Insanity in Batman

[HarleenQuinnzel]

I'm interested in discussing ideas of insanity in Batman. Here is a quote from The Killing Joke to jump start the conversation:

See, there were these two guys in a lunatic asylum... and one night... one night they decide they don’t like living in an asylum any more. They decide they’re going to escape! So like they get up on to the roof, and there, just across the narrow gap, they see the rooftops of the town, stretching away in moon light... stretching away to freedom. Now the first guy he jumps right across with no problem. But his friend, his friend daren't make the leap. Y'see he's afraid of falling... So then the first guy has an idea. He says "Hey! I have my flash light with me. I will shine it across the gap between the buildings. You can walk across the beam and join me." But the second guy just shakes his head. He says... he says "What do you think I am, crazy? You would turn it off when I was half way across."

Who thinks the Bat is as batty as the joker? Who thinks that neither are crazy? That its just a matter of perspective. Check out Psychology of the Dark Knight documentary on tv or special edition of the dvd! It delves into batman comic history and explores the progression of villains in relation to batman.

 

[KevanG]

There has been a few times when writers have mentioned that if Bruce hadn't started running around as Batman then he would have gone completely insane and this is just a coping method. Personally I think if he got some really good therapists when he was a kid then he likely wouldn't have become Batman but where'd the fun be in that?