He should be unhinged. At the end of the day, here's a guy who watched his parents get gunned down as a kid. Grew up and became so obsessed with fighting crime he devoted his entire life to being a vigilante who dresses up like a bat to frighten criminals. There is nothing sane about Bruce Wayne in my eyes.
I never got that with Nolan/Bales Batman. I love the physicality of their version. But he's just some really angry guy. I never got the impression he was utterly obsessed and compelled to be Batman because of the tragedy of his parents death. Hell, outside of Begins it's not even really touched on.
The Animated Series is like the comics in the sense that it had multiple episodes. Bruce's parents death isn't mentioned in every comic, so it shouldn't be in every episode.
But the point is, the ONLY reason Bruce becomes and more importantly perhaps, STAYS Batman, is because he is driven by his parents death. That he has become obsessed with keeping their city clean. It's his crusade. He's not so much insane, but completely obsessed with his crusade. He's compelled, there is no escape from it. This is how i view Batman and it's what makes him compelling and unique for me. He can't be compared to Spidey because he was given superpowers. He just chose to use them for good and out of a sense of responsibility. Bruce Wayne? He wasn't gifted anything. He became so obsessed with fighting crime he went out and travelled the world seeking the skills and knowledge, physically and mentally, to become basically a crime fighting machine.
Batman Returns does bring up the issue with his parents, that is the essence of his duality with the Penguin. They are both orphans.
But the thing with Burton's films is, once the final credits roll in Returns, you can imagine Batman never stopping until his final breath. With Nolan's films? He's in Italy with a woman he barely knows who betrayed him and left him for dead.
I am saving this for future use.
Define unhinged. BTAS Batman never came across as crazy or unhinged.
I don't see people like Alfred and Gordon backing a nut case, even if he had noble intentions. I don't associate Batman with creepy grins and always being so calm and collected. Batman's an emotional character. He sometimes shows it. Even BTAS got that:
Define unhinged. BTAS Batman never came across as crazy or unhinged. Neither as Bruce Wayne or Batman.
Hallucinations, sure, but still depictions of Bruce's personal hell.
His sanity comes into question several times. He was willing to take the chance of committing suicide to escape a world in which he isn't Batman (pretty deep for an animated cartoon).
Robin and Alfred have all questioned whether he's nuts (I Am the Night comes to mind).
He thinks his parents are actually talking to him in Mask of Phantasm at their graveside, forcing him to take on his vow.
Just because someone might be crazy, unhinged or obsessively driven doesn't make them any less heroic. The question of Batman being just as crazy as the villains he brings in has always been a staple of the character.
"The truth is, you created him."
Nope, the one with Batman and Rupert Thorne is creepy.
That lack of stability is what made the BTAS interrogations so great (two of those screen grabs are lifted from interrogations). Is Batman crazy? Depends on which version. You said, "BTAS Batman never came across as crazy or unhinged. Neither as Bruce Wayne or Batman", I gave examples of where he might being coming across as one. Personally, I don't think BTAS Batman is crazy (or Keaton Batman for that matter) perse, but they are extremely driven.
"A fanatic is someone who redoubles his efforts while losing sight of his goal."
And he does think his parents are talking to him in Mask of the Phantasm, undeniably.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjAFbEP0wK4
[YT]TjAFbEP0wK4[/YT]
He's LITERALLY responding to them. Begging and pleading with them not to do this. Falling down to his knees and crying.
Oh come on you don't really think he was actually expecting his parents to answer him there, do you? It's no different to people who talk to their loved ones at their graves all the time.
My Mum does it when she visits my little brother's grave.
We all do, but do our loved ones ever answer back? Nope.
"It doesn't mean I don't care anymore. I don't want to let you down, honest, but... but it just doesn't hurt so bad anymore. You can understand that, can't you? . . . . Look, I can give money to the city to hire more cops. Let's someone else take the risk, it's different now! PLEASE!"
Hell Joker, look at the lightning and thunder. Every time he pauses after his questions or looks to abandon the vow, we see the storm as their "response".
I'm not going to resort to "oh c'mon, it's right there", but that's clearly the intent of the scene. He's begging and pleading WITH HIS PARENTS (not himself) and "they're" answering him in his head. It's there, I'm not imagining it.
As for other people, other than the villains thinking Batman is nuts? How about Superman in those episodes or Worlds Finest?
How about Nightwing who thinks Bruce's obsession has gone too far (he thinks he's controlling everything and everyone like a madman, which he does kind of do).
Outsiders even thinks he's bonkers , (""that nut in Gotham City").
By Beyond, Bruce even refers to himself in his head as Batman. I wouldn't be so sure to write off sanity or insanity, the writers are playing with something there. This is one of the reasons that Batman is so great.
I love Bruce's response to Vicki asking why he has to be Batman. "Because nobody else can." Just so badass and so 'Batman', if you get what I mean. Had Keaton every said something along the lines of "My parents were murdered in cold blood and I vowed to protect the innocent from the scum of the underworld"...it just wouldn't have worked.
No, Keaton's Bruce never mentioned his parents but I love that he never had to speak those words. We, the viewers, were able to follow the mystery of Bruce's past as Vicki did. Living alone with Alfred in a huge mansion that wasn't "him". Lying about his plans so he could leave roses in a desolate alley. Seeing the newspaper clipping about the Wayne murders with a photo of a young Bruce slapped on the front page. And finally, Bruce sitting alone in his cave reading the case file, contemplative, thinking back to the night that changed him forever and made him the man he came to be.