To those of you who have followed this blog I would like to apologize for staying away so long. All I have been writing for the past several months are papers in an effort to finally graduate from graduate school. Well I'm almost at the finished line and I am humbly requesting your help to help me finish my thesis. I will be periodically posting chunks of this project in hopes that you (all 3 of you) will offer honest critiques of it in all of its incarnations. I am mostly interested in what you think about the content over anything else. I can always go back and edit grammar. So, that being said here is chunk #1.
Thesis Proposal,
Craig Knight
Advisor: Melissa Monroe
Second Reader:
Charlene Bryant
MLA Format
Over the past
century, comic books and superheroes have been an enduring tribute to the evolving
heroic ideal. These characters that
boldly defended truth, justice and the equally evolving American way continue
to pursue these same goals today.
Current writers in this genre such as Frank Miller, Brian Azzarello and
Ed Brubaker are attempting to yet again redefine the superhero in response to
its aging fans that have over the years become more mature and more skeptical. One
might even discover that there is a fine line between superheroes and the villains
who have sworn to destroy them. Traditionally, comics have always strived to
pinpoint the vivid contrast between the hero and his nemesis. However, recent trends in the genre have
highlighted super heroes’ imperfections. Some would even argue that this makes
them more appealing to the everyman. Homer’s
depiction of Odysseus as an adulterer and Jesus’s temptations reveal that fallibility
has always been a vital part of the male hero archetype. And virtue and evil
have always been choices. But do these
choices always serve the greatest good?
In the modern age of comics attempts at answering this question abound. But there aren’t many that have addressed it
more than the Batman comic.
My interest and
the topic of this thesis are in Batman’s current relevance as an American icon.
I believe that much of his significance is in his imperfections and contradictions
as a character. I will admit that much of the appeal for me is that he is a
hero without superpowers. This flaw is
in many ways his greatest advantage. In
many of the Batman stories both old and new, his lack of special abilities has
caused many to underestimate him. His
ability to both accept and transcend this flaw unleashes a larger theme of human
potential and its enduring appeal. His lack
of superhuman strength, speed or flight is merely a vehicle for him to explore
the greatest superpower of all, human achievement, but not just on a physical
level. The intrigue of Batman as a hero
lies in the part of him that may be over looked, his alter ego Bruce
Wayne. Wayne’s life is often shown as a
mere distraction to the real story that is Batman. But the most fascinating thing about him is
that the things that make him a hero are steeped in his own humanity. There are
four major components that are in my opinion vital to the Batman mythos. His heroic status is contingent upon wealth,
regret, intelligence and will. Although
these qualities leave much to be desired when considering the merits of a hero,
they are instrumental in his sustainability as a bona fide crusader for justice. Over the years, these qualities have become
the Batman character’s own brand of heroic virtues which set him apart from the
likes of other heroes such as Superman who according to many readers of comics
is the consummate boy scout of the comic book world. Also, these are the key components that
contribute his dark appeal, which was later explored by Frank Miller and
others. These qualities could be viewed as firebrands or instruments of torture
that have seared their mark on his soul driving his motivations nearly into the
darker realm of anti-hero. But with all
of the darkness he presents, his own brand of morality has also kept him from
going completely to that place. In essence, Batman has all of the qualities of
a boogey man for justice who inspires fear in his enemies without inflicting
the ultimate sentence of death. This is because Wayne the real hero keeps him
grounded as he presumably enjoys all of the frivolities of his wealth by day
and fights the forces that resent him by night.
However, he does not fight anyone’s legal pursuit of these very same
frivolities, proving the point that his job as a hero is both difficult and
complex.
Virtue #1 Wealth and
the Ability to Manipulate Symbols
Tony Spanakos in the book Batman
and Philosophy: The Dark Knight of the Soul
offers the view that:
Gotham [City], particularly its
government, is the source of Batman’s angst. Thomas and Martha Wayne [his
parents] were murdered because the state was incapable of maintaining law and
order, and Bruce Wayne’s response was to become the crime-fighting Batman,
trying to correct the lack of order in his city. Though extreme, this reaction is not
unique. Nearly all of the major
characters in the Batman pantheon are reacting against a state that is
perceived as either too weak or too restrictive. Batman…has a more nuanced vision of public
safety in that he supports the state but rejects its exclusive authority in the
area of security. This highlights the
precarious nature of political rule, and it also explains why the Batman has
such a problematic relationship with the state. (Spanakos 2008)
Spanakos’s point
sheds light on a vital element in Batman’s motivation to become a hero. His distrust of the system forces him to
react with vigor to the injustices in Gotham City. A major part of the appeal
here is that he has both the resources and desire to affect change when most
face the common dilemma of having one or the other but never both. This of course gives the reader the best of
both worlds. He is both rich and
righteous in an era where the two clash. The reader shares his distrust of the
system and also aspires to his wealthy lifestyle. A major issue is that Batman
being a symbol of the elite is a hero of contradictions. His alter ego Bruce Wayne is depicted as a
benevolent billionaire who is morally incapable of resorting to the kinds of
activities that would be necessary to maintain his fortune. There are no hostile take-overs or government
bailouts in his stories. One may assume that he dons the cape and cowl at night
as a means to repent for the sins he commits by day.
Although
Spanakos’s analysis places Batman comfortably in the category of hero, skeptics
might still question his conviction to serving the greater good even if he
attempts to do it through physical acts of heroism night after night. In Batman and Philosophy, Mahesh Ananth
and Ben Dixon argue that Bruce Wayne’s decision to become Batman was morally questionable. They argue that Batman on his best night
could not do nearly as much good as his alter ego, billionaire Bruce Wayne. They cite Peter Singer, a utilitarian
philosopher to galvanize their claims. Singer’s song is in praise of the
utilitarian doctrine that encourages us to perform acts that create the
greatest good or the least amount of evil for the greatest number of people. (Ananth
& Dixon 103) An interesting caveat to this doctrine hidden in the fine
print is that such acts be committed ‘without sacrificing anything of comparable
moral importance’. (103) Singer also focuses on the minimum amount of ‘moral
cost’ an individual would expend if they happened upon a small child drowning
in a shallow pond stressing that the greatest cost would be wet or muddy
clothes. According to Singer, saving a
child under such circumstances is something everyone ought to do. In his view, this principle could also be
applied to the ‘affluent members of the Western world with all of our
frivolities’. Singer questions our willingness
to give up our CD’s DVD’s, name brand clothing if it meant that we might in
return save human lives. (104) Singer also makes clear two forms of giving,
strong and moderate.
The strong version claims that
we’re morally obligated to give until we reach the point where we could cause
as much suffering to ourselves as is present in those we are helping, unless in
doing so we had to sacrifice something of comparable moral significance. The moderate version, in contrast, claims
that we’re morally obligated to give until we reach the point at which we
sacrifice something morally significant as a result of our degree of giving.
(105)
According to
Mehesh and Ananth, Bruce Wayne’s contribution to the less fortunate in Gotham
doesn’t quite fit what I will call the Singarian framework of giving. He would in fact be more effective if he just
became the ultimate humanitarian and give up more than half of his
fortune. Unfortunately, this method does
not sell comic books, movie tickets or video games. Singer’s philosophy would in fact eliminate
the need for a Batman and more importantly obliterate the Batman myth. This would make one wonder if we were a society
that is addicted to symbols and how much we prefer symbols to actual solutions
to the problems that plague Western society. It would seem that in an election
year for example, that whoever holds the most power over symbols wins. [I will of course explore this further].
Works Cited
Baron-Carvais,
Isabelle. “Superheroes to Americas Rescue”. Raison Presente 64 (1982):
49-59. Sociological Abstracts. 30 Jan. 2012.
Creekmur,
Corey K. "Superheroes And Science Fiction: Who Watches Comic Books?"
Science Fiction Studies 31.2 (2004): 283-290. Humanities International
Complete. Web. 31 Jan. 2012.
Fouillet,
Aurelien. "From Daedalus to Batman: Study on a Contemporary Imaginary:
Superheroes." Societes.4 (2009): 25-32. Sociological Abstracts.
30 Jan. 2012 .
Knilli,
Friedrich, et al. "Aspects of the Development of a Visual Culture as
Exemplified by the Comics: The State of Comics Research in the Federal Republic
of Germany." Communications 9.- (1983): 149-89. Sociological
Abstracts. 30 Jan. 2012 .
Larson,
Mark. "Lawsuit Seeks Back Rent from Moribund e-Retailer." Sacramento
Business Journal 17.44 (2001): 11-. ABI/INFORM Complete; ProQuest
Central; ProQuest Education Journals; ProQuest Newsstand; ProQuest Psychology
Journals; ProQuest Research Library; ProQuest Social Science Journals. 30
Jan. 2012.
Partible,
Leo. "Superheroes in Film and Pop Culture: Silhouettes of Redemption on
the Screen."
Ed. B. J. Oropeza and Stan
Lee.Peter Lang, 2005. 229-254. MLA International Bibliography.
31 Jan. 2012 .
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White,
Mark D, and Robert Arp. Batman and
Philosophy: The Dark Knight of the Soul. Hoboken, N.J:
John Wiley & Sons, 2008.
Print.
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