I'm really getting tired of Alex. I actually wrote a thread about this on Alpha Tango Spooks just a few days ago.
I admit; I don't have a lot of proverbial sacred cows, but to be honest, Batman is one of them, and I really do not like it when people try and interpret him in order to push an agenda or school of thought which has nothing to do with him. I've seen Christians do it, and now Alex is. Batman is probably the only character from his genre that I will claim a genuine emotional attachment to. So forgive me if I channel Chris Crocker a little, here.
I also completely disagree with Alex's implication that Batman is disempowering; for me, he's always been the exact opposite. He isn't about looking to someone else to save you, at all. Where I draw inspiration from Batman, is as someone who encourages a solid sense of individuality; and more importantly, as someone who is incorruptible and has a very strong moral code, and who is able to maintain that, even when he is faced with a chaotic and amoral environment, as ours very often is today.
[youtube]uQr6GrgSPnw[/youtube]
To a certain extent, I can genuinely agree with people's reservations about the depiction of Batman as a billionaire. Truly large scale wealth has never been popular among the majority of human society, for obvious reasons; and that is probably more true right now, than it has ever been. Virtually no depiction of him that I have seen, has ever really gone into too much detail about what Wayne Enterprises does, either. There's some implication of involvement in scientific research, and possibly in weapons sales, but the corporation is usually depicted as being somewhat generalist. This is in agreement with
Wikipedia's description as well.
I will admit that my usual interpretation of Batman, in economic terms, is probably the only positive depiction of Randian philosophy that I've ever seen. I'm well aware that generally speaking, in the real world, there is an inverse relationship between billionaire scale wealth, and moral integrity. Being a complete psychopath is a virtual pre-requisite for having such wealth, particularly wealth on the dynastic scale, as Bruce is depicted as having. Ironically, Bruce's father, Thomas Wayne, is generally depicted as having been an altruistic, even compassionate man, working at one of Gotham's hospital while the business (which he is said to have inherited himself) is overseen by men with more of an interest in such.
I will admit that there is one other way in which Batman and similar material has inspired me. Although I don't externalise this in the "real world," virtually at all, in terms of what I do online, in Minecraft and with the UNIX scripting I've done, I very much have my own, largely individual way of doing things. I personally don't view that as being a bad thing, and given that I know that Alex is fundamentally a conservative, I suspect that to a large degree, he wouldn't either. Individuality is a major element of the Right's definition of freedom, and it doesn't need to be something negative. It's entirely possible to retain your individuality, while also acknowledging your moral responsibilities to the collective.
Batman is generally considered to correspond with the astrological sign of Scorpio, and with regards to his black appearance and such, his Plutonian influence is very clearly visible. Pluto is the most heavily aspected planet in my own natal chart. Being honest, I'm not always the most positive of people, or the easiest to be around. I was at times a berserker at high school, and although to a lesser extent now, I still have a tendency to lapse into depression, and also hold a strong fascination with darker topics such as the current global conspiracy. With regards to Amaterasu's Abundance Paradigm, I've often thought that although I'd like to help bring it about, I can't see myself actually living in it for any length of time; I've often felt that I am more meant to exist during the transition.
The reason why I mention this, is because it's important to understand that, yes, being Plutonian doesn't necessarily mean being primarily about kittens, bunny rabbits, and rainbows. That doesn't mean being
evil; but it does mean having ambition, a certain amount of darkness, and being willing to look at, do, and say things which other people won't. I'm an abductee; I've looked a Tall Nosed Grey in the eye while our faces were perhaps two inches apart. You don't have that happen to you and forget about it. There was nearly a decade during my late teens, when I would not sleep before sunrise.
Given that, I'm honestly a little surprised about Alex's attitude towards Batman. I would have expected Alex to see a kindred spirit there. Alex surely knows what it is like to be someone who is trying to work for the benefit of everyone else around him, who spends most of his time in the shadows, looking at and dealing with subjects which horrify everyone else, and not receiving a lot of thanks for doing that, either. Then again, maybe he doesn't.
I also don't agree at all, with Alex's assertion that the Batman films are intended to provoke fear in people. The first film, with the Scarecrow, was about
exactly the opposite. It was about
confronting our fears, dealing with them head on, and recognising them as illusions and hallucinations; not reality.
I will concede that Frank Miller's depiction of Batman is more fascist than I would like, yes. I didn't like Batman's attitude along those lines with the Joker during the interrogation; that was very different to Bob Kayne's Batman, at least from what I saw of him. Kayne's Batman was deputised, yes; but he still wasn't a member of the police, and didn't completely conform to their mode of behaviour, rightly understanding that it was exactly their behaviour which tended to render them impotent.
Alex takes issue with Batman's sacrificial associations, but I think perhaps that what he doesn't recognise, is that yes, Batman is a genuinely sacrificial figure. Batman fundamentally is not someone who is liked, respected, or appreciated; people need him for what he does, but they don't want
him at all. Often, as with Harvey Dent in the second film, he stands in the shadow of someone who the people love, and to whom they give the credit for what he himself has done.
I understand also, the accusation that a figure like Batman only has a place within a world of psychopaths; within a world with groups like the Illuminati. People like Bruce and I are of the transition; I've already said that. There is going to come a time when Amaterasu's Abundance Paradigm comes to pass; and better still. The world will be restored environmentally, and conflict on virtually any level will be a thing of the past. Yet you won't see us there. I very nearly didn't come back to this forum after initially saying hello, and I realise now that the reason why, is because I recognised how positive this place is. I'm only drawn to places like ATS; because they are chaotic, and dark, and somewhat negative. It's what I'm used to, and with only a few exceptions, it's all I know. Most of the time, it's also all I'm able to bring myself to believe that I deserve.
Yet during my own two and a half years while playing World of Warcraft, I got to experience, if only vicariously, what it was like, to go into a cruel, chaotic, elitist, and at times totally callous, unloving and inhuman place...and to know, that sometimes, even when they were performed completely anonymously...my own deeds might be the only light that the people there, ever saw in the darkness.
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