Do You Think Batman Ever Gets Lonely?

I was wondering today - Do you think Batman ever gets lonely?

I mean, he has Alfred right?  And Robin... and more lovers than I can count... never mind all the attention he gets from Joker, Cat Woman, and all the rest.  But what I'm getting at really, is the man behind the mask:  Does Bruce Wayne ever sit down, surrounded by beautiful women, his butler by his side, drinking champagne,  and think to himself, "Wow.  Who am I?"

One would have to imagine that he does.  He lost his parents when he was very young and most of his acquaintances don't know that he is Batman.  When he sits down at dinner and (in the unlikely scenario where) someone he has never met says to him, "What do you do for a living?" he can't say "I save nice people like you from one of any underground living psychopaths who want to kill you." When asked, "What do you do in your spare time?" he can't say "I dress like a bat."  Instead, he has to talk about Wayne Enterprises and all the money his parents left to him upon their murders.  He falsifies his real self in order to protect the identity of the hero he is.

But we're all like that a little bit, right?  Sure, we're not using an unknowing Lucius Fox to modify old military equipment into bat gear... but we all have a different persona we share with those on the "inside" than everyone else.   I'm sure you can imagine a few points in time when you had to hide your true feelings in order to protect those around you.  Of course in Bruce's case it's because he wants those he loves to not be attacked by the scum in Gotham, but maybe in your case it was to save someone's feelings, or to not let on just how worried you were about something.

Maybe that's why it's so easy to believe in Batman;  It's so easy to believe that a grown man who had a difficult childhood could spend his evenings wearing a cape and a bat mask saving citizens of Gotham from the criminals because we can relate, in a way, to his self-consciousness about who he really is.

Batman Tragedy.

Tragedy.

News corporations across the world are reporting terrible news today.  A deranged man, dressed in costume, murdered at least twelve people at a midnight showing of one of my favorite series, Batman.    I can not believe this happened.  The reports say he was a normal, quiet Ph D student and that he was "easy going."  Why, then, did he bust into a movie theatre late at night killing people?  

We will probably never really know.

Some calls for ending the use of video games and violent movies have started to become prevalent on social media and in the news.  It is unfortunate that this is the case; of course video games are too violent and I make a point to not play certain games, and I refuse to watch movies that are extraordinarily violent.  That said, Batman's whole "M.O." is that he is a hero in disguise.   When he was a child, his parents were murdered in front of him by criminals, causing him to pledge to protect those who can not help themselves.   He was a superhero who fought terrorism and fear.  His government is corrupt, his city is under siege.  Even with the temptations of his wealthy lifestyle, all he wishes to do is make his small world a better place for those around him.  He gives up love and marriage, he gives up his sleep and risks his life.   He often does not kill those evil-doers around him, out of compassion.  Does that make him weak? Or even more so a hero?

The criminals in the Batman series are hyperboles of real criminals in our lives, and are often conflicted in their deeds.  Take Poison Ivy, as an example; she is my favorite Batman villain.  As an environmentalist, she fights for plants and animals in her life; she believes in her cause so greatly, she goes to such great lengths that she becomes an eco-terrorist.   Totally conflicted.  

Let's not blame Batman for this one.

Let's blame our socially accepted purchase of guns by any individual without education about their use, or training for their use (i.e., don't shoot your friends and neighbors).  Let's blame the man who completed the murders.  Let's blame our hatred for those things that are different.  Let's blame society for not helping a man who one day wakes up and decides to kill many innocent people.

Let's blame... something other than a caped crusader who wants to make his world a better place.

My thoughts are with the murderer's family, and the families of those who were murdered or hurt.   In the words of the wonderful George Takei, "... As a community of dreamers, we mourn this terrible tragedy and this senseless taking of innocent life."