addiction of subtle conditions can play into Bruce’s alternate identity by swearing to avenge his parent’s death and “rid Gotham of crime” (Origins). Bruce Channels this almost profound responsibility into his alter ego Batman which creates an image of superior stature. Weis confirms the logic by stating as one grows spiritually “development allows us to realize our full potential behind the innocence and loss of the child we once were”. (Weis??)
Marks, Nadine F., et al. “Death of Parents and Adult Psychological and Physical Well-Being: A Prospective U.S. National Study.” Journal of family issues, U.S. National Library of Medicine, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2638056/.
To better understand the underlying psychological problems Bruce faces with his parent’s death the authors of this article explain in their
Still, in 2011, almost fifty years after the passing of this law, the death of Michael Brown at the hands of a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri spurred passionate protests around the country and once again shone a light on the persistence of racial tension in the United States. In particular, the Michael Brown case highlighted the brokenness of relations between police and residents of America’s inner cities. In his book, Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City Analysis, Elijah Anderson provides a framework for understanding the structure and rules of inner cities in America. Using Anderson’s “code” as a guideline and drawing on evidence from the HBO series The Wire and Peter Moskos’s book, Cop in the Hood, this essay will argue that the code of the street shapes the informal rules of inner city policing while, concurrently, inner city policing propagates the code of the street by the promotion of legal
In the 1980s, New York was considered one of the most dangerous major cities in the United States. Crime was on an ultimate high, especially in Brooklyn, New York. The documentary, “The Seven-Five” directed by Tiller Russell, focuses on a police officer named Michael Dowd who worked in the 75th precinct. The 75th precinct was known for being the most dangerous area with the most crime. However, not only were individuals within the community committing crimes. Dowd, who’s been on the job for two years, went from being a good cop that followed all protocols to a corrupt cop that went down the path of crime. This documentary goes into details on Dowd’s crime streak, how he got caught, the case against him, and the testimonies of his partners in the police station. This case was considered a “major corruption scandal in New York City in the 1980s” (Michael Dowd, 2015).
Annotated Bibliography 1) Dix, C. (1997). Police Violence: Rising Epidemic/Raising Resistance. The Black Scholar , 59-62. The Black Scholar
Nowadays, it is difficult to watch or read the news without mention of police violence against black men or the rioting done in retaliation. Charles Blow, in his article, “Police Violence: American Epidemic, American Consent,” published in the New York Times, argues the root cause of this brutality stems from historical racism that is still prevalent in today’s society; that everyone is responsible for these violent responses. Blow responds to recent police shootings and riots, addressing the reason behind the current events in hopes of informing the general public of their responsibility and influence in the situation. Blow emphasizes his claim by appealing to pathos, utilizing repetition and metaphors throughout the text, as well as strategically
In a movie where good and evil are divided by a very thin line, the Dark Knight rises up to fight against injustice and corruption in Gotham City. An action sequel to the original Batman Begins, this installment is a lot darker filled with more explosion, twists, and suspense. For the first time, a comic has been integrated into the issues of the real world. With the help of District Attorney Harvey Dent and Lieutenant Gordon, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining mob members and clean the streets of Gotham for good. Their success is only short-lived when they encounter the Joker, a mysterious mastermind who is out to prove that nobility cannot hold in a world of anarchy.
The artistic representation of the Batman myth is an important cultural artifact of our time because it represents modern society's thirst for heroic ideals in popular entertainment. Since his creation, readers and viewers have admired Batman's unique ability to battle villainy, transcend the law and administer justice. As cultivators of the noir genre in film as well as in literature, Americans have always identified with this enigmatic hero, who exists on the margins of society and yet represents one of the largest corporations in the world. The evolution of Batman in particular and the superhero genre in general (from comic book to television to film and back again) has seen in the latest adaptation from Christopher Nolan's Batman revamp a veritable tilting point for the character once known as the World's Greatest Detective. This paper will analyze why Batman is an important cultural artifact of our day, how he came into being, what he means for society, and how he will be treated in the future.
Many of us have grown up watching cartoons throughout our childhood. Of the many cartoons on television is Batman. This cartoon has been on television for many years. It is a story of a man who is a successful businessman during the day and a mysterious superhero by night. Bruce Wayne is the man who is this mysterious man with the two identities. He is both Bruce Wayne and Batman. Only a selected few know both of his identities. Many of us have grown up thinking that he is a great man and a great superhero. Yet, why is it that we do not question how unusual the whole situation is? If we take a closer look, we can find that he is a disturbed man who may
Vigilantes. People who take justice into their own hands.Though vigilantism is common in the annals of history, and the kingdom of literature/arts, there are few who truly define what it means to be a vigilante. Wilhelm Tauber and Bruce Wayne are two of those few. 16-year-old Wilhelm “Wilm” Tauber lives in Leipzig, Soviet-occupied East Germany, in 1947. Living with his bitter, unipedal accountant father who has a death wish, his hardworking mother, and his traumatised sister Anneliese, who was raped by four Schutzpolizei (Schupos). The Schupos’ reign of terror fuel Wilm’s hate for the status quo of the city. At night, with the help of his friends Karl, Georg and Ruth, Wilm humiliates his Soviet oppressors as the Marionette Wolverine. One night, he throws a live grenade in a barrack which he thought was empty, only to be met by the screams of the soldiers sleeping. Now a fugitive, he escapes to U.S occupied West Germany with his friends and sister. Meanwhile in Gotham, U.S.A, billionaire Bruce Wayne has taken up the mantle of Batman to cleanse his city of crime. He did so because about two decades ago, he witnessed a common thief kill his parents. Batman takes on criminals, both powerful and petty, with the hope that no child will see his/her parents slaughtered before him/her. With
Batman contradicts his morals while he is fighting the mutant leader and when he is about to shoot him he stops himself with “though that means crossing a line I drew for myself thirty years ago”. While Batman did not kill the mutant leader, earlier on Batman shoots a mutant grunt with a machine gun and faded blood is splattered behind the criminal holding a baby captive (Miller, 64). Later on in the novel Batman says to the joker “a gun is a coward’s weapon, a liars weapon” (Miller, 149). Batman has power to stick to his morals, to take on the evil of Gotham City, and to make the decision to deliver justice no matter whose side of the law he is. However, in the novel he has clearly stated that killing someone crosses his morals and that he despises guns yet he uses them to kill criminals. Batman crosses his golden rule of not killing criminals and shows that he will go above his own moral code of justice.
Throughout the movie, Bruce Wayne continues to distance himself from society as Batman. While attending the hotel party Rachel confronts Bruce about doing more for the city. He tells her he is now a better person but doesn’t allow her to know he is Batman. Even the closest to him he chooses not to let know what he is doing for the city. Next when in the warehouse with Jim Gordon they team up together to stop Gotham from being cut off completely.
In the world of superheroes, there are numerous that believe they are heroes, while in actuality, they are merely vigilantes. This is demonstrated throughout the world of superheroes, but it is not as prominently demonstrated as in Batman. Batman presents himself as a hero, while he is only an over imaginative vigilante. He is more a vigilante than a hero since he has the ability to stop crime, but doesn’t, he only does deeds for his own benefit, and he helps the law but isn’t part of it. These are only a few ways Batman is a vigilante, rather than a hero. These are mainly based upon the idea of him trying to right his own past.
It is a fact of life that people die, and when they die, those left behind can have a hard time reconciling the fact that they are gone. The process of dealing with the grief that accompanies the loss of someone important is especially hard for children and teenagers to deal with. If parents don’t communicate with, or support, their children throughout the grieving process and help them manage their grief in a healthy manner, there can be significant repercussions. The importance of explaining, and helping children cope with grief is highlighted in the novel “Love Letters to the Dead” by Ava Dellaira and through my own experiences of dealing with loss. In “Love Letters to the Dead” we see how Laurel’s mother abandoning her and, not helping Laurel deal with her grief, causes Laurel to believe her mother blames her for her sister's death. We are shown by the author this miscommunication between Laurel and her mother around her sister's death and Laurel’s subsequent grief negatively impacts Laurel as she tries to overcome the loss of her sister. Furthermore, Laurel’s father inability to help her deal with the loss of her sister causes Laurel to develop unhealthy coping mechanisms that lead Laurel into a multitude of dangerous situations. In my own life, my parents did not help me understand the grief that accompanied the loss of my aunt, and as a result, I was unable to overcome the grief that I was dealing with fully. Additionally, when I faced loss for the second time, I was unprepared and did not know how to ask for help. Consequently, after not being given the tools to handle the grief correctly, I developed mental illnesses that impacted my everyday life, and I could not ask my parents for support, which is destructive in its own way.
Grieving parents say that their grief is a lifelong process, a long and painful process..."a process in which [they] try to take and keep some meaning from the loss and life without the [child]" (Arnold and Gemma 1983, 57). After a child's death, parents embark on a long, sad journey that can be very frightening and extremely lonely- a journey that never really ends. The hope and desire that healing will come eventually is an intense and persistent one for grieving parents.
Batman’s character is based on his will to fight for justice. Batman relates to the modern law through the unique ways in which he uses his intellectual abilities to reason. His reasoning provides insight about ‘true justice’ by operating externally to
An Analysis of Bruce Wayne Through the Theories of Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson Bruce Wayne is a fictional DC Comics character from comic books, television shows, and movies. He is better known as “Batman” and was originally created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger in 1939 (Warner Bros Entertainment, 2014). Some may say he is a hero, some a superhero, and some a vigilante, but everyone knows that he has one goal… to keep crime off the streets of his city, known as Gotham. Bruce was an only child, and an heir to the fortune of his family’s multibillion-dollar company, Wayne Enterprises. Once his parents were brutally murdered right in front of his eyes the company immediately became his - a company now owned by an eight year old boy (or 6 according to The Dark Night Returns).