Despised Heroes

 

By: Jonathan Seidel

Anti-semitism and Batman: use and scapegoat 

After the second Batman movie, The Dark Knight, batman is disgraced. Seen as a dangerous vigilante who couldn’t save Gotham. Batman takes the fall for Dent’s change of character to the twisted two-face villain. Honour salvaged by Batman’s self sacrifice. His tainted image follows the inverse experience of the medieval Jew. Brought in to save and then scapegoated when things grow problematic.

Batman is a revered hero. A vigilante who saves the city. Yet he is beloved insofar as he is necessary. He is called upon when people are in dire need. A requested assault to protect the innocent. Standing up for the downtrodden. Yet he is a menace. A scary and scarring figure. A bat shaped costume with extensive military training. A man on a mission but a mission not always requested. He claims to fight for those who can’t fight themselves but he does so out of personal ambition. He is not always requested and yet he comes.

Vigilantism is ill regarded. Law and order are necessary. Acting outside even for better results is only a temporary victory. The commonality can lead to a disastrous outcome. His rage and outlandish activity is the breaking of Dent’s sanity. Joker is the cause of Dent’s disfigure but is also Batman’s insistence. Dent is a ploy in Joker’s game. A vigilante who fails to toe the line will get others killed. One caught up in a grudge match will end up with bodies surrounding him. As long as he is successful he is praised. He keeps people safe they love him. He rides or dies on this motto. If he fails his stock falls. 

He has placed himself in a category of impossible perfection. The expectation is enormous. Taking on the criminal enterprise alone. While he does not openly claim to stop crime, his actions speak for themselves. People gravitate towards a saviour. This gravitation is coupled with an expectation. Trust conjoins the victim and the up stander. Failing to succeed is a major blow to confidence and faith. His ability to save Gotham at the end of the first and third movies make him into a hero. Yet the two endings have vastly different criteria. In the third movie, he is the ultimate paragon. He is immortalised and is free from criticism. His death marks a symbol and a fond memory never to be tarnished. The first movie is a part of the journey. The victory is temporary to his ensuing challenges. The victory spawns resistance for the one lunatic willing to stand against him. His presence permits criticism and symbolism. 

It is this open possibility that lends itself to the shifting like to dislike; from hero to enemy in the third movie. Defeating the Joker pales in comparison to Dent’s death. Murdering a beloved hero. A relatable figure fighting for justice is beyond reproach. He went too far and his symbolism shattered. No longer was he a hero but a villain. He was grouped with criminals. Bringing kingpins to justice was insufficient. Batman himself is tortured by his declining image. His body and soul broken. He allows his mind to distort his bodily autonomy. A tattered soul accepting the malice to his esteem. A distraught saviour enduring the destined ineptitude. 

It was all based on a lie. Batman took the hit for Dent’s corruption. To salvage his image and the people’s faith in the system, Batman became the villain. Gordon haunted by this truth wrote it down but failed to ever publicise it. Bane eventually does and trust is overwhelmed and betrayed. Dent’s legacy is tarnished within minutes of the secret’s exposure. Batman is exonerated but vanquished. His soul still wounded. Losing to Bane with an unresolved will. The symbolic hero is undermined needing a replacement. Batman’s death is the clear transition to a worthy hero. No secrets. A saviour open to the public for all to witness his incredible heroism. 

Batman is a prophet. His vigilantism mocks the corrupted social order. Hellbent on bringing justice. His words cut through the corrupted axis. People respond in dismay. His actions bring about change to the system. Fighting with the criminal giants. Displaying their sacred weapons to overpower the enemy. Their divine words to push the corrupt back. Elijah’s words are rejected. He defeats the false prophets at Mount Carmel. The people recognise there and plead for mercy. The following day, Jezebel the arch criminal, orders his death and the people betray him. His words fall on deaf ears without considerable change. Which is where Josiah’s revolution stands. The criminal underworld is overturned with prophetic and regal collaboration just like Gordon and Batman.  

In many ways this resembles the medieval Jew. Brought by the monarch to save the country. Economic expertise to raise the livelihood. Thriving to raise the country’s standards. A good life short lived. Protection from the monarch short lived. Agitation grew from the public and the monarch chose to exile the Jews he had invited. Agitation developed as the public grew richer. The king’s selfish priority rested on wealth benefits insofar as the public remained calm. Once the uproar enraged and the Jew’s had completed their job, they were left powerless and isolated. An obvious ploy for self aid with temporary benefits.

The Jew was the monarch’s saviour not necessarily the people’s. Unaroused by his workings and successes. Yet his benefits were worthwhile for the short term. Even befriending and socializing. Yet soon the scorn resurfaced. His difference exploited. He returns to his outcast nature. He is no longer the protector Batman but the villainous scum. Beloved for a singular moment caught up in the illusion of routine. A statesman with personified praise. Quickly dismantled at the realization of betrayal.

His introduction is murky. His presence unknown. He lives in the shadows. His aid is tremendous. Who is the saviour. Who is strengthening the city. The Jew claims this title. He promises to aid the city. To lift the impoverished up. He excels and the people love him. He is accepted by the bunch. Then disaster strikes. His true face revealed. He is a monster preying on Christian children. Exploiting them to the extreme. A villain with a cunning strategy. All faith in him is lost. An ally lost to an enemy. He didn’t become two face, he always was. Dent was a cover up. Slowly his closeness of ally to enemy descends to the borders. His resolve tainted to remote foreignness. The monarch blames him and he is “Gordoned”. Scapegoated for the monarch’s selfish image. 

The Jew progresses through the stages. He begins as a skeptical outlier. Becoming part of the peoplehood. Only to decline in the favor of saving face. The monarch takes credit for the Jew’s success. His fall from grace is intuited to his conniving demeanor. There is no appeasement. The former friend Dent is truly a monster. He ousts the Jew as the devil. Two face emerges from the corrupted nexus the Jew has built. The monarch paranoid and burdensome turns on the Jew. Vigilantism is rejected by the public. The Jew suffers from his royal insurance. The king knows but shuts his mouth turning a blind eye to the riots. Dent is the Christian economy bound by law and religiosity. One fatal mistake or realization of the Jewish agenda flaunts rebellion. Gordon does not stand for his ally. Instead he remains silent passively blaming the Jew for his aid. 

It is easy to scorn the other. The remoteness of the Jew. He is an outcast in a religious society. For all his good, the imperfections slowly catch up with him. He is hung out to dry. The blame officially placed on him. Rewarded for his efforts but uproar is inevitable. He will slip up with subsequent attacks demurring any fortification from his friend. No support or protection from his fateful friend. Promises broken and deals undermined. The mask of the Jew is dark and gloomy. He does not wear the bright stripes of Superman. The sunny day positivity. The Jew has no power but skillful art. His ingenious methods enable his success. Yet it is his abilities that are his biggest threat. His success lay at the cusp of annihilation. A foreign figure outcasted and abandoned.

Batman refuses to remove his mask. The Jew cannot. The public must remove their blinders. It is their glasses that are tainted. The Jew is a human before he is a Jew. He is Bruce Wayne. A Gothamite like so many others. Being before belonging. The Jew is an indelible investor to society. The Jew refuses to denounce his selfhood. He will not convert from pressure. His mask is his essence even if it utterly unacceptable. He is made a caricature of his true identity. His mask alienates him but provides the capacity to assist. Struggling but searching.