Context: He’s also been described as a vigilante and anti-hero, but he beats up bad guys for a living?
Thank you, Olivia Rose Brown, for this wonderful question! I agree that Batman’s violence makes him problematic, but there are even more ethical issues related to his activity.
Batman spends most of his time fighting criminals, but that does not necessarily mean that he also fights crime. He might deal out punishment to small-time crooks, but does nothing to address the systemic problems that make the citizens of Gotham turn to crime to feed their families and pay rent. Crime levels are strongly influenced by inequality, lack of social safety nets, inadequate mental health support, and many other factors. If you have seen Joker with Joaquin Phoenix, you probably noticed that Arthur’s arc would have been completely different if he had gotten help with his psychosis, had a job offering him good pay and dignity, and if his struggles had been met with compassion and care, not ridicule.
Now think about Bruce Wayne. He is one of the richest, smartest, and most influential people in the world, yet he does nothing to address the systemic issues that make Gotham such an awful place. Of course, he might donate to charities, but he devotes the majority of his resources, both financial and intellectual, to finding new ways of beating up and humiliating people who were led down the path of crime. Surely, he could drive around in a smaller Batmobile if it meant the city’s social workers had the funds to help those most likely to break the law. And many of his businesses actively exploit the less fortunate, while also producing the weapons that make Gotham so dangerous. Batman seems to be more interested in beating up poor people than fighting crime – the only thing he protects is the status quo from which he benefits.
Of course, not all of his enemies are ordinary criminals. Some of them are pure evil and have devious plans that only Batman can stop. But is Wayne’s role here really that beneficial? After all, many of the villains have strong feelings towards Batman and escalate their crimes in order to hurt him or to ensure that he cannot stop them. Also, how do we know that only Batman can stop them? Commissioner Gordon’s first course of action is to call his masked friend. What if he allocated resources to the police force in a way that actually allowed them to properly investigate and stop Joker? Instead, he would rather ask his billionaire pal to beat up a mentally ill person.
If superheroes use their power for good, Batman is not one of them. Despite his resources, he doesn’t even try to address the root causes of crime, actively puts the people of Gotham in danger, and never questions whether his influence is actually positive. I think superheroes should be more like “your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man”. Sure, he has his problems, but he actively engages with the community he wants to protect, constantly questions whether he is doing the right thing and, as Peter Parker, uses his intelligence and expertise to further scientific research that might actually help somebody. And, of course, he is just funnier.
What do you think? Is batman a hero or a villain? Let us know in the comments.
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I did a BA and MA in Philosophy at the University of Warsaw, where I focused on philosophy of technology, hermeneutics and social philosophy with a Marxist slant (which I was suprisingly able to combine in my MA thesis on Gianni Vattimo). I am currently working on a PhD at Dublin City University, where I research self-tracking technologies and practices from the perspective of virtue ethics. My favourite philosophical idea is that our understanding and beliefs change across history and cultures together with material circumstances and the interpretative context – they are ultimately the result of our choices and critiques.