Batman Begins 7 Years: Where does the public think Bruce was?

[Banana-Hotdog]

This is something I never really contemplated but now that I've thought of it...it kinda bugs me. It is my hope that someone read the novelization of the film and there was an explanation given within that.

Bruce was gone for 7 years and presumed dead, then he returns and it's all over the news...but the film never says where Bruce said he was. We know that he was traveling the world and ultimately training with Ras Al Ghul, but what explanation did he give the people of Gotham?

 

[The Joker]

I assume he just said he was travelling the world.

 

[El Payaso]

"I just went for some cigarrettes, now get out of my face!"

 

[ShadowBoxing]

In the comics he went so far as to create a false story about dating a princess/heiress from another country, knowing that the denials from both parties would only seem to confirm the rumors in the minds of the public.

 

[COMPO]

yeah year one wasn't it. but he was gone for like 12 years in that story.

 

[StorminNorman]

In the comics he went so far as to create a false story about dating a princess/heiress from another country, knowing that the denials from both parties would only seem to confirm the rumors in the minds of the public.

Which is an incredibly shallow and weak story really.

 

[Tojo]

yeah year one wasn't it. but he was gone for like 12 years in that story.

Damn, so he left Gotham aged 13?

Yes, for an origin story nothing was actually truly explained or thought in this movie. Oh well lol.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

Which is an incredibly shallow and weak story really.

Not really. It makes sense actually, considering how rich and irresponsible Bruce paints himself in Frank Miller's Batman. In BB they just have him declared dead, and then no one asks questions when he comes back...which is an incredibly weak and shallow story really.

 

[Matt]

Which is an incredibly shallow and weak story really.

Which makes it all that much more real. Think about it, in the real world, if a young heir to billions of dollars had the slightest hint of a connection to another heiress, it would be all over every celebrity magazine in the country. Both parties deny, but the rumors get stronger (mostly due to Bruce feeding the media the rumors)...and eventually people just accept it as truth, regardless how much truth was originally there.

 

[Matt]

And to answer the original question...where did Bruce say he was?

One word:

Rehab.

But seriously, Bruce was a young kid when he disappeared (college age) and had inheirited billions of dollars. Is it really that hard for the media and public to believe that he was just off traveling and having fun? Especially since it was Earle who had him declared dead in an attempt to grab power at Wayne Enterprises. I'm sure Alfred would collaborate any story Bruce claimed. Most people would just shrug it off.

 

[Man Who Laughed]

I never really thought about this, but after watching the movie again with this in mind, I've come to the conclusion that Bruce never had to give an answer. It's all in the dialogue. Bruce always seems to have a clever answer for questions, and if he can't come up with one, he just smiles, chuckles, and looks at the ground. By the time that's over the person he was talking to would have lost interest. It's a movie thing.

 

[Two-Face]

I never really thought about this, but after watching the movie again with this in mind, I've come to the conclusion that Bruce never had to give an answer. It's all in the dialogue. Bruce always seems to have a clever answer for questions, and if he can't come up with one, he just smiles, chuckles, and looks at the ground. By the time that's over the person he was talking to would have lost interest. It's a movie thing.

He even makes a joke about himself.

"Well, a guy who dresses up like a bat clearly has issues."

 

[TLH]

He even makes a joke about himself.

"Well, a guy who dresses up like a bat clearly has issues."

When I first saw that line in the trailer for BB I disliked it and was skeptical that it would work; it seemed to deliberate. Once seeing it in the context of the film I loved it.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

I liked the "a guy who dresses like a bat..." line as well. Thought it was one of the better lines in the film. To me Bruce Wayne has to be extra careful how much he says and what he says about Batman. I've always felt outright decrying him was a bad idea, even though people would probably intuitively think to do that. So this line was kind of a "neg" against Batman. He didn't quite insult him, he didn't compliment him either, he just swept the issue under the table when they brought it up to him. A good way of handling it.

 

[Danielson]

I don't think it's a big deal to the movie at all. As far as an origin not explaining everything, well geez, Nolan did a pretty good job of explaining everything else, the media paints its own pictures, so I'm sure that Gotham and their tabloids would have just made up all sorts of stuff.

 

[COMPO]

I liked the "a guy who dresses like a bat..." line as well. Thought it was one of the better lines in the film. To me Bruce Wayne has to be extra careful how much he says and what he says about Batman. I've always felt outright decrying him was a bad idea, even though people would probably intuitively think to do that. So this line was kind of a "neg" against Batman. He didn't quite insult him, he didn't compliment him either, he just swept the issue under the table when they brought it up to him. A good way of handling it.

Kind of like in The Mask of Zorro film you know were Alexanjro is dinning with dons he sort of gives negative comments about Zorro. such as him having a 'bald head' and 'unsightly features' and the Bruce Wayne persona is takes elements of that such as Batman taking elements of Zorro.

 

[Riven]

Bruce was gone for 7 years and presumed dead, then he returns and it's all over the news...but the film never says where Bruce said he was. We know that he was traveling the world and ultimately training with Ras Al Ghul, but what explanation did he give the people of Gotham?

Partying on a yacht on the Mediterranean, skiing in the Alps, surfing in Australia, whatever...

 

[batman44]

He told Alferd to tell everyone that he had to return some videotapes.

 

[Danielson]

LOL yea batman44, and he was listening to Huey Lewis and the News and Genesis while on a yacht.

 

[joke]

While cleaning up the bloodstains.

 

[Danielson]

From crimes he really didn't commit, only in his insane mind. At least that's how I interpreted the movie, but let's not turn this into an American Psycho thread.

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

Gotham doesn't care.

I also believe there was a mockup newpaper of the Gotham Times inside of THE ART OF BATMAN BEGINS, where an article about Bruce's absence says that Bruce is alot like his father, Thomas Wayne, in how he keeps his life private to the public. And refused to comment on where he was those 7 years, sort of forcing the media to drop it, I guess.

I mean, I don't really see how it's weak. If all he says is, "No comment" then there's nothing for them to do. They can't track his trails at all, because he left no footprints to follow. No papertrail, and no use of his identity either.

And I doubt the idea that "he traveled the world to learn to fight crime" would be the last assumption. His behavior since coming back to Gotham could provide nice cover for his absence too.

I don't really know how much different his travels were treated in the comics, atleast in terms of how the media wanted to know where and why he was gone.