Is Batman’s Crusade Outdated in the Age of Mental Health Awareness?

Batman is awesome. He's a genius billionaire with more high-tech gadgetry than James Bond, and has conditioned himself to be at the peak of human physicality. Who in their right mind wouldn't want to live a day in the life of Bruce Wayne (sans all the dead parents baggage). Add the fact he prowls an urban landscape, dressed as a flying rodent to dispense his own brand of vigilante justice, and it's completely understandable why the power fantasy of Batman speaks to throngs of adolescent (and adult) fans. Most of us dreamt of being a superhero when we're young. The thought of rising above the trauma in your life to do the right thing and fight for something greater than yourself is a romantic notion...at least on paper, it is.

But the thing about romanticism in fiction is that it rarely factors in the the constraints of the real world. Logic is often pushed to the sidelines to allow fantastical elements parade down the field, front and center. This is exactly why comic fans are drawn to superhero stories. Historically speaking, the collateral damage of the heroes' existence is not acknowledged. In fact, if a character tries desperately to put the kibosh on superhero exploits, they are often painted as a villain or, at the very least, a massive party pooper. In short, there's little to no room in escapism for accountability.

To be fair, there are stories that explore the negative effects of superheroism. Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's Ultimates actually approached the subject clinically, giving readers real numbers of casualties after a team of superhumans battled in the heart of a major metropolitan area. Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns holds a cracked mirror up to the faces of DC Comics' pantheon and asks, "What have you become?" Sadly, the answer some readers gleaned may have missed the point of asking the query in the first place. But how do these factors play in our current social climate?

Applying superheroes to the real world has been a trope of post-modern graphic story telling for decades, but rarely do they consider the mental toll the vigilantes would place on everyday people, whether they be innocent bystanders or the criminals these heroes rail against. The biggest offender of this is undoubtedly Batman.

Bat Trauma

Batman has been cracking skulls for nearly a century, and for the most part, comic fans are on board. Again, why wouldn't they be? But while Batman ostensibly has carte blanche with his fans, the ramifications of his actions don't. The fact of the matter is, the people Bruce Wayne beats up and tosses in Arkham Asylum are more often than not mentally ill. Comic books have addressed this countless time in the past, calling Batman out on his hypocrisy in roughing up would-be patients in dire need of treatment. And while one may argue a leopard never changes his spots, the Dark Knight's behavior certainly sends mixed signals and may need some realigning, especially in an era where the battle for mental health awareness is raging on.

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This isn't meant to be a rallying cry to make Batman stop doing what he's doing. Not at all. But beating up the mentally ill (and the destitute) may not be helping Gotham City the way Batman thinks it is. The dichotomy between Bruce Wayne opening up outreach centers, orphanages and mental health clinics while Batman is hard at work punching the people who are either not reached by those organizations or are uninformed about them is jaw dropping. Does this mean we want to see Batman hold a 22-page group therapy session with the armed robbers who were trying to pull a heist at a diamond exchange? No. Well... wait, if Tom King wrote it, it might be really good... but we digress.

In some recent comics, Batman has actually been called out on his tactics. One such occasion occured in Batman: Kings of Fear #1, when a staff member of Arkham Asylum questions the Caped Crusader's methodology right to his face, to which Batman replies "whatever" (or the Batman equivalent; we're paraphrasing, here).

This sort of dismissal is inherently problematic when it's viewed through the lens of promoting mental health in the real world. One could argue Batman is reinforcing the behavior his Rogues' Gallery exhibits by giving them a good beat down, which in turn feeds into their determination to challenge Batman again. This Dark Knight-fueled feeling of retribution only perpetuates the obsession Bruce Wayne has for fighting crime and gives validity of his crusade. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Batman knows the criminals of Gotham will eventually get out, and most of them will be seeking revenge. This should be a huge indication that, well, maybe his way of doing things is antiquated.

The Giant Circus Elephant in the Room

Depending on what version of their stories you hold true, a good portion of Batman's villains are products of some misfortune, obsession or punishment due to their own vices. They are characters often birthed from tragedy, making them easily sympathetic to the readers and, at times, to Batman himself.

Villains like Harvey "Two-Face" Dent are more than just Dick Tracy Gangster pastiche with a sideshow flare. Dent has depth. His plight is pragmatic. His journey from shining Gotham DA to a twisted criminal hellbent on applying blind justice with a flip of a coin has been been told numerous times in comics, television shows and films. And with each incarnation, the character's fall from grace is consistently heart-breaking (well, except for that Tommy Lee Jones version; we try to forget that one). This is because we have empathy for Harvey. We don't want him to be this menace; we want Harvey to be okay.

Scott Snyder and John Romita Jr. tackled the idea of having Batman try to rehabilitate Harvey Dent without the use of his fists in their run on All Star Batman. While the arc was basically Midnight Run with Batman and Two-Face (which is a great idea for a comic), it does wind up solidifying Dent as a lost cause (mostly). And that's kind of gross. Sure Dent has been "cured" before and has relapsed before, but this doesn't exactly send a positive message to readers who are dealing with mental illness themselves. The matter is made worse by the fact that Dent isn't alone in his flip-flopping between good and evil. Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn and Clayface often vacillate between villain and anti-hero, and this constant swing is often propelled by their own sanity.

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But what about a villain who's enigmatic history makes him so effective as a character? Yes, we're talking about the Joker. Ever since Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's The Killing Joke, creative teams have tried to make some sense of the Clown Price of Crime. We've gotten various glimpses into his origin (none of which are confirmed), and we've seen what a version of the character would be like if they were devoid of all homicidal and sociopathic behaviors.

But here's the thing: the less we know about the Joker, the better a character he is. We don't need a deep dive into his psyche. What makes his so terrifying as a character is the fact we don't know what's going on in that head of his. He simply can't be diagnosed. Trying to turn him into a sympathetic character only ushers the character into the same corral as his fellow rogues gallery brethren, which, as we've mentioned, can be quite problematic. Let Joker be the outlier. Let him be Batman's ultimate punching bag.

Taking ridiculous things seriously is always a fun exercise in extrapolating what we love and dislike about comic books, and it should always be taken with a grain of salt. We understand the intrinsic silliness of waxing philosophically about escapism. But we also understand the world is much different today than it was in 1939. People aren't stuffed into "Loony Bins" these days like they once were. We have a better understanding mental health issues, and we are far more compassionate toward people grappling with them.

Again, we don't want to see Batman stop beating up bad guys, but the more often creative teams hold the Dark Knight accountable for his actions, it will continue an interesting discussion and will certainly lead to some genuinely compelling comic books.