Irregular Note 4: Vote for Reál Change
Matt Reeves’ The Batman, Cultural Commentary and Superhero as American Myth
note: This is a lightly edited version of an essay I wrote in 2022 about the Batman film that was released that year. It was published on a Website that no longer exists…long live The Commoner (RIP). I am re-releasing it to celebrate the Penguin show that is premiering on HBO this week! Definitely feels resonate with some other stuff happening but I tried not to change too much. The ideas might be interesting to revisit in the future, though.
I always enjoyed Batman comics as a child. My favorite iterations of the character were the grounded noir-esque takes from writers such as Frank Miller or Jeph Loeb. My favorite Batman stories of all time are Batman: The Long Halloween, Batman: Dark Victory and Batman: Year One. Each of these stories focus heavily upon the politics, city bureaucracy and the organized crime side of Gotham. Additionally, these are stories apart from Dark Victory (albeit Robin only appears at the end) where the Bat Family is largely absent. Instead, the emphasis is placed on characters such as Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Dent. The villains in these stories tend to be the corrupt city leaders, serial killers and mobsters as opposed to more well recognized and colorful Batman enemies such as the Joker or Poison Ivy although the more iconic villains also make appearances. My favorite Batman villain is Carmine Falcone, a mobster who runs the Gotham underworld. All of this is to say that I am very familiar with Batman mythos, tropes and stories.
I kinda shifted away from the character as I continued to politicize and see how my politics were at odds with the idea of a rich billionaire beating the shit out of poor people and “criminals” at night especially when criminality has always been linked to anti-blackness. However, my approach when it comes to noir media and crime stories generally is to treat them like fantasy. I treated the new Batman film similarly. I enjoyed it because of the emphasis on corruption, detective work and noir elements. Despite this,The Batman is a cultural landmark for understanding deeper things about our society politically. It's clear that writer and director Matt Reeves has a political agenda for the film. All popular culture is political and perhaps the most political since it’s consumed by large audiences. I find Batman to be no exception. There are clear characteristics of the film that are very tied to the political and social moment we find ourselves in. I'm going to discuss some of those things and what the film says in a broader sense about our society.
The film depicts a Gotham city that has problems similar to our own world. While Gotham City is much more heightened aesthetically, the themes it plays upon are much more realistic and frankly honest than Nolan's Gotham. The two things that stand out to me about the film are the nihilism/political apathy/anti-social nature of many of the characters which contrasts with the sorta idealism displayed by other characters. The main character Batman played by Pattinson shifts his perspective in the film as well going from a nihilist/anti-social to a progressive crusading hero for justice. His progress from anti-social vigilante to hero makes for great storytelling and is generally in line with the character's background (and also sequels to make Warner Bros that shmoney), it also says some things about the commentary that the film is making.
The first part of the film that stuck out to me where it was making a clear reference to our contemporary moment was the character Bella Reál who is a black woman running for Mayoral office as a political progressive fighting against corruption. Her character seems eerily similar to progressive Congresswomen like Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush and Ilhan Omar. Reál’s character is meant to contrast with the current corrupt white mayor who is killed by the Riddler in the opening scene. What is the significance of this I wonder? It points to how there is a certain political tendency within the American political system which aims to take on the inequalities that exist within that system. Bella Reál represents that. To some degree, she is meant to contrast with Batman's approach as an underground vigilante taking on the rich
these were put up during the filming, I believe.
A character like Batman is a hard sell in 2022 to general audiences, especially younger people in a moment where progressive politics seems to be all of the rage. Batman's character is fundamentally rooted in a violence towards and a better than thou attitude towards the poor and the oppressed. This is even referenced in the film when Catwoman played by Zoe Kravitz makes a quip about how “I could tell you grew up rich.” when she's talking to Batman. It is repeatedly mentioned when the Riddler references how everyone felt bad for the orphan Bruce Wayne but not for the orphans such as a Riddle. What’s revealing about this is how the film to some degree tries to lean into these contradictions around the character. This is in sudden contrast with Nolan's take on the character, the Dark Knight Rises is effectively an anti-Occupy Wall Street film while the Batman film takes a more nuanced and even progressive take to the character.
We have to grasp that these movies are meant to be sold to general audiences. How do you sell Batman as a character to general audiences now? You pit him against the rich and the powerful. Ultimately, Batman's main villain is not the Riddler but his main villain is the crime and corruption of Gotham, specifically focused upon the corruption at the highest levels of society. Catwoman is probably the most explicit when she makes a comment about how no one cares about her friend who is implied to be a sex worker and an immigrant as opposed to the white men who are being killed. One of the main story beats is about a drug called Drop. The Drop operation is run by the wealthy and powerful which clearly hurts the poor in the city. This in some ways reflects how pharmaceutical companies are responsible for the opioid crisis. The film also grapples with how Bruce Wayne's family legacy is tied up in the destruction of Gotham City through the mismanagement of the Slush fund and Thomas Wayne's own corruption. The film ultimately pits Batman against the rich.
If there are any characters who represent a sorta social activist figure, it is definitely Catwoman and the Riddler. Catwoman could be understood to be a stand-in for “a woke social activist” who robs drug dealers and protects sex workers. On the other hand, the Riddler represents perhaps a far right conspiracy theorist who feels angry about his place in the world and wants to fight back by revealing the “truth” about the city. Throughout the film although he pursues Riddler, Batman mostly seems ambivalent about his actions until the end.
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The film progresses with Batman working alongside Selina Kyle and James Gordon outside of the system. These characters represent the two sorta paths that Batman can pursue ideologically when it comes to combatting injustice. It ends ultimately with Batman stopping the Riddler's 4Chan-esque inspired cult at the Gotham Square Garden where he saves newly elected Mayor Bella Reál and assists the National Guard. The sorta anti-ideological stances that Riddle have seem eerily similar to the recent shooter in New York City. Catwoman and the Riddler represent ultimately an anti-social approach to politics that is angry and eschews traditional routes. Batman clearly also has some interest in these approaches to politics. By arresting Carmine Falcone as opposed to allowing Catwoman to take her revenge, the film makes a fundamental argument about the nature of justice and how it must flow from the courts and police even if we understand those things to be thoroughly corrupt. Gordon even makes a remark about how “not all of the cops” are owned by Falcone. Batman becomes a hero by saving Reál and the people of Gotham alongside Gordon and the GCPD.
At the end of the film, Reál pledges at the end of the film to reinvest faith in institutions with James Gordon by her side. Incidentally, Jeffrey Wright who plays Gordon based his character on Eric Adams, the former cop and now NYC mayor. Eric Adams is a notorious tough on crime candidate in the NYC mayoral race which speaks to something about the reinvesting faith into the police message that the film seems to serve. Either way, the film ends with Batman deciding not to join Catwoman to rob hedge fund managers and instead staying to fight against the looting in Gotham that he describes in the ending monologue and to help people feel hope. This hope in some ways is a call for a reinvestment in institutions
The ending is especially interesting as it ends with a political and civil crisis in the form of the collapse of infrastructure (the seawall) through a terrorist attack which leads to a flooding of the city. The National Guard is brought in. Perhaps this is a metaphor about American society and the oncoming crises that we will face in the coming years in regards to climate change which will only exacerbate ongoing social pressures. The film to some degree is telling us that the way to fight back is to trust institutions which is a very strange message at the end of the day. The film seems to be at odds with itself, it is unclear what exactly it wants to say about the crisis. The hopeful tone suggests something at the end but it could be read in a number of different ways.
The Batman is an interesting film because it is very 2022. The social commentary of the Batman movie is different from those of the Nolan films. Reeves is trying to take a progressive social justice stance about the need for us to reinvest in our institutions while also capturing the anti-social and anti-political attitudes of many Americans. These attitudes in Reeves' range from right wing terrorism to the anti-rich activism of someone like Catwoman. As the 2022 and 2024 elections emerge, there will be a continued push from well meaning Liberals and progressives for Americans to reinvest back into institutions. It remains a question whether this will happen. The more likely future is a continued crisis in my view with more anti-social actors from the left and the right finding themselves in conflict with the State. Our society is like flooded Gotham and to paraphrase Catwoman “it will only get worse”. Either way, the movie captures the American psyche better than a lot of other things out there. You wanna understand Americans, look at how they write their superheroes. These characters are the closest we have to an American myth and must change to reflect our times.
flooded Gotham…a metaphor perhaps?