This is the post for my final paper. The end is the beginning. I will begin another journey in a month, that branched off of this journey. But I will go through that journey with new knowledge of the mythology of everything. Thank you Michael Sexson. And thank all of you, I hope you enjoy my paper.
Batman: A hero with a few faces
For this paper, I decided to de-mythologize Batman Begins. I will particularly be focusing on, but not limited to, the hero cycle myth. Batman Begins is the first batman movie of the trilogy. All journeys must have a beginning, this is Batman’s. It shows when Batman is a child and shows as he grows and progresses into Batman. I will go into the details of the movie and the comics as I go through the mythology of Batman’s journey. All comic book heroes follow a similar path with the hero cycle. I chose Batman because he was always my childhood hero. He follows a set of rules that prevent him from doing certain things. For example, he has a rule to never kill. He simply captures the criminal or refuses to save them from certain doom. He is the caped crusader for good; a vigilante justice that helps the people whether they want it or not. This is powerfully mythological in many, many ways. In this paper, those various ways that Batman is mythological will be explored.
The Cycle
“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man (Ubelhor).” This quote is provided by Joseph Campbell in A Hero With a Thousand Faces. This encompasses the entire hero cycle in one phrase. There are 3 phases in the hero cycle: departure, initiation, and return. The departure is when the hero begins his journey to gain his power and understanding to be a hero. Initiation is when the hero is tested and must pass the trials in order to succeed. The trials will test Batman’s fears and morals. The return is when Batman comes back to Gotham City and saves the people from crime with his new found power. For Batman to become the hero, he must go through the trials in each of the stages and succeed in order to grow into the hero.
Hero Defined
In The Hero With a Thousand Faces, Campbell goes through the definition of a hero. He says that usually the hero is male, mostly because women are considered to already have ultimate wisdom. The second characteristic is where Batman takes an interesting turn. Batman is really Bruce Wayne, the child of a billionaire that owns Wayne Industries. Campbell says that the hero comes from a poor family or a family that doesn’t matter much but finds out he has a higher power or family. Bruce comes from a extremely powerful family already but when his family is murdered, it seems he is brought down to the path that is much poorer. This brings us to the next characteristic of the hero. The hero’s parents are usually absent of dead. Bruce’s parents get killed by a robber who wants his father’s wallet. This creates an important mythological event for Bruce. This is the early precursor for Batman’s departure. I will get more into that in the next part. The final characteristic is the hero’s actions. Some actions to judge batman on in the beginning is his choice to want to shoot the mob boss and to pick fights in foreign prisons. The fights in foreign prisons are what lead to his initiation.
The Call
Hero’s are called into action; they do not just start randomly. Batman is called into action when his parents are called. It’s an indirect call, but it is what motivates Bruce to fight crime and try to clean up the city his father essentially created. This motivation is what leads him to leave to prisons and learn about criminals and their ways.
Refusal of the Call
This refusal of the call is described as when the hero represses his id and his true power. He hides his true power and purpose and becomes somewhat a victim in the society. Bruce does this by carrying a gun and planning on first shooting the man who killed his father and then the mob boss. He seems no better than a hobo or the people he wishes to kill. It’s after the encounter with the mob boss that Bruce realizes he must do something to change the city, and he can’t do it as he is.
The Crossing of the First Threshold
The threshold is the trials in the prison outside of the U.S. This is the place where he meets his threshold guardian, Ra’s al Ghul. Campbell says this is where it appears the hero dies. Many people, including Alfred Batman’s butler, believe that Bruce is dead in the unknown. Here, with the help of Ra’s al Ghul, Bruce begins the metamorphosis into Batman. This metamorphosis continues as Bruce goes through the trials to gain his moralities and loses his fears, particularly of bats.
Initiation and Road of Trials
Ra’s al Ghul puts Bruce through trials to morph him into Batman. First, Bruce must learn combat. Ra’s al Ghul teaches Bruce that it is wrong to move from a sure-footing for a killing stroke, which is where Bruce learns that killing has more consequences than benefits. This creates the first moral of Batman; he will not kill the criminals he catches. Then Bruce is taught the importance of being invisible, and how to be invisible and see through the invisibility of others. Bruce is already transforming into Batman.
Atonement with the Father
This concept is different for Batman. His father is dead and he technically has nothing to atone for. What this means for Bruce is coming to terms with his fears, which weren’t mastered in the trials yet for this reason. Bruce has several fears to master before he is ready. The first is with death. Since his father’s death, Bruce has been afraid of the same fate and in order to become a full hero, he must be able to risk his life. He passes this by realizing his father had more meaning in death than he did in life and that his father never truly died. Then Bruce must deal with the most painful fear and his repressed id, his fear of bats. He hid that fear until Ra’s al Ghul used a drug that transformed the sight of the person into the thing they fear most. Bruce is able to beat Ra’s al Ghul and triumph over his fear. He triumphs over his id and begins the final metamorphosis to become batman.
Rescue from Without
The hero must see that the outside world still needs him. Ra’s al Ghul accidently causes this event. He brings a murderer and a thief into the training dojo. He tells Bruce that this man is a bad man and must be dealt with for the safety of the people. Bruce refuses to kill the man. Ra’s al Ghul is insulted and demands he kills the man to complete his training. Unknown to Ra’s al Ghul, Bruce refusing to kill the man is what really completes his trials and triggers Bruce’s return to Gotham, as Batman.
The Crossing of the Return Threshold
Bruce must assimilate with the real world again. He returns morphed into a new being and must get things back to normal. Bruce does this by retaking his father’s company and begins donating to Gotham City. This puts on the classic and mythical superhero façade. On the outside, he is a loyal member of society and is just a rich person. When he is alone, he is the hero he has become and plots on how to spread this boon to the citizens of Gotham City. Bruce has returned and the hero is ready to change Gotham City.
Master of the Two Worlds
Batman is the master of the two worlds. He is the ideal citizen in the eyes of the people and he is the hero that the city needs. This is the secret identity that all superheroes have. They cannot reveal to normal people what they are, so they must hide it and be masters of the two worlds. Batman, while not overtly supernatural, is a supernatural and mythological being. He lives in a realm where he has powers that others don’t have.
The Mythological Batman
Batman Begins is an appropriate title for this metamorphosis. Bruce starts off as a little boy with no power. He takes a grand journey where he must endure trials and survive his fears. He combated his fears and found the morals a hero should have. I want to post one of my favorite quotes of all time that was in Batman: the Dark Knight. The quote comes from Police Chief Jeff Gordon at the end of the movie. He says “Batman is the hero Gotham needs, but not the hero Gotham deserves.” Heroes like Batman are rare. Its hard to find a hero that managed to get through the trials and become the hero that is needed. Gotham did need him as a hero. Sometimes, however, the hero is the supernatural fix the people need. They need someone who seems out of reach of the normal society. They need an entity that can’t be stopped by normal limitations. They need a caped crusader, a dark knight.
