Caped Capitalists Crusade

Rating: 4/10 (23 February 2011)

I get it now.
Really, I do.
What a relief.
See, I never understood before why so many people in such oppressed, marginalized, persecuted and low-quality ways of living would insist upon standing up for the capitalist system that oppresses them.
I do now.
Batman represents that heroic figure, that capitalist who secretly has the needs of the "little people" on his mind.
He represents that mythical figure who actually, against all hertorical precedence, chooses to use his wealth for good.
However, in real life this figure never seems to quite exist. Real-life billionaires give millions to charity; their actions are well-publicized in papers thus shamed out of publishing their various other, less-moral exploits. Few if any sources ever criticize the fact that so long as they HAVE millions to casually give away in the first place, there will never be equality in this world and thus never any real justice. So long as justice is arbited by the few elite against the many, it will never be ought but a ploy to perpetuate the few's oppression. The rich are never convicted, the poor are thrown in jail...and the lawyers who put 'em there come from middle-class families that Really Believe in the "democractic" system of justice.
It's all sickening.
Bruce Wayne's 'superpower' is essentially being wealthy. Nothing he does could not be done by a man with the time, money and resources i.e. connections that he has. There is nothing special about him personally.
Like most so-called "superheroes", Batman enters the trade by accident.
What he really wants is revenge, as well as perhaps the chance to break out of "Daddy's shadow" and become more than a wealthy playboy.
That's all admirable in its own right, but it must be noted that he did not become a hero to save people's lives. He did not become a hero to better the quality of life of the average citizen...because he doesn't care about the quality of life of the average citizen.
What he cares about based on all available evidence is his own ability to buy fancy cars and have sex with fancy women and do so uninterrupted.
Here's a man who would be happily lost to his own playboy tendencies had his own personal life not been touched by violence, make no mistake.
Meanwhile the public valorizes him because he represents the hope they need. They place their faith in him and in so doing take the easier route to freedom from whatever forces or individuals happen to be oppressing a person--trusting someone else to take care of it for you.
Unfortunately Bruce Wayne does no such thing.
Look at the people he tends to take down--drug dealers, The anarchist Joker, thief and sometimes-whore Catwoman. These are not people who came from powerful families, like Bruce did; these are people who came from poverty and only were able to survive via petty crime. Petty crime can spiral into large-scale crime if a person is not careful to take the correct roads in life, and that is what seems to have happened here.
These are not "bad people", not as such--besides the Joker, most only kill those who cross them. That's not so different from Batman, is it?
Who is Batman to decide who lives and who dies? Are we to believe that anybody who breaks the law has earned the punishment any civilian wishes to dole them, so long as it is administered while they are suspected of committing or in the process of committing a crime? Great.
What a great world to live in, huh?
This is not Superman, defending the world against a much-wealthier, playboy enemy who has never worked a day in his life. Batman neither holds down a normal job nor maintains friendships with anyone save his butler. He does not 'date' so much as 'have conquests.' He is a jerk.
Much as I like to believe everyone is redeemable...about men like Bruce Wayne, I'm on the fence.
One thing I do know...I wouldn't want this guy defending my city.
No way.