Is Batman a man on a mission or a mad man? SPYSCAPE puts Bruce Wayne on the couch.
Batman has fascinated loyal fans for almost a century but why does Gotham City’s tortured, brooding vigilante have such power over our imaginations? What does that say about us? And what’s up with a grown man dressing like a bat anyway?
We fired five burning questions at psychologist Dr. Travis Langley, a US professor of psychology and author of Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight (2022), and burrowed deep into Batman’s psyche.
1. Our enduring love of Batman
Batman has been around since Detective Comics No. 27 when he Kapowed! his way into our hearts in 1939 and we’re still cheering him on. We stood by Adam West during Batman’s campy ‘60s era. We ignored George Clooney’s freaky Batsuit with the big nipples. We warmly embraced Robert Pattinson’s socially awkward Bruce Wayne. So what is it about Batman that keeps us coming back for more?
“We want a hero who appeals to the humanity in us. We want a hero who can do fantastic things but is a little more believable than one who can fly out of the sky like a God. We want one who can step up for us when we’re in the worst part of town when we know no Boy Scout is going to show up and help us,” Dr. Langley told SPYSCAPE.
Truth be told, some of us probably also stay loyal to Bruce Wayne because he is a crafty billionaire with cool gadgets and a heavily armored tactical assault vehicle, but Langley believes money is just a tool, not a superhero trait that keeps us hooked.
“It’s his persistence, his determination to become something more and to make himself into the kind of person who could have stopped something such as what happened to his family,” Langley said. “We would love for there to be a hero who could do all of those things.”
2. Overcoming tragedy
Batman’s parents were shot dead in front of him when he was a boy, a traumatizing event at any age. When Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon asks Alfred Pennyworth if Bruce Wayne has had medical help, the butler responds, "No psychiatrists ... that's the rule." So has the Dark Knight really dealt with his childhood trauma?
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Is Batman a man on a mission or a mad man? SPYSCAPE puts Bruce Wayne on the couch.
Batman has fascinated loyal fans for almost a century but why does Gotham City’s tortured, brooding vigilante have such power over our imaginations? What does that say about us? And what’s up with a grown man dressing like a bat anyway?
We fired five burning questions at psychologist Dr. Travis Langley, a US professor of psychology and author of Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight (2022), and burrowed deep into Batman’s psyche.
1. Our enduring love of Batman
Batman has been around since Detective Comics No. 27 when he Kapowed! his way into our hearts in 1939 and we’re still cheering him on. We stood by Adam West during Batman’s campy ‘60s era. We ignored George Clooney’s freaky Batsuit with the big nipples. We warmly embraced Robert Pattinson’s socially awkward Bruce Wayne. So what is it about Batman that keeps us coming back for more?
“We want a hero who appeals to the humanity in us. We want a hero who can do fantastic things but is a little more believable than one who can fly out of the sky like a God. We want one who can step up for us when we’re in the worst part of town when we know no Boy Scout is going to show up and help us,” Dr. Langley told SPYSCAPE.
Truth be told, some of us probably also stay loyal to Bruce Wayne because he is a crafty billionaire with cool gadgets and a heavily armored tactical assault vehicle, but Langley believes money is just a tool, not a superhero trait that keeps us hooked.
“It’s his persistence, his determination to become something more and to make himself into the kind of person who could have stopped something such as what happened to his family,” Langley said. “We would love for there to be a hero who could do all of those things.”
2. Overcoming tragedy
Batman’s parents were shot dead in front of him when he was a boy, a traumatizing event at any age. When Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon asks Alfred Pennyworth if Bruce Wayne has had medical help, the butler responds, "No psychiatrists ... that's the rule." So has the Dark Knight really dealt with his childhood trauma?
Batman doesn't see himself as a victim when he tangles with villains, which helps him feel in control in dangerous situations. He also displays empathy, good problem-solving skills, and self-confidence - all of which can help rebound from a loss. The most important factor may lie in having supportive relationships like the bond Wayne shares with Alfred and Commissioner Gordon, according to research by US psychiatrists Dr. Vasilis K. Pozios and Dr. Praveen R. Kambam.
In Pattinson’s The Batman (2022), Bruce Wayne is still vulnerable. He is only two years into crime fighting and dealing with the loss of his parents. “He has to discover both Batman’s power of inspiration and the purpose of the Bruce Wayne role in his life,” Langley told SPYSCAPE. “We don’t know yet what he’s going to do with that. We just see that over the course of this, he’s discovering the need for purpose.”
Damian Wayne is a 14-year-old determined to fight assassins
3. Batman’s young friends
Batman has taken at least five youngsters under his wing as Robin: Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, and Damian Wayne. Should we be a tad worried about Batman’s willingness to mentor child crime fighters?
Dr. Robin S. Rosenberg, author of What’s the Matter With Batman?, calls it a “clear lapse in judgment on Wayne's part”. But Dr. Langley sides with Batman on this one, noting the crime fighter operates in Gotham City where the rules aren’t always the same.
“Generally, these are kids who are putting themselves in danger and he’s giving them guidance, as the stories are usually written. The first time Dick Grayson shows up, he’s the one who wants to charge off and take on gangsters,” Langley said. “And Batman resists - for one split second.”
“These are youngsters with ability and motivation. It is the old Knight and Squire situation that seems to become even more outdated as we go along.”
4. The Bat disguise
What about Batman’s most obvious quirk? Most of us don’t dress up in a bat mask and cape to battle vigilantes, so does Bruce Wayne have… issues?
"He is odd and quirky. He does have issues. But almost all of us have issues. Like Bruce Wayne, having issues doesn't necessarily mean that we have a mental disorder,” said Dr. Rosenberg. “It means that we've got vulnerabilities, weaknesses, areas of our lives that could benefit from improvement."
Dressing like a bat is much like dressing as a Ninja or Navy SEAL, she added. The dark color enables Batman to hide in the shadows until he wants to emerge, and his Bat wings enable him to glide short distances.
Dr. Langley also understands the need for a disguise: “We wear masks,” he writes in Batman and Psychology (2022). “Wearing a mask is a deliberate choice, not some habit he picks up without realizing it. Bruce Wayne’s conscious decision to fight crime as a masked vigilante reflects his cognitive and moral growth.”
5. Would Bruce Wayne make a good spy?
Dr. Langley believes Batman may have the right stuff to go head-to-head with the world’s best: “He definitely has some aspects when you look at the so-called James Bond personality… And narcissism. It definitely takes some degree of being egotistical to think, ‘I can and should do the things the police aren’t. I’m taking this on.’”
“In terms of deceitfulness? Well, just maintaining a dual identity. Yes, spies would be one example. Undercover police officers. They have to maintain these different aspects of their lives.”
Gotham City’s verdict?
SPYSCAPE is leaving the last word to a Gotham City psychologist. When Dr. Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman) joins the GCPD as a police consultant in Batman Forever (1995) she compares Batman to someone who’s been through a trauma powerful enough to create an alternate personality that leaves the victim in a world where normal rules of right and wrong no longer apply.
Dr. Meridian, a specialist in multiple personality disorders, isn’t quite sure where to start with Batman’s many sides - playboy, sleuth, part-time spy, civic booster, alien fighter, time traveler, comedian, lab technician, martial artist, and father figure to Robin... "Well, let's just say I could write a hell of a paper on a grown man who dresses like a flying rodent," Dr. Meridian tells the Caped Crusader.
Is Batman impressed with the flirty Gotham City shrink? After correcting her (bats aren’t rodents), Batman tells Dr. Meridian somewhat dismissively. "I read your work, Insightful. Naive, but insightful."
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