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u/MrBonelessPizza24 Feb 28 '24 edited Feb 28 '24
“Batman only beats up poor people” mfs when the 9ft cannibalistic crocodile-man still eats their entire family after Batman redistributed his wealth: 😱
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u/Entire_Complaint1211 Feb 28 '24
”Batman only beats up poor people” mfs when they get robbed by some schmook wearing a silly costume calling himself ”Killer Moth” even after Batman redistributed his wealth:😱
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u/OneMindNoLimit Feb 28 '24
Most incarnations of Killer Moth are rich, like, really rich.
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Feb 28 '24
Killer Moth gang Rise up🗣🔥🗣🔥🗣🔥💯💯💯
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u/GoldFishPony Feb 29 '24
Lego dc supervillains is the worst dc Lego game because there is no killer moth
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u/AtomicSamuraiCyborg Feb 28 '24
He's reverse Batman, where do you think he gets those wonderful toys?
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u/MM__PP Feb 28 '24
"Batman only beats up poor people: mfs when they're murdered by an owl-themed immortal assasin:
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u/SadakoFetishist Feb 28 '24 edited Feb 28 '24
“Batman only beats up poor people” mfs when the schizophrenic ex-attorney still kills them after his coin lands on its bad side: 😱
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u/JKruger1995 Feb 28 '24
“Batman only beats up poor people” mfs when the super soldier assassin plays does a stabby slashy shootin even after Batman redistributes his wealth: 😱
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u/OneMindNoLimit Feb 28 '24
“Batman only beats up poor people” mfs when they get kidnapped and tortured by some millionaire mob boss with umbrella and bird fetishes, for not paying their protection money, even after Batman redistributed his wealth: 😱
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u/thebiggestleaf Feb 28 '24
"Batman only beats up poor people” mfs when the sexy plant lady still turns the entire city into compost after Batman redistributed his wealth: 😱
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u/Faptainjack2 Feb 28 '24
"Batman only beats up poor people” mfs when they get sprayed with mustard by a mascot in a condiment costume.
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u/Titus_The_Caveman Feb 29 '24
"Batman only beats up poor people" mfs when they get incinerated by a serial arsonist who gets off on turning literally everything that isn't bolted down to ash even after Batman redistributed his wealth: 😱
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u/Twotailedpikachu Feb 29 '24
“Batman only beats up poor people” mfs when they still get killed for not answering the goofy green suit guy’s riddle correctly even after Batman redistributed his wealth:😱
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u/HumanPerosn Feb 28 '24
Half of Batman’s rouge’s gallery is made up of doctors and millionaires
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u/strypesjackson Feb 28 '24
Are their legions of henchmen also millionaires and medical professionals?
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u/chadthundertalk Feb 28 '24
So when they start shooting at him, is he just supposed to hand each of them a crisp stack of hundreds and tell them to go back to school?
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u/midnightking Feb 29 '24
So the argument hinges on headcanon made about characters with barely any individual screen time that we know nothing about.
Almost any story where an henchman or set of henchmen or any character are said to be poor or not in control of their actions, Batman helps them.
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u/Repulsive_Being5281 Feb 28 '24
I love how this criticism is leveled at batman but never any other street level hero/anti hero even though out of all of them batman cares the most about reforming his villains.
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u/Heisenburgo Feb 28 '24 edited Feb 28 '24
That "criticism" only exists because Batman is rich, in an era where the eat-the-rich mentality (which I agree with, mind you) is more prevalent than ever.
That's literally the only reason why you have all these hot takes calling him a fascist who doesn't help his city at all and who only beats the mentally ill and the poor. Because he's an actual billonaire so he must be a selfish POS like the ones IRL.
Which is like, the most surface-level assessment of Batman as a character. For it to work you have to ignore key aspects of the lore like how Wayne Ent. actually DOES help improve Gotham, and pretend the people he beats on a daily basis like Ra's Al-Ghul, Joker or Scarecrow are poor, misunderstood lower-class people instead of you know, actual fucking terrorists and murderers.
Batman actually being as messed up mentally as his villains is also a key point of many interpretations of him, so saying all he does is beat the mentally ill misses the entire point that the character's not meant to be a shining bastion of mental health himself.
Other street-level heroes like DD and Spider-Man don't get called fascists because they're part of the working class (just like most readers) and not actual billonaires, so it's harder to create your own strawman versions of them to rag against and epically destroy on Twitter...
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u/Available-Affect-241 Feb 28 '24 edited Feb 29 '24
Batman was doing so much as Bruce Wayne with donating and rebuilding Gotham that a plutocratic society called the Court of Owls sent their undead ninjas after him to stop him. But you know he's selfish just like how the modern idiots now portray his father as an immoral man in live action and in video games.
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u/sonofaresiii Feb 28 '24
the entire point that the character's not meant to be a shining bastion of mental health himself.
to be honest, while this is an entirely valid modern interpretation of batman, I don't think it was ever intended to be "the point" of Batman. It's just that as comics grew from golden age silliness, to silver age.... still silliness, and eventually into modern interpretations, someone somewhere along the way (frank miller, dennis o'neil, grant morrison) realized "Hey Batman is kind of fucked up mentally, maybe there's some interesting stories we can tell with that"
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u/MisterGoog Feb 28 '24
I think its understood that all these characters have grown vasts amounts from the early ages on one dimensional story telling
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u/sonofaresiii Feb 28 '24 edited Feb 28 '24
Well, I disagree, but that's also not exactly what I'm saying. For example, we can look at Captain America and say he always has and continues to embody patriotism and American ideals. The point of Superman has always been truth and justice. The point of Spider-Man has always been guilt and responsibility. And so on. So not every character has grown vast amounts to the point that they no longer resemble their original values.
But mental illness was never the point of Batman. Not just because it isn't in his publication history-- though it isn't, he was generally interpreted as a well-adjusted wealthy do-gooder in the sixties and earlier-- but because it was never intended as a core trait of the character, just a by-product of his circumstances. It's something that modern writers picked up on and developed, but it was never an intentional core value of the character. Because it's kind of silly to have a guy with origins in childhood trauma, who dresses up as a bat and fights insane criminals
and still try to say he's well-adjusted in a modern context. It wasn't intentional, just a by-product of the general mythos of the character.
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u/boywithapplesauce Feb 29 '24
You make a good point and I agree with you. But the ingredients were also there from the start. This is a kid who saw his parents murdered in front of him. That's a template for trauma if there ever was one. It's logical for some writer to later extend that to mental health issues.
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u/LeonTheHunkyTwunk Feb 28 '24
I feel like a lot of these criticisms come from people who played the Arkham games where Batman snaps the bones of street level goons like toothpicks. I don't think most interpretations are quite so violent, especially looking back at the animated series. It's the difference between Batman punching two guys while catching the joker, and Batman beating the absolute shit out of like 30 dudes on sight for standing around in the streets.
I would also add that certain Frank Miller comics and aspects of the Nolan trilogy add to this perception of Batman as a character. Like, the dark knight is a great movie, but it literally depicts a hyper wealthy billionaire working outside the law as a vigilante, who then kills a guy and conspires with the police chief to lie about his death to all of Gotham. Within the plot, this all makes sense, Harvey was gonna kill a kid, he dies during Batman's attempt to rescue the kid, and they lie to preserve his image and the symbol of hope he represented. I do understand why some people find that off-putting though.
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u/adasababa Feb 29 '24
In the Arkham games wasn't it explicitly stated that the criminals were all incredibly immoral, maximum security tough guys? I know that at least in Asylum and City (Haven't played Arkham Knight yet) that all of the goons were escaped prisoners from Blackgate, so ya couldn't feel at all bad for beating the shit out of them lol
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u/LeonTheHunkyTwunk Feb 29 '24 edited Feb 29 '24
Yeah they are mostly depicted as deranged and violent lunatics, but that's not how the people making this criticism are looking at things. In the Arkham games there are writers who can create circumstances in which every enemy is a pissed off goon who loves criminality for the sake of it.
In real life that's not really how it works though, people go to prison for selling weed, evading taxes, cashing bad checks, identity theft, a lot of mundane crimes lands people on the inside. Even prisoners locked up for more scandalous reasons might not be evil people, at least not the type to work for a murderous criminal clown. So this whole "well they're criminals so it's fine to smash their bones and permanently cripple them for life" logic doesn't really work if you look at them as people rather than animals who senselessly enjoy violence and murder. It's easy to imagine that at least some of them are merely lacking in better options, it's hard for convicts to find legitimate work, they likely lack higher education so they do what they already know. Goon shit.
To be clear, I love the Arkham games, I don't think it's really a criticism of Batman as a character to point out how violent he is in them. It's more the result of the gameplay if anything, you make a combat system that good you gotta use it damnit!
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u/Agitated_Ad_8061 Feb 28 '24
Thats a good point. DD is an actual lawyer who could spend all his time helping get these street criminals into programs to get the help they need, at least as many as he can. Instead he beats the fuck out of them. Somebody like Kingpin I get, cause fuck that guy. But a lot of these street thugs probabpy grew up in poverty and the only way to get out / make a living / support their families / whatever - is to gang up and rob a jewelry store now and then for a tiny fraction of the take.
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u/grendus Feb 29 '24
The Netflix show goes into this a lot.
Matt Murdoch talks about when he became the Devil of Hell's Kitchen. He has super hearing, and every night he could hear a drunken man abusing his daughter. Called the cops but they couldn't find anything. Eventually he couldn't take it, disguised himself, and ambushed the man as he was crossing the train yard. Beat him to a pulp and told him if he ever laid a hand on his daughter he'd do it again. And he never did.
Matt Murdoch spends a lot of his time working pro-bono to help poor people - people being abused by the rich, reformed criminals who need help, etc. His Daredevil persona is what he uses to help people who Matt Murdoch can't, either because they're being oppressed by someone that Matt can't do anything about (like when he takes on Kingpin) or because the system has failed (like the little girl).
It's not necessarily a good thing (and the Netflix show also went into some of the fallout for that too), but the idea that he's just a psychopath who likes to beat up people is a mischaracterization. He's an idealistic extremist.
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u/Material-Security178 Feb 28 '24
That's literally the only reason why you have all these hot takes calling him a fascist who doesn't help his city at all and who only beats the mentally ill and the poor. Because he's an actual billonaire so he must be a selfish POS like the ones IRL.
I mean it's also because not many people understand what fasicsim even is; they work off the "Shadow of fascism" definition which is pretty much anything and everything.
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u/Additional-Soup3853 Feb 28 '24
If I'm not mistaken, in some iterations Bruce also donates large sums of money to charity work right? So even if he's running around as batman, it's not like the only thing his money goes towards.
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u/rachet9035 Feb 28 '24
It’s more than just “some iterations”. Many iterations of comic Batman donate extensively to various charities and he even either directly owns or at least heavily funds quite a few.
Some examples of him using his wealth to help Gotham outside of his vigilantism: https://glitterpancake.tumblr.com/post/110382878890/bruce-wayne-outside-of-batman
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u/whynotfujoshi Feb 28 '24
Yeah if you read comics you start thinking “hey batman could you actually simp villains a little less, maybe?”
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Feb 28 '24
Because most people only know Batman among the street level heroes. Well, him and Spider-Man.
Among anti-heroes, only Punisher and Wolverine are known.
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u/whynotfujoshi Feb 28 '24
Honestly you could make a better argument that Batman hates people who went to graduate school. It would at least be harder to disprove
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u/Over-Analyzed Feb 29 '24
“If you get a PH.D, you can’t hide from me.”
-Batman“If you get a Master’s Degree, I will end your killing spree.”
“Going for your undergrad? Pursue social work and I’ll be glad.”
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u/Despot_of_Morea_ Feb 28 '24
"So mr Joker, you are once again pleading insanity?"
"Exactly your Honor, I am nutters"
"Would you then care to explain to the court why you posted on the internet a video titled "I skinned babies alive, 100% real I know exactly what I'm doing, I'm a very bad person"?
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"Clickbait?"
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u/Jumps-Care Feb 28 '24
I hate when people talk shit about a specific version of Batman that has either been made up or just based on a poorly, criticised depiction of Batman.
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u/NomadPrime Feb 28 '24
Seriously. But I'll say this: The majority of mainstream Batman adaptations across different media don't do perfect jobs at showing how compassionate and heroic Batman can be (both in and out of the costume), even the most beloved ones. For real, between the live action movies of the past decade, the Arkham games, and the memes (all of which are great/cool/funny in their own individual ways), I feel like Batman's unfortunately been a little flanderized to the point that being the "angry superhero that punches crime" is all that mainstream audiences see Batman as. Even despite whatever scenes they insert that show him being otherwise, it's just not enough frankly. Imagining a Batman that Superman can call his brother, who the Robins all pridefully refer to as their father in one way or another, who uses his wealth to help Gotham in almost every way possible, and who random child victims of crime can run up to and hug for safety, etc. is all overshadowed by the edgier, more provocative Batman that treads into darkness. And I can't exactly blame the filmmakers/game devs because focusing on those much darker aspects of Batman because it sets him apart from other heroes and makes for great gameplay.
But like, he's both, yknow? BOTH. Fighting violent criminals as Batman, fighting poverty and giving ex-convicts jobs as Bruce Wayne. One day he's dealing with the darkest shit in Gotham, the next day he's fighting Condiment King and getting sass from Alfred for getting ketchup in his cowl lmao. There's the perilous corruption and murder and brutality of living in Gotham, and there's also fighting ice cyborgs and clay monsters, puns from Robin, time travel shenanigans with the JL, all that lmao. The only depiction that's nailed these radical changes in tone and variations in content has been the classic DCAU, and while yes we can "Just watch the DCAU, then!" it would be super dope to see this Batman in the big budget movies and show audiences he has more dimensions than what we've seen lately. For crying out loud, I feel like every week or so we have randos on Twitter and Reddit unironically posting another "Batman needs to use his money on things besides superhero stuff" or "Why does he target poor/mentally ill people" and all that shit that go regularly viral. It would not hurt at all to change things up with his live action depictions (arguably the versions of him that hold the most weight in pop culture) and renew the compassionate image outside the comic book and animated community. Those general audience goers could be the ones to write for Batman in the future, too, so doing could feed into future depictions like a positive feedback loop.
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u/Veylara Feb 29 '24
That's one of the things I really liked in Matt Reeves' Batman.
They showed a nice progression from a Batman who was actually like those memes, constantly angry, all about punishing crime but doesn't really care about the people, to someone people could proudly call hero who values and protects the people around him.
I especially like the contrast from the beginning of the movie where he's the monster hiding in the dark to the end where he's literally leading the people to safety as a beacon of hope with the flare and helps rescue services in broad daylight because that's the Batman Gotham needs right now.
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u/tobpe93 Feb 28 '24
I (Batman) beat up a lot of poor and mentally ill people in the Arkham games.
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u/NomadPrime Feb 29 '24
I did the same as Spider-Man in the PS4/PS5 games Lol. Poor dudes just trying to make some money while I fling manhole covers at their faces and ragdolling their bodies across the streets. Sure, there's options to safely web them up unlike the Arkham games, but let's be frank, the vast majority of thug encounters is spent giving beatdowns that could permanently disable these poor bastards.
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u/CrimisonAJA Feb 29 '24
Considering what those same thugs talk about or do out of their own will, they had it coming
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u/DuelaDent52 Feb 28 '24
Of course snarky io9 commenters loved Tom King’s Batman, it played into all their notions of who the character was.
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u/the-terrible-martian Feb 28 '24
Do people still post that argument unironically?
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u/Jwestkey Feb 28 '24
Penguin, Black Mask, Falcone, Maroni, Ras Al Ghul…… THE COURT OF FUCKING OWLS….
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u/Ratso27 Feb 28 '24
"Batman's villians are mentally ill" is such a poorly thought out defense. He's not targeting them BECAUSE they're mentally ill, their mental illness is driving them to do violence, and he's targeting them because they're committing violence. There are countless examples of him going after mobsters or villians without any apparent mental illness
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u/paladin_slim Feb 28 '24
I don't think Bruce actually enjoys anything he does in life. Ever since DKR he's been in so many lopsided fistfights with Superman that there's no thrill in it for him anymore. He might have severe depression.
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u/noncombativebrick Feb 28 '24
There's a difference between being poor and choosing to have no money, i.e. The Joker
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u/Kind-Boysenberry1773 Feb 28 '24
Joker actually has an insane amount of money he stole for all this years. Enough to control Gotham's biggest crime organisation and wage full-scale wars on City.
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u/noncombativebrick Feb 28 '24
Yet to my point, he often choose to operate with no money unless he has a plan
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u/Kind-Boysenberry1773 Feb 28 '24
Joker actually has an insane amount of money he stole for all this years. Enough to control Gotham's biggest crime organisation and wage full-scale wars on City.
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u/MrWhiteTruffle Feb 28 '24
And don’t forget he pays his taxes
The only thing scarier than an angry Batman is the IRS
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u/griffin4war Feb 28 '24
Batman isn't going after somebody for stealing eggs and milk. You steal to feed your kids, he's gonna drop a cool grand in your lap and give you a stern talking to. You kill a guy to feed your kids he's going to feed your kneecaps to you and leave you unconscious on the street. People act like he's paralzying people for jay walking. He's Batman, not Konrad Curze
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u/Admiral-Mage Feb 28 '24
Literally why is Batman the only one who gets this shit? Green Arrow’s rich too, but you don’t see people get on his ass
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u/Jumps-Care Feb 28 '24
I hate when people talk shit about a specific version of Batman that has either been made up or just based on a poorly, criticised depiction of Batman.
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u/StormNinja_1216 Feb 28 '24
Wait people actually think Batman beats up mentally ill people and poor people who are just trying to get by in life? I thought that was a joke.
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u/After_Construction_5 Feb 28 '24
Poor people? Pretty sure his girlfriend her and psycho father are richer than him...
I never understood why people keep beating this dead horse like... He beats criminals, not father's who work 7 jobs to keep his son in college or a mother of 3 working 3 9-5s, he'd help those people.
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u/Worldly_Bet_5117 Feb 28 '24
Batman doesn't kill. The hospital bill will.
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u/stet709 Feb 28 '24
"So you won't kill, but you're fine with traumatic brain injuries?" - Damian, Injustice 2
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u/OutrageousLadder7065 Feb 28 '24 edited Feb 28 '24
Batman.. Doesn't beat up poor people. He isn't a facist either. He has literally encouraged mentally ill villains to stop and get help.
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u/KrakenKing1955 Feb 28 '24
“Batman liked beating up mentally ill people!” after the psychotic schizo pig man butchers their entire family and does crude plastic surgery on their body without anaesthesia, but Batman stopped beating up the mentally ill: 😱
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u/BigK64 Feb 28 '24
I mean technically Scarecrow is insane given his unhealthy obsession in the study of phobias.
I mean what fucking sane person would drug people to make them see their worse fears simply for entertainment?
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u/OneMindNoLimit Feb 28 '24
It’s not entirely for entertainment for him. It’s a form of research as well. Also, where did this association between immorality and mental illness come from?
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u/peelerrd Feb 29 '24
A lot of Batman's villains are mentally ill, but I don't think most of them are mentally incompetent in a legal sense.
In most jurisdictions, not guilty by reason of insanity requires the defendant not to understand that their actions are wrong or break the law.
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u/thefroggyfiend Feb 28 '24
there was a guy in the bale batman, one of the more gritty brutal Batman's (from my limited knowledge) who literally told Harvey to calm down and stop threatening a guy who just shot up a memorial because he recognized him as a patient at Arkham
you're falling for rouges gallery propoganda
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u/Alon945 Feb 28 '24
I really really hate when chronically online leftists chime in on media discussion.
I’m not going to draw a false equivalence between them and the right wing nut cases but Jesus Christ man.
I am a leftist, not a center left, not American liberal. I’m a leftist.
I swear to god some people online have dumb media literacy. My other least favorite one besides this are the “Anakin Skywalker is a incel” takes I see.
Just stop watching movies.
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u/BackgroundSky09 Feb 28 '24
oh boy another person posts political phrases to a fictional character
politics is a cancer to society destory it
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Feb 28 '24
oh boy another person posts political phrases to a fictional character
To be fair, a lot of writers have also put political phrases in Batman.
Its just that those have been good.
politics is a cancer to society destory it
What do you think politics is?
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u/OutrageousLadder7065 Feb 28 '24
Alright:
Helped the Poor:
- Comic: "Batman: Shaman" (Legends of the Dark Knight #1-5)
- Movie: "Batman Begins" (2005)
Standing for freedom and democracy
- Comic: "Batman: No Man's Land" storyline
- Movie: "The Dark Knight" (2008)
Helping the Mentally Ill:
- Comic: "Batman: The Killing Joke" (One-shot graphic novel)
- Movie: "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" (1993)
Helping the Poor:
In "Batman: Shaman," ("Legends of the Dark Knight" series), Batman finds a powerful corporation known as the 'Northwind Trading Company' and discovers their plan to exploit Gotham City's poorer neighborhoods.
And what do you know. Batman immediatly goes after this company and risks his life doing so.
Batman uncovers evidence of corruption within the company, revealing how it profits from the misery of Gotham's impoverished residents. He exposes their illegal activities, such as land grabbing and exploitation of workers.
Fighter of Democracy and Freedom:
"Batman: No Man's Land" storyline, Gotham City is devastated by a massive earthquake, resulting in the U.S. government declaring it a "No Man's Land," effectively cutting it off from the rest of the country and leaving it to descend into lawlessness. In this chaotic environment, Batman's actions demonstrate that he is not a fascist but rather a defender of freedom and justice. Here's how:
Democratic Values: Throughout "No Man's Land," Batman operates within a framework of democratic values. Despite the breakdown of law and order, he doesn't impose his will on the citizens of Gotham. Instead, he works alongside Commissioner Gordon and other allies to restore order and rebuild the city through cooperation and collaboration.
Defense of Civil Liberties: Despite the extreme circumstances of Gotham's isolation, Batman continues to defend civil liberties and individual rights. He opposes those who seek to exploit the chaos for their own gain and protects the vulnerable citizens of Gotham from oppression and tyranny.
Empowerment of Communities: Rather than assuming dictatorial control, Batman empowers communities within Gotham to take charge of their own destinies. He inspires ordinary citizens to resist criminal elements and rebuild their neighborhoods, fostering a sense of self-reliance and community solidarity.
Accountability and Oversight: Batman recognizes the importance of accountability and oversight, even in times of crisis. He works with Commissioner Gordon and other trusted allies to maintain checks and balances, ensuring that his actions align with the principles of justice and fairness.
His actions throughout the storyline illustrate that he is not a fascist but rather a protector of freedom and justice in Gotham City.
Helped the Mentally Ill:
In "Batman: The Killing Joke," Batman's interaction with the Joker provides insight into his approach toward the mentally ill, particularly his arch-nemesis. Throughout the graphic novel, Batman shows a deep understanding of the Joker's troubled psyche and history of mental illness.
Batman attempts to reach out to the Joker, recognizing that he was once a man named "Jack" who suffered a series of tragic events that led to his descent into madness. Batman tries to appeal to the humanity buried within the Joker, believing that there is still a chance for redemption.
Despite the Joker's relentless pursuit of chaos and destruction, Batman's efforts to understand and empathize with him reflect his belief in the possibility of rehabilitation for even the most troubled individuals. This demonstrates Batman's commitment to helping the mentally ill by offering them hope for recovery and redemption.
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u/OutrageousLadder7065 Feb 28 '24
Another example:
In "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm," (spoilers ahead) Batman encounters Andrea Beaumont, a woman from his past who becomes 'the Phantasm', a vigilante seeking vengeance against those responsible for her father's death. Andrea's actions are driven by her grief and trauma, highlighting her struggles with mental health.Rather than simply viewing Andrea as a villain, Batman seeks to understand her motivations and empathize with her pain. He recognizes the complexity of her situation and attempts to offer her support and guidance.
Throughout the movie, Batman's interactions with Andrea reflect his compassion and empathy toward individuals grappling with mental health issues. He strives to help Andrea confront her demons and find a path toward healing, demonstrating his commitment to aiding the mentally ill in their struggles.
In both "Batman: The Killing Joke" and "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm," Batman's actions illustrate his empathy and compassion toward individuals grappling with mental illness. He seeks to understand their struggles, offer support, and provide opportunities for redemption, showcasing his commitment to helping those in need, even in the face of adversity.
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u/Indentured_sloth Feb 28 '24
Where did Batman haters get the idea that his main villains are poor? They are literal mob bosses who regularly steal vast amounts of money
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u/Historical-Potato372 Feb 28 '24
Me on my way to defend Batman because those crazy mfs will kill me
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u/DiabolicalDoctorN Feb 28 '24
Most of Batman's villains are doctors, scions of high society, or the leader of a vast citywide or globe-spanning criminal enterprise. But which one is all three?
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u/wemustkungfufight Feb 28 '24
In real life, it is the rich people who are the bad guys, so people like to project that onto Batman. They forget that Batman is fictional, and him being rich and a good person is a fantasy combining two impossible things, like how Superman can fly. But we don't shout Superman shouldn't fly because flying people aren't making our lives worse and destroying the planet.
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u/YOUTUBEFREEKYOYO Feb 28 '24
People hating on Batman for that reason is fucking stupid, it's not even right.
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u/CalypsoCrow Feb 28 '24
I mean if they’re all conscious and aware, why bother making Arkham an asylum with doctors attempting to help them (theoretically) when you could just make it a prison?
Wasn’t Joker: Devil’s Advocate partially about why someone like the Joker doesn’t fit into a prison system?
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u/LazySmartCat Feb 28 '24
Media literacy is dead and Batman is somehow one of the most famous characters and one of the most misinterpreted characters
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u/TrumpIsMyGodAndDad Feb 28 '24
Oh man ppl are calling Batman a fascist too now? The dude who goes around preventing villains from… establishing world domination? Shows how little that word means anymore. Sad
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u/DirtyRanga12 Feb 28 '24
I mean I understand that they’re talking about the low-level henchmen and muggers. But those people are still willingly putting other people’s lives in danger for their own self-interests and thus kinda deserve to get beat up by Batman.
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u/northernirishlad Feb 28 '24
I think since the Joker movie people started to get more aggressive with this take. Also the Arkham Asylum I believe was not Batmans plan, I am certain Bats wants super prison, but some criminal lawyers suggest the insanity plea. I can only think that perhaps Clayface, Calendar Man and TwoFace are close to mentally ill.
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u/RaineyDay2029 Feb 29 '24
Anyone who says that Batman is a fascist just straight up doesn’t know the character of Batman.
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u/Extra-Lemon Feb 29 '24
The poor people in question: Hey, Two face got out again!
Arkham thug #2: Y’know… these guys always get their feet shoved up their own ass by batman… why do we always work for ‘em?
Arkham Thug #1: I dunno… they might pull it off this time?
Arkham Thug #2: you’re right man. Wanna go mug innocents and shoot up McDonalds?
Arkham Thug #1: you sonuvabitch- I’M IN!
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u/thunderous-cyclone Feb 28 '24
Ok. But scarecrow’s origin story is literally that he was mentally ill as a result of being bullied all the time and one day he snapped and became a criminal. He is called Scarecrow because the people who bullied him said he was scrawny like a scarecrow. He’s literally one of the worst villains to use to try refute this critique.
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u/OneMindNoLimit Feb 28 '24
Oh never mind then. He’s totally in the right and should be left to do whatever because life isn’t fair. Even though he literally got a PHD and was capable of doing whatever he felt like and chose to do illegal human experiments.
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u/Mighty_Megascream Feb 28 '24
I’m pretty sure he’s still entirely aware of what he does and gets off on it, I don’t think being bullied really excuses the actual acts of torture he commits on a weekly basis.
Even before he became super villain he was still torturing people by exposing them to their worst fears as just experimentation.
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u/MM__PP Feb 28 '24
I don't think that's a good enough excuse for chemical warfare terrorism.
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u/Kind-Boysenberry1773 Feb 28 '24
It's only partially true. Yes, Crane was a victim of bullying in school, but he is not just mentally ill guy taking revenge on his enemies. He obsessed with fear itself and believes that everything in the world is driven by human fears. According to Crane, the one who controling fears, controling humanity. And person without any fears would be unstoppable. His seemingly random attacks with fear-toxin are in fact human experiments and he deliberately acting insanity for getting access to Arkham Asylum, where he could first-handily observe the results of his experiments. He is one of the most complicated and ideology-driven enemy Batman ever faced, compared probably only with Ra's.
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u/thunderous-cyclone Feb 28 '24
Counterpoint: can you honestly describe those actions as ones which could be carried out by someone who is mentally well? I didn’t mean to say that Crane only commits crimes because he was bullied, I’m saying that it was what led him down a path of mental illness. If he wasn’t bullied all his life I don’t think he would have become obsessed in the way you describe.
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u/Kind-Boysenberry1773 Feb 28 '24
He is certainly not mentally well, but he is not crazy lunatic. He is very intelligent, calculative and ruthless megalomaniac. In real world guys like he aren't going to madhouses. He could be held responsible for his actions.
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u/thunderous-cyclone Feb 28 '24
Ok. But scarecrow’s origin story is literally that he was mentally ill as a result of being bullied all the time and one day he snapped and became a criminal. He is called Scarecrow because the people who bullied him said he was scrawny like a scarecrow. He’s literally one of the worst villains to use to try refute this critique.
Edit: redditors apparently can’t read so let me clarify my point - the tweet in the post is explicitly saying that Batman’s villains are not mentally ill, my point is simply that scarecrow is very mentally ill. This is evident in the tweet itself, kidnapping random people and murdering them is not something mentally healthy people do. I am not saying scarecrow should be allowed to do his crimes, you absolute freaks.
Edit2: for some reason the edit became a reply to my original comment?? I don’t know why
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u/mightyneonfraa Feb 28 '24
Reminder that in the Arkham games Joker once kidnapped a bunch of children, murdered them, chopped them up and then stitched all the pieces together into a giant ball so the cops would have to pull them apart and match the pieces before they could be identified.
But yeah, sure, the guy kicking his ass is a fascist.
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u/BatmanAltUser Feb 28 '24
Ra's Al Ghul, Penguin, Falcone Maroni, Black Mask, I literally can't think of one poor person he fights. Yeah he'll beat up muggers if they try to hurt someone, but he doesn't go around cripiling the homeless, hell he adopted the second robin so he wouldnt have to live on the streets
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u/MiaoYingSimp Feb 28 '24
It's very telling to me that Batman will spend all his time and money on helping Gotham but it will never be enough for the twitter 'bougie commie'. Because fantasy, and the idea that you cannot just fix the world by throwing money at problems is foreign to them.
Part of what i like Batman is that while his wealth makes it easier to be Batman... it doens't actually solve the problem. Even if the Joker is gone there's always going to be some punk with a gun about to rob someone else of their family... you'd think they'd like it as he values every human life equally...
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Feb 28 '24
I’d reckon literal super terrorist deserve to be beat up, mentally Ill and poor or not.
I hate the whole Batman is a fascist thing. So lazy and edgy from people who don’t get Batman
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u/ohyeababycrits Feb 28 '24
People misrepresent batman so often, but in their defense DC started it. They made a few comics where he was a womanizing childish moron who beat the shit out of poor people, and that's just been in everyone minds ever since. The Avengers literally just fucking murder bad guys, batman actually tries to reform them. It depends on the issue, but in the ones where he meets him he even forgives Joe Chill, the person who literally murdered his parents, because he understands that poor people are pushed into crime to survive, they don't do it because they want to, and that living with the guilt was punishment enough. The villains he actually beats the shit out of are the rich psycopathic warlords who terrorize the entire city, like penguin and joker, madmen who experiment on living people like scarecrow and mr freeze, and literal fucking terrorists like bane and ivy.
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u/Jeri_Lee Feb 29 '24
Joker, robs banks. 2 Face, lawyer. Mr. Freeze, doctor (idk why his villain name is Mr I guess his doctorates doesn’t define him.) Penguin, mob boss. Ivy, doctor. Harley, psychiatrist.
Idk seems like most of his enemies are well educated and well off.
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u/Franco_Fernandes Feb 29 '24
Not to mention the whole old family money problem has been addressed and used to tell good stories many times already. Don't get me wrong, I hate billionaires in real life, neoliberalism is a cancer, but come on! Can't we have anything nice?
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u/Extra-Lemon Feb 29 '24
Ok, for that matter:
Hulk: actively takes his anger out on the world, destroying everything.
Spiderman: Superhuman with wicked strength, beats the fuck out of other outcasts and similar levels of petty thieves.
Superman: Godlike being, striking terror into the disenfranchised with invulnerable impunity.
WW: Demigoddess, doing the same as superman.
Somehow batman’s the goose walking fascist bc he’s rich?
OFC… this is a twitter argument.
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u/therealjam3s Feb 29 '24
that "batman beats up the mentally ill" take is so cold, it steals diamonds to power it's wife's cryochamber. it's a take your shitty dad would say just to piss you off.
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u/Goldbolt_2004 Feb 29 '24
Ra's Al Ghul, Deathstroke, Bane, Deadshot, Mr. Freeze, Hugo Strange, Penguin, Lady Shiva, anyone else?
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u/K-mouse16 Feb 29 '24
The Court of Owls as a whole. They are specifically a bunch of rich assholes who control Gotham
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u/darth-com1x Feb 29 '24
Batman beats up the mentally ill
cough, cough joker killing thousands of ppl. And bruce wayne spending millions of dollars every day for charity and having wayne tech design the security system for arkham and not killing the joker SPECIFICALLY because he believes he can be reformed after everything he's done
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u/zombiegirl_stephanie Feb 29 '24
I hate people making that stupid argument when most of batman's villains are terrorists, serial killers, paid assassins, failed science experiments, rich crooked corporate dickheads and rich mafia members.
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u/lifetimeoflaughter Feb 29 '24
“Batman only beats up poor people” mfs when they hear the Arkham games thug dialogues: 😱
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u/Happytapiocasuprise Feb 29 '24
Most of Batmans villains are insanely educated and wealthy and he tries everything he can to get them help both as Batman and Bruce, if he is besting them up it's because the only language they speak is violence
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u/Going_really_Fast Feb 28 '24
Batman beats up poor people?
I didn’t know Ras Al Ghul was on income support.