Is Batman ethical or unethical? That depends on what book, movie, or cartoon that you watch; Batman is a character that is depicted in many different ways depending on the author. Frank Miller’s, The Dark Knight Returns is a darker view of Batman. Batman makes some different ethical decisions in this comic book that an avid Batman reader would be surprised by. Miller shows a new side of Batman and opens reader’s eyes to unethically handled situations by Batman. However, over all Batman is ethical in his actions and intentions. Batman is a vigilante however he protects Gotham City and when Batman is hiding Gotham is over run with criminals and the city doesn’t feel safe without the protection that Batman gives them. Batman follows the ideas …show more content…
(Miller, 1986, p. 34). A conflict Batman Faced with the Utilitarian approach was that he wasn’t always a follower of reducing suffering. When Batman was faced with the option of minimal suffering on a criminal over more suffering and pain, he chose the pain. Batman enjoys inflicting pain on others a because of his built up anger of his parent’s death. He has a lot of built up anger and doesn’t always completely follow the utilitarian approach. Although he did catch the criminal which maximized happiness he inflicted pain instead of reducing suffering (Miller, 1986, p. 39). Batman shows no mercy to criminals including the Joker, the Joker returned from being a catatonic prisoner at an asylum to being a criminal when Batman returned, and when Batman had the opportunity to kill him he instead chose the option of breaking his neck to paralyze him. Although this did reduce suffering because he didn’t kill him he did paralyze him which wasn’t he more reducing suffering approach. However, this did ensure happiness of Gotham because he removed the Joker from the streets which provided a lot of safety to the city (Miller, 1986, p.150). Overall Batman protects the citizens and maximizes …show more content…
Although Miller’s Depiction of Batman in The Dark Knight Returns was very extreme and surprising to many he still perceives Batman to his audience as Ethical. Overall Batman is helping the the innocent citizens in Gotham City by protecting them and lowering the crime rates that arose while he was gone. He is helping many people by removing the criminals from the streets even if some of his ways of doing so may be seen as vicious. He is able to get the job done that the police officers are unable to get control of and he is able to remove many criminals from the streets of Gotham. Batman is ethical and he is very important to Gotham, without his return Gotham would be overrun with criminals that could eventually take over. Although he does not kill he is able to take back control of Gotham like he never left. Batman is a hero who has the the entire city on his mind while fighting crime and doing the thing he does best, protect
In conclusion my expectations were met because we all want to be a certain hero in our everyday lives but sometimes don’t know which one is actually the better and more positive one. Strength, power, intelligence, and authority are the most important things the outlaw hero and official hero will bring even if they are above a certain rule or really beneath it. Outlaws are not always the bad guys, but are not always the good guys either. In this case Batman is the good guy disguised as the bad guy. Official heroes are always the good guys no matter the circumstance. Superman in this case is the good guy disguised as the actual good guy. Being above the law or against it, official heroes and outlaw heroes will always paint the picture that you can be strong, powerful, intelligent, and have the authority you deserve.
It has been eight years since the ending of the previous movie, The Dark Knight. At the end of this movie, Batman took the blame for the people killed by Harvey Dent, the district attorney who set out a war against crime. During The Dark Knight, crime had decreased dramatically because of him and Batman. Numerous criminals were placed in prison because of him. Therefore, Batman took the blame for his murders because he understood that a discovery of Harvey Dent’s killings would allow the numerous criminals that he imprisoned to be set free.
At first thought you may think it’s hard to consider Batman as being a Christ-like figure. In The Dark Knight Returns the character Batman expresses a large amount of violence and an unforgiving personality which is unusual for a superhero. Batman encounters many hard and crucial decisions that he must make throughout. For instance, the encounter
Therefore, is a misunderstood outcast, rather than valued, kingly hero. However If batman isn't a hero because of the damage he does, then none of the superheroes are heroes. Superman does damage to buildings roads people, even he could be considered an anti hero by these terms. Batman's motivation is revenge but the fact is he isn't going after black people or something. He saw what happened to him and he was motivated to stop it from happening
But I do know one thing, Batman was there for us when we needed him the most. He separated us from our darkest nightmares every night. He guarded our houses and protected our families, our friends, and our children. Batman stood up for what he believed, he always had us, the people of Gotham in his best interest. What more could we have asked Batman to do? I could stand up here and say "I never knew the man," but that might not be the truth. During my life, I have known many men, many men who are full of strength, courage, and virtue. Any of these men could have been the Batman and I would have never been aware. However good men still walk among us today, even without Batman. These good men and women are my hope, my consolation for
Interestingly, the movie puts a twist on the the true Batman origin. By having the Joker create Batman by killing Bruce’s parents, the Batman was created to avenge evil. This being said, the traumatic experience has created a hero whose definition of justice is left to the character’s moral. Traumatized, it is clear that the Batman seeks revenge not only because the Joker murdered his parents, but also for interfering with love interest Vicki Vale. By putting Vicki Vale at risk, the Batman’s traumatic experience is tested to the limits. The origins of Batman describes a hero who will not kill, yet in this movie, the Batman easily slaughters villains with a machine gun while flying his plane. A Batman who is willing to kill cannot be justified but is seen as justified to the character as a permanent way to resolve his traumatic experience with the Joker. In the climax of the movie, Batman is hanging on the edge with Vicki Vale. Instead of just saving Vicki, Batman interferes with the Joker’s escape which ultimately leads to the Joker’s death. Through Bruce’s eyes justice was the Joker’s death when he could have just saved Vicki. Although this movie was the most entertaining, it depicts a hardened character faced with the true reality of life. Not all heroes can be pure, and this movie explicitly shows this through Bruce’s actions. Notably, Bruce
In origin, a hero is an archetype character that refers to protectors, warriors, or god-like man who protects humanity. For instance, Hercules was a hero in Greek mythology. In modern culture, heroism is recognized as an extremely popular trait that a character can possess. In this case, Bat Man, also referred to as The Dark Knight, is indisputably idealized as a hero. Unlike most superheros in comicbooks culture, Bat Man is a simple human being with absolutely no superpowers. Regardless of that, he as a simple human being still exhibits the courage, intelligence, talent and the necessary skills in fighting crime and defeating potentially hazardous villains seeking to either rule the world or cause destruction. In detail, Bat Man’s real name is Bruce Wayne. Bruce was 10 years old when his parents were murdered which fundamentally change his perception about the world. After his parents’ death, Bruce inherited a multibillion dollar company that his father created before his birth, which explains why he has the most advanced technology to help him fight crime. While growing up, Bruce trained himself to fight and had been working out. One night, he came to the conclusion that Gotham city is falling into the hands of criminals. For that reason, he convinced himself that it should be his obligation to prevent it, although he needed a hero identity to hide his real identity
Miller’s version brings with it many mixed responses from fans and critics, which makes it interesting to explore whether Batman in Miller’s version is an American monomythic hero as presented by Lawrence and Jewett. Even though there is some evidence of how The Dark Knight Returns follows the monomyth, overall Batman cannot be defined as a monomythic hero.
The Dark Knight Rises can be seen as portraying Batman as more of an ubermensch rather than a Jesus-like figure. Connecting Batman as an ubermensch conveys his superiority to a level of where he is above human but not at the state of being a Jesus-like figure. The film can be interpreted as alluding to the idea that we do not need a savior because we can have someone within humanity adapt that particular role. Even though Batman can be seen as a savior that does not necessarily make him a Jesus-like figure due to the luxuries that Batman had. His company is what allowed him to become who he is. If it weren 't for his money he probably would not be who he is now. Batman was not chosen from above to be the messiah of Gotham as opposed to Jesus who was chosen from above to be the people’s messiah. Batman at the same time carried human-like characteristics that allowed him to connect more to the people of Gotham which demonstrates that we can have a Jesus-like figure come from within humanity. A claim that can be assumed is that humanity does not necessarily need Jesus because a human, someone like Batman can take on that same role. The film also can be interpreted as trying to portray Jesus through Batman. Batman’s presence is reassuring to the people of Gotham because
According to Aristotle, man should strive to mimic Batman because he is virtuous. However, not necessarily Bruce Wayne since he is vulgarian. Yet, I noticed that Batman cannot maintain good relationships with the opposite sex. He will never be able to keep any relationship because of his obsession to fight crime. If Wayne were to find a balance between the normal life and the Batman life, he could have good relationships. However, since the ultimate goal is to attain happiness in the ethics, and part of that involves having good true relationships. Then is Batman really a good model for humans to look up to? No, while one may be virtuous, it does not imply that he will have a good life. Therefore, I do not agree with Aristotle’s assessment.
Batman (Christian Bale) is hoping to hand on his crime fighting duties to D.A Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) yet when Batman’s cards are on the table the twisted mastermind who goes by the name of the joker (Heath Ledger), forces the masked vigilante to go against everything he ever stood for.
When comics were first coming out, they were not all that popular but in todays’ world, they have become very popular and well known. Several of these comics have been turned into films, which is one of the many reasons why the popularity has been rising over the years. One of the most well known comics is Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. This comic was composed and released in 1986 by Frank Miller. With the usage of Frank Miller’s powerful, intense lines and the artwork done by Klaus Janson’s and Lynn Varley’s it has elevated this comic up to the very top of mainstream comics. In Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, the skillful illustrations on the pages successfully create the thought that there are underlying meanings, which makes the atmosphere a very intense one throughout the comic. The work of art that is presented on the pages in this comic are embedded in such a way that the pages become the continuum for the meaning. One of the main themes that are imbedded on the pages through the artwork in this book is the ideological struggle between Bruce Wayne and Batman.
Now with both of these normative ethical theories in mind, what will be presented in this paper is how does this portray to the movie, The Dark Knight. So before watching this movie, it has been decided that a thesis statement must be created. The thesis will be that the Dark Knight also known as Batman is a Utilitarian hero. Not seeing this movie before, it is unaware of what ethical theory category the Dark Knight will fall under. Therefore it will be a surprise either way with what kind of results that will be
Batman Begins has an incredible amount of struggles that not only Bruce Wayne must face but all of Gotham must face. The first of many of these was Thomas and Martha Wayne's sudden death at the beginning. This left both the people of Gotham and Bruce Wayne to struggle along without them “Their deaths galvanized the city into saving itself and Gotham has limped on ever since.” (Batman Begins, Ras Al Ghul, Scene 31) This also created much anger and rage in Bruce Wayne that he released as Batman. There is also the struggle with the crime rate in Gotham and keeping alive the cities slowly falling government. These things differ from the Dark Knight where the struggles are with mainly the Joker and his actions. Many more unexpected and out of control struggles occur in The Dark Knight. The Joker (mastermind terrorist) creates many series of problems and difficulties for Batman, Gordon, Dent, and all of Gotham in general. Another big problem, quite different from the first one is the capturing of Joker. Unlike the first film, the struggles of The Dark Knight are much more external while the first one was fixing what was on Gotham’s internal problems. An example was after Rachel’s death it changed Harvey into an evil person therefore changing the whole ending of the movie, and a lot of the next one. Another big difference between the two films is The Dark Knight has a lot more violence and explosions,
For Batman, he is a famous person with high social class. His image is a successful businessman and on the other hand he is a hero to save the city. He is very strong and well body shape. When he catches the thief, he acts independently. He will not ask for help and refuse the others involve although he gets hurt. He is very clever and very calm. He will first plan before he takes action.