Why Batman?

As you may have guessed, I will be trying to use this blog as a journal through which to analyze the views and constructions of mental illness in film, with the Batman trilogy as my main scope. This is in coordination with an assignment for a university course on crime in popular film. Many aspects of criminological study can be discussed in the world of the Bat, but for this project I am narrowing my focus to constructions of mental illness and how mentality affects crime.

Now the popular question might be: Why Batman?

It's a legitimate question. After all, Batman isn't the only superhero out there. Especially in recent years, there has been a multitude of superhero movies hitting the big screen. The theme of superheroes saving the world from super-criminals and villains is always going to occur in a superhero movie. So why should Batman's world take center stage?

Essentially, the answer is realism. Batman's world is realistic in comparison to other superhero realms. In the film trilogy, Christopher Nolan takes extra steps to ensure that the setting is as realistic as possible, which leads to alterations of the characters Ra's al Ghul and Bane. Batman himself does not possess superpowers, resorting instead to a combination of intelligence, martial arts training and technology. With a few rare exceptions, his villains are the kind of criminals you might find in today's society- mob bosses, serial killers, assassins, slightly-mad scientists. The abilities of Batman and his villains are all within a realistic grasp, in the setting of a city that has fallen into a poor economic state and is dominated by crime and corruption.

Batman's world is one that mirrors what a poorly-run city can become and can reflect on how his villains can take advantage of this world to suit their needs. That fact that this world is realistic in comparison to other superhero stories makes it a much better scope through which to analyze different aspects of criminality.

Quick Overview: Psychological Theories of Crime

In her book Shots in the Mirror, Nicole Rafter highlights psychological theories of crime as one of three major crime theories portrayed in film, the other two being environmental and biological theories. Psychological theories refer to any abnormal psychological or mental state that can contribute to criminality.

Rafter discusses that abnormal psychological states can be categorized both as having a specific ailment or being generally insane. She says on page 55 that some characters in crime films can simply be called ‘insane’, as “some are obsessives, others are sadomasochists, narcissists are homicidal maniacs.” We’ll see in the upcoming entries whether or not a specific ailment can be attributed to any villain.

The Villainous Roster

The Batman trilogy features six main villains- two in each film. Not all of them have legitimate cases for mental illness, but it is important to know the main bad guys that pose themselves in the movies.

Batman Begins- Ra's al Ghul (Liam Neeson), the Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy)
The Dark Knight- the Joker (Heath Ledger), Two-Face (Aaron Eckhart)
The Dark Knight Rises- Bane (Tom Hardy), Catwoman (Anne Hathaway)

There are the villains. Do they help present theories of mental illness in crime? Or are they just like you and me?

Cutting the Field: Why I won't discuss Ra's al Ghul, Bane and Catwoman in-depth

Of the six villains that are featured, three of them don’t have strong cases for mental illness as portrayed in the trilogy. These are Ra’s al Ghul, Bane and Catwoman.

Batman’s villains all seem to have some grasp on reality, some more than others. These three would count with the 'some more than' part. So before I plunge into the other three, let’s clarify why these villains won’t be discussed:

Ra’s al Ghul

Liam Neeson’s character is different from the original. In the comic books, Ra’s was able to keep himself alive for hundreds of years with his Lazarus Pits, filled with a mixture of chemicals that helped him retain his youth but also drove him mad. The film alters the character to make Ra’s al Ghul more realistic, and Neeson instead portrays an intelligent and well-trained terrorist-like character.

The trilogy’s Ra’s does not appear to suffer from a serious mental disorder. Therefore, scratch him.

Bane

Bane is also a villain whose original character was altered to fit the more realistic style Nolan set for the films. As the primary antagonist of The Dark Knight Rises, Bane is a strong man with a violent fighting style and a mask with a breathing apparatus to numb pain of previous injuries. The comic book version was hyped up on a steroid called Venom, which he injected into his body with a carry-on tank and tubes.

Again, no sign of mental illness. Just a deranged method of trying to make the world a better place.

Catwoman

Catwoman is a burglar with a history, who by the third film seeks to clear her name with a ‘Clean Slate’ technology. She appears perfectly sane, and appears to be compelled to commit robbery based on aspirations for a better life or to obtain wealth (Rafter, 2000, p. 49). Catwoman is also notable for acting more like an antihero than a villain: rather than fighting for the side of evil explicitly, she’ll typically take whichever side will benefit her the most.

This leaves Scarecrow, Two-Face and the Joker, who I will analyze in future posts.

"Not Crane, Scarecrow!"

The Dr. Jonathan Crane of the comic book realm apparently suffers from an inferiority complex, being bullied as a youngster and then using science in his career to explore the human ability to handle fear. The link below is the description given by IGN Entertainment, when they ranked him #58 on their list of Top 100 Comic Book Villains.

http://comics.ign.com/top-100-villains/58.html

The movie doesn’t give much information on Crane’s history, but it does show the effects of his work. Crane created a special toxin that affected the brain and warped the victim’s mind and vision, causing them to see hallucinations of their worst fears and fall into a panic. When administering the drug, Crane wore a small burlap mask with a gas mask built inside to protect him from the drug’s effects- making him appear like a ‘Scarecrow’. The video clip below will show how it works.

While the film Scarecrow doesn’t appear to suffer from mental illness himself, he does present a case of mental illness being inflicted intentionally rather than naturally. Crane uses science and technology to induce insanity on his victims, which can also demonstrate mental illness as a consequence of criminality rather than a cause of it.