Is Batman Insane?

[ElToro]

I dont think hes insane.

 

[LexCorp]

Perhaps slightly, but I always tend to go with "obsessed" more than anything. There's only so much one man can do, and he's devoted his life to it. Perhaps its insane commitment to a just cause.

Could not have put it better myself.

I would also like to think there is a dark side to Bats that if pushed to far would flip him to insane level.

 

[ray243]

Oh please...some of you is just giving a fanboy point of view...you don't want your favourite superhero to be labeled as insane.

Bruce wayne action is purely self-fufilment...the need to avenge his parents death through a more direct way.

In BB, Bruce wayne action is basically about vengance...he cannot avenge his parents anymore, thus resolving to a more 'direct' look.


Even Alfred find him insane, didn't he say he wanted to call the men in white clothes? Bruce wayne wants a direct confrontation with orgainsed crime and etc, which he can't do as bruce wayne.

A indirect apporach, such as LOWERING crime rate is something bruce wayne can do...and have a more lasting effect.

 

[Mladen]

Oh please...some of you is just giving a fanboy point of view...you don't want your favourite superhero to be labeled as insane.

Bruce wayne action is purely self-fufilment...the need to avenge his parents death through a more direct way.

In BB, Bruce wayne action is basically about vengance...he cannot avenge his parents anymore, thus resolving to a more 'direct' look.


Even Alfred find him insane, didn't he say he wanted to call the men in white clothes? Bruce wayne wants a direct confrontation with orgainsed crime and etc, which he can't do as bruce wayne.

A indirect apporach, such as LOWERING crime rate is something bruce wayne can do...and have a more lasting effect.

THANK you! somebody else finally gets it

 

[Joker]

While I wouldnt call him "insane," I would say that he's definitly unhinged to the point of near insanity, and he's definitly obsessed with his goal to the point of it being unhealthy.

 

[vibeke_T]

he's crazy

 

[Ultraman Nexus]

Batman is not insane, just his writers.

I wrote my view on the matter elsewhere when talking about the whole "there is no Bruce Wayne" BS so forgive the cut and paste but here it is:

To say there is no Bruce Wayne is a extremely narrow and idiotic point of view on the character. It's lazy writing. ..and just because someone objects to an overly grim n' gritty take on Batman does not neccesarily mean they want Bat-Mite back in continuity or have him saying "Hello citizen!"

The costume, the persona of Batman are tools for his mission not an expression of madness. Saying he's nuts is just a half-ass way of justifying the fact he wears a costume and does this at all.

Bruce Wayne is a man who as a child had this tragedy happen to him and he drew the strength from that tragedy to think beyond himself and dedicate his life to ensuring that what happened to him doesn't have to happen to anyone else. He strove to learn the skills that would enable him to do that and was willing to take an unortadox approach in achiving his goal by using the realization that criminals are inherently cowards. Fear became a weapon in his arsenal. But it's not the sum total of who this person is. He is not just some shadow with gnarled teeth hunched over in the rain.

Batman is not some psycho who gets off on hurting people. If you write him as someone void of compassion or incapable of friendship and honor or sanity then you might as well just make The Joker the protagonist and make no illusions to a story about a hero at all.

He is haunted by what happened to his parents and, yes it does drive him. Yes when he is in public circles Bruce Wayne does put on a bit of an act. But without Bruce Wayne, there is no Batman. It's just a cape and a ****ton of skills without a soul.

 

[Acid Snowman]

The way I always saw it, Batman took a rather insane idea and applied such logic and thougt to it that he was able to keep dong it year after year, rather than succumbing to stress and becoming another conventional madman.

 

[ultimatefan]

Here´s an excerpt from an article I wrote a while ago on the subject:

Some of the definitions that became popular over the years to define Batman actually do not sum up his character at all if you look into it. Yes, he is a dark character. Yes, he has a lot of pain and anger and a somewhat unhealthy devotion to his mission. He has certain violent tendencies and a tragic past that connect him to some level with his enemies. But he is not depressed, schizophrenic, or psychopathic. Depressed people have no will or interest in doing pretty much anything -- they´re basically apathetic to extremes. Even if Bruce is far from being the happiest guy in the world, his life is all about strength of will and determination.

He doesn´t have a multiple personality disorder or hears voices in his head. He knows exactly what he´s doing and why. He manages his double life, not perfectly, but does none the less.

Psychopathic people are defined by psychology as those who have no empathy, remorse or compassion for other people. As much as Bruce hates criminals, his mission is not only an act of revenge, it´s also to prevent other people from suffering the same as he did. He is someone who´d gladly give his life to save others.

If that´s not the ultimate act of compassion, I don´t know what is.

In fact, I believe the contrast between his dark aspects and his heroism and humanity make him a more interesting and complex character. We all can relate to someone who really wants to do the right thing and help others but has to deal with inner demons. One of the things that were so brilliant about the origin story is exactly the fact that they gave this impossible character a motivation that was at once logic, emotionally devastating, and made you relate on the most primal level to a character that was basically a rich guy who wore a cape and a cowl to beat the crap out of thugs in the night.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

He dresses up in a bat suit and climbs rooftops, it seems self explanatory.

 

[Ultraman Nexus]

He dresses up in a bat suit and climbs rooftops, it seems self explanatory.

and he goes out his first night, somebody grabs his cape, jerks him to the ground and shoots him right in his mouth. How's that for realism? It's a story world not ours. Like ours in many respects for course but the "he wears a costume of course he's nuts" tact is missing the friggin point.

Here´s an excerpt from an article I wrote a while ago on the subject:

Some of the definitions that became popular over the years to define Batman actually do not sum up his character at all if you look into it. Yes, he is a dark character. Yes, he has a lot of pain and anger and a somewhat unhealthy devotion to his mission. He has certain violent tendencies and a tragic past that connect him to some level with his enemies. But he is not depressed, schizophrenic, or psychopathic. Depressed people have no will or interest in doing pretty much anything -- they´re basically apathetic to extremes. Even if Bruce is far from being the happiest guy in the world, his life is all about strength of will and determination.

He doesn´t have a multiple personality disorder or hears voices in his head. He knows exactly what he´s doing and why. He manages his double life, not perfectly, but does none the less.

Psychopathic people are defined by psychology as those who have no empathy, remorse or compassion for other people. As much as Bruce hates criminals, his mission is not only an act of revenge, it´s also to prevent other people from suffering the same as he did. He is someone who´d gladly give his life to save others.

If that´s not the ultimate act of compassion, I don´t know what is.

In fact, I believe the contrast between his dark aspects and his heroism and humanity make him a more interesting and complex character. We all can relate to someone who really wants to do the right thing and help others but has to deal with inner demons. One of the things that were so brilliant about the origin story is exactly the fact that they gave this impossible character a motivation that was at once logic, emotionally devastating, and made you relate on the most primal level to a character that was basically a rich guy who wore a cape and a cowl to beat the crap out of thugs in the night.

Nicely done and I agree, it IS a compassionate act. If it weren't he would've been satisfied to just track down Joe Chill and break his neck instead of going through all the work and effort to be what he became.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

and he goes out his first night, somebody grabs his cape, jerks him to the ground and shoots him right in his mouth. How's that for realism? It's a story world not ours. Like ours in many respects for course but the "he wears a costume of course he's nuts" tact is missing the friggin point.

I was sorta joking... but i guess if you take into account his reasoning for dong it, his ideology, you could easily say he has deep seeded phycological problems, insane? wouldn't say so.

 

[CaptainClown]

I felt that in the beginning he was fine but through the years of all the villains and what not he kind of begins to lose it and gets paranoia as he gets older.

 

[DocLathropBrown]

Not insane in the clinical sense, but the inhibitions he should have to doing something so crazy (the act is crazy, not Wayne himself) are gone.

So if that's insane, then I guess he is.

 

[BubbaGump]

In Begins, Bruce even admits that "someone who dresses up like a bat clearly has issues." This perfectly illustrates the fact that even he himself agrees that he has mental issues (though he admits it indirectly). The psychological implications of this one meant-to-be-comedic line actually goes deeper than previously thought and may actually serve as a looking-glass into Wayne's tragic and disturbed psyche.

 

[ultimatefan]

He dresses up in a bat suit and climbs rooftops, it seems self explanatory.

Superman and Spidey wear red and blue tights, that makes them insane? how about people who put tatoos all over their body or pierce their nipples or dye their hair pink or...

 

[ultimatefan]

In Begins, Bruce even admits that "someone who dresses up like a bat clearly has issues." This perfectly illustrates the fact that even he himself agrees that he has mental issues (though he admits it indirectly). The psychological implications of this one meant-to-be-comedic line actually goes deeper than previously thought and may actually serve as a looking-glass into Wayne's tragic and disturbed psyche.

Nobody is saying he has no issues or is perfectly normal, but there are different levels of abnormal behavior. Dressing up like a bat is of course weird, but is it in the same league as baby´s heads in the freezer?

 

[The Empire Ape]

In Begins, Bruce even admits that "someone who dresses up like a bat clearly has issues." This perfectly illustrates the fact that even he himself agrees that he has mental issues (though he admits it indirectly). The psychological implications of this one meant-to-be-comedic line actually goes deeper than previously thought and may actually serve as a looking-glass into Wayne's tragic and disturbed psyche.

In BB he clearly knows that his batman persona is just an act he plays.

 

[CFE]

In Begins, Bruce even admits that "someone who dresses up like a bat clearly has issues." This perfectly illustrates the fact that even he himself agrees that he has mental issues (though he admits it indirectly). The psychological implications of this one meant-to-be-comedic line actually goes deeper than previously thought and may actually serve as a looking-glass into Wayne's tragic and disturbed psyche.

I thought it was pretty obvious that Wayne spouted off that crack at Batman to keep up appearances and lay waste the idea that he could ever be Batman in the minds of those at the dinner.

He's not saying it realizing that he's talking about himself. He's approaching it under the mask of Bruce Wayne...as if he's talking about an entirely other person to still give off the "rich snobbish playboy" masquerade.

CFE

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

how about people who put tatoos all over their body or pierce their nipples or dye their hair pink or...

Yes, there insane, especially men who wear mascara, there up there with Charles Manson.

 

[Ultraman Nexus]

In BB he clearly knows that his batman persona is just an act he plays.

That is actually one of the things I appreciated about Batman Begins, that they pushed the idea of fear being a tool, another weapon in his arsenal. But at the end I think they contradict themselves with whatsherface's line to him.

 

[Ultraman Nexus]

Oh please...some of you is just giving a fanboy point of view...you don't want your favourite superhero to be labeled as insane.

..and you're taking the "I don't want my power fantasy to have to be hindered by an obligation to sanity" point of view.

 

[CaptainClown]

the movies are not a pretty good place to determine if he is indeed insane. I think we should just look at the comics overall, with the general story

Someone said "One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

Batman is always putting away the same villains but they always escape and run rampant.

 

[ultimatefan]

the movies are not a pretty good place to determine if he is indeed insane. I think we should just look at the comics overall, with the general story

Someone said "One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

Batman is always putting away the same villains but they always escape and run rampant.

Well, technically that would mean arresting criminals in general is an act of insanity, cuz there always are more criminals to arrest, not to mention the criminals who escape prison. Plus, their escape is not Batman´s fault, it´s a combination of the villains´ escape skills, Arkham´s bad security, and comics writers who can´t come up with new villains, hehe...

And considering the universe around us is in constant change, doing always the same thing doesn´t necessarily mean you´ll always obtain the same result, for better or worse. For instance, it´s not unheard of a person who always bets the same lottery numbers actually winning at some point.

 

[CaptainClown]

well I mean criminals in the sense of batmans rogue gallery. (Joker)

as for constant change, lottery there is a chance that it would change. But there is no chance for Joker to change and constantly putting him away even though there are numerous times when he has escaped (and even killed your sidekick)