Zonkerbl wrote:Which DC superhero hurt Democracy the most?
1. Superman, invincible vigilante who imposes his own judgement of good and evil in an extra judicial process with no accountability because he's invincible
2. Batman, insane billionaire vigilante who imposes his own judgement of good and evil in an extra judicial process with no accountability because he's a billionaire
Superman. Illegal immigrant fleeing disaster in his country. Assimilates to mainstream America, suppressing his natural gifts in order to blend in. His chosen profession is as a journalist, seeking truth and exposés of corrupt behavior. He does not use his power and fame to seize control of the government, elected or not, but does risk exposure on a daily basis putting himself in harms way. The results of his admittedly vigilante use of force nearly always result in the criminals being turned over to the court system. The ultimate Citizen's arrest. Consider the potential mis-use of power from a person who has the ability to both see through walls and listen in on any private conversation. Given the hand he was dealt, he does a pretty admirable job of following the rules. That is one of his 'weaknesses' in the literature, that he is the Big Blue Boy Scout who follows the rules. And he can be manipulated in this way by those who exploit the rules in their favor.
It is ironic or perhaps appropriate that he exemplifies american exceptionalism to the extent that the motto attached to him is that he is the protector of 'Truth, Justice, and the American Way". 'American way' as exemplified by the preamble to the Constitution and the poem at the feet of that giant metal lady in New York harbor. The irony is that he is held to this code and kept within a moral boundary by the spiritual practice of following that foreign culture. He regularly turns to counsel from the recorded spirits of a council of elders from his ancestral home. Still this strict code of ethics of that alien culture sintered well with the wholesome middle American values of the Kansas upbringing of his adoptive parents, the same sort of solid grounding in hard work, humility, and community that was refereed to by Barack Obama in helping shape his own american nature.
Vers.
Batman. Childhood trauma ruined any chance of a normal life, as did his inheritance of a multi-billion dollar empire. Still, despite this he also inherited the values of his trust fund father who eschewed the good life to become a medical doctor and opened clinics in the poorest neighborhoods. Even as an admittedly disturbed and violent adult, he continued this practice, not with hands on care but with funding to this and many other philanthropic organizations, anonymously so as not to receive any tax relief etc for the work. Likewise he donates to the political campaigns of politicians who work towards helping the disadvantaged.
Still, the shock of the violent death of his parents found expression in a rage for justice that drove him to become the "World's Greatest Detective" as well as an olympic level athlete, grandmaster martial artist, inventor, etc. The question of how to properly sublimate trauma into personal accomplishment is sidetracked by the fact that he clearly has never recovered from it. No amount of personal drive can overcome the fact that his coping mechanism for dealing with the violent trauma in his past is to dress up in a onesie and run around on rooftops beating people up. He has learned to become the thing he fears, and use that fear against people who would commit violence on people with less power, privilege, etc. In so doing though he is willing to inculcate a series of youths in his unbalanced crusade to become the physical and violent representation of karma on those who use force for personal gain. At least one of his adopted underage charges has died as a result. Thousands of cases of child endangerment could be leveled against him. Among other charges.
His moral code has one limit: he refuses to use lethal force. His training allows him to execute his brutal justice to the very boundary of this hard edged code. He will brutalize a malefactor to hospitalization and disability, but in theory, not to the grave.
He has many times run across the law, and has been hunted for prosecution by attorneys at law. He evaded prosecution by the agency of a rogue police commissioner who sanctioned his extra legal activities as a counter to the evident fact that the police department itself, and judicial system, had been corrupted to the core. Other dangerous criminals were systematically evading legal consequences by threat and bribes. The Dark Knight mainly evades arrest by, well, being evasive. You can't lock up what you can't catch. If he were caught and prosecuted his own code would not allow him to evade justice simply by the ability to hire better lawyers. Though given his indomitable will, and the laws of the Superhero universe, he would surely successfully act as his own counsel, exposing the corruption of his opponents or citing an obscure clause that proves the justice of his action. If he were successfully prosecuted it would probably be simply that he needed to infiltrate the prisons to track down some elusive bad actor. Though given his ninja training he likely would not have to take that step.
Batman provides a more compelling and interesting protagonist in large part because conflict is interesting. But Superman is emblematic of the core principles of our founding documents, ignoring political party to attempt to serve the general welfare of this Union and of humanity as a whole. Our country has done a terrible job of exporting our civic values, and of living up to them, but there is a reason why Superman has traditionally been a beloved figure among the children of first generation immigrants, where he is viewed as corny by folks who grew up here. Makes sense though given that he was created by two jewish kids whose parents assimilated in Ohio after fleeing persecution and pogroms of eastern Europe.
