Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight (Wiley Psychology & Pop Culture)

by Langley, Travis

  The distinction between the original Batman and the modern is, to some degree, false. At no point did DC’s creative teams decide, “This is our last issue starring the old Batman. Next month we pack and move to Earth-One.” The earliest appearances retroactively became Earth-Two Batman’s adventures, with no fine distinction as to when the new Batman’s stories began.

  The Silver Age/Modern Batman

  DC and Marvel’s superheroes live along a “sliding scale” of time. No matter when most modern heroes’ first stories saw print, published adventures from the Silver Age onward took place no more than a decade or so ago within their fictional careers. Batman’s 1960s adventures, those that remain canon, for him took place not long ago. Officially, though, most of those stories either never happened or took place in different ways. History changed and keeps changing. The Silver Age, which a new Flash heralded in 1956, ended around 1970 when mainstream comic books lost much of their innocence: Batman’s sidekick heads to college; Green Arrow’s sidekick gets hooked on drugs, as does Spider-Man’s best friend; the Green Goblin murders Spidey’s girlfriend Gwen; and the Joker, now deemed insane, resumes his old habit of murdering people left and right.34 A more serious Bronze Age ensued and lasted until Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985–1986) set off a rattling chain of Multiverse makeovers, and Reagan-era superhero deconstructions Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986) and Watchmen (1986–1987) inspired many creators to turn comics even darker deep into the long-lasting Modern Age, the Dark Age of tarnished heroes (see chapter 13).

  The Caped Crusader’s kid-friendly adventures in early Silver Age comic books commonly saw him meeting space aliens (Batman #128, left) or mutating into one wacky form after another (e.g., #147’s Bat-Baby, right) instead of delving into any deeper concerns. Photo by Lynda M. Langley.

  Despite inconsistencies, revisions, and errors, the modern Batman has the longest semblance of a continuous fictional history. The Silver Age Batman both is and is not the same as the modern. Rather than create even more Batmen who might bump into each other while bouncing between even more universes, authors attribute changes between the Silver Age and today to reality-altering events (the Multiverse makeovers: the crossover epics Crisis on Infinite Earths, Zero Hour, Infinite Crisis, Flashpoint), much the way Marty McFly’s family history keeps getting altered over the course of the three Back to the Future films. From Batman’s silliest Silver Age stories to his return to grim avenger roots and everything beyond, each adventure in the mainstream Bat-comics’ canon “really” took place even if later undone or altered by time travelers’ interference and other butterfly effects, and he is the same entity whether he remembers it all or not.

  More than one Robin has accompanied the modern Batman: Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, and briefly a Girl Wonder, Stephanie Brown—two of whom die, although they both return (Jason getting convolutedly resurrected and Stephanie having faked her death). Robins keep growing up. Stephanie replaces Barbara Gordon as Batgirl, Tim replaces Jason as Red Robin, Jason adopts the Joker’s old alias as the Red Hood, and Dick, after years of fighting crime under the name Nightwing, becomes a new Batman while Bruce is believed dead—some of those changes last, some don’t. Having briefly (although perhaps not bindingly) married Talia al Ghul,35 Bruce has allegedly fathered her son Damian.36 This League of Assassins–trained lad becomes a grimmer Robin by brighter Batman Grayson’s side37 until Damian at last works with his father, while Bruce proceeds to recruit an international league of Batmen under the auspices of Batman, Inc.38 Within the fiction, the Caped Crusader turns franchise.

  Whose Belfry?

  So which Batman do we mean—Golden Age, Silver Age, pre-Crisis, post-Crisis, post–Zero Hour, post–Infinite Crisis, Dark Knight, Bright Knight, Adam West, Michael Keaton, Kevin Conroy, Christian Bale, any other in between?

  Yes. All of them.

  When in doubt, assume the modern comic book character, but examples will come from them all. Batman: The Animated Series creator Bruce Timm has said that there are “so many different interpretations of Batman—everything from Adam West to Frank Miller to Tim Burton…. There’s a certain validity to all those versions. They don’t cancel each other out, they’re all, to a degree, justifiable.”39 It’s like reading contradictory legends of Robin Hood. If he doesn’t wield bow and arrow and steal from the rich, he’s not Robin Hood. No matter which Batman we consider, some things remain constant. In 1939, 1966, 1986, and today, wealthy Bruce Wayne—a bit smug in the knowledge that he can accomplish what sworn police officers either can’t or won’t—dresses up, plays detective, punches bad guys, and lives his double life, all so he can protect the innocent, infuse fear in evildoers, and fight his endless fight.

  He will never finish avenging the parents who died before his eyes.

  CASE FILE 2–1 King Tut

  Real name: Professor William Omaha McElroy

  First appearance: “The Curse of Tut,” Batman season 1, episode 27 (April 13, 1966). Portrayed by Victor Buono.

  Origin: After suffering a blow to the head during a student riot, Yale University Egyptologist William McElroy develops amnesia coupled with the belief that he is the reincarnated King Tutankhamen, the pharaoh who ruled circa 1333–1324 bce during Egypt’s 18th Dynasty. As King Tut, he proceeds to steal Egyptian artifacts and tries transforming Gotham into a modern-day Thebes. Each time Batman and Robin finally knock the man out or trick him into ingesting his own scarab potion, he emerges from his delusion fully restored to his mild-mannered professorial self—until a future episode’s random brick or flower pot falls on his head and turns him back into Tut. His henchmen often accept McElroy’s delusion, such as when those falling flower pots also strike two students on their heads, upon which they kneel before Tut.1

  “No! No violence! I can’t stand violence! But I like torture. Hmm, it’s good, clean fun.”

  —King Tut in the Batman television series

  (episode 88, “Batman’s Waterloo,” March 9, 1967)

  Even though Chief O’Hara once leads the protesting professor away for incarceration,2 McElroy when in his right mind never gets held criminally responsible for Tut’s crimes and remains free to await his next concussion. McElroy takes personal responsibility for his actions by wearing a protective hat—attempting, albeit futilely, to prevent the next mishap. The insanity defense, much as it might seem to apply here, never gets mentioned. In fact, the heroes tell Tut he’ll go to the penitentiary, and when Dr. Cassandra frees Batman’s worst enemies so they can turn invisible and fight him in the dark for the program’s penultimate episode,3 King Tut escapes from jail along with the rest. So when he’s McElroy, he goes free, but if Tut, he’s locked up.

  McElroy (Victor Buono): Did I do it again?

  Batman (Adam West): You certainly did.

  McElroy: Did I hurt anyone?

  Batman: Only yourself, professor. Only yourself.

  How might we diagnose Professor McElroy?

  Amnesia (loss of memory) can be biogenic (biologically generated) or psychogenic (psychologically generated). However much King Tut’s amnesia might appear to be biogenic—after all, head injury brings it on—repeated bonks to the noggin will not turn amnesia on and off, back and forth, like a brain damage light switch. Outside 1960s sitcoms, head injuries don’t work that way. Psychogenic amnesia, however, conceivably could.

  Simple dissociation is an everyday process in which different parts of the mind function at the same time without sharing information with each other—as in the case of highway hypnosis, when you’re driving down the road and suddenly realize you don’t remember the last five miles. Part of your mind was daydreaming while another part was driving the car. The dissociative disorders take dissociation to an unhealthy extreme, typically as a way to escape from facing trauma or other unpleasant reality, and usually include some degree of psychogenic amnesia. Dissociative amnesia, psychogenic memory loss far too broad for ordinary forgetfulness, would be an inadequate diagnosis, fai
ling to account for McElroy’s most prominent symptom: his assumption of a new identity.

  Dissociative fugue involves confusion about one’s identity or even assumption of a new identity together with amnesia for some or all of the person’s previous life. “Fugue” means “flight”—the person flees his or her past life, abruptly disappearing without notice and traveling far away, usually in response to now-forgotten trauma, stress, or overwhelming life events. In most cases, the problem involves a single episode that lasts hours to months and abruptly ends in complete recovery, although longer-lasting cases do exist. Those few who experience reoccurring fugues periodically roam from home without knowing who they are, escaping their old identities entirely, as opposed to King Tut, who, rather than abandoning McElroy’s past life, embodies the Egyptologist’s area of expertise. Recurrent assumption of a particular alternate persona would better fit dissociative identity disorder, the modern name for multiple personality. Professionals uncomfortable with the idiosyncratic blow-to-the-head trigger for Egyptologist-to-Egyptian transformations might have to settle for dissociative disorder not otherwise specified, recognizing that his condition falls within the dissociative disorder category without pinning it down as any disorder specifically described in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

  Despite his delusion (a belief grossly out of touch with reality), specific psychotic disorders (disorders in which the person is grossly out of touch with reality) seem less likely than a dissociative disorder. Aside from believing himself to be Tut, he fully recognizes how the world works. He knows he is not in the fourteenth century BCE. Although he believes he is Tut’s reincarnation, reincarnation is a popular belief worldwide—the norm in numerous cultures. If psychotic, his single delusion could qualify him for delusional disorder, specifically of the grandiose type because he believes himself to be such a famous personage. Depending on their reasons for buying into that belief, his henchmen might suffer either their own dissociative conditions or shared psychosis (see Case File 8–2: Harley Quinn).

  “How many times must I tell you? Queens consume nectar and ambrosia, not hot dogs!”

  —King Tut to Nefertiti in the Batman television series

  (episode 27, “The Curse of Tut,” April 13, 1966)

  CASE FILE 2–2 Mr. Freeze

  Real name: Victor Fries

  First appearance: Batman #121 (February, 1959) as Mr. Zero; renamed Mr. Freeze for 1966–1968 Batman television series1 and subsequent comics.2

  Origin: When cryogenics researcher Victor Fries learns that his wife, Nora, suffers from a rapidly progressing terminal illness, he suspends her in cryostasis and gets to work in pursuit of a cure. A ruthless executive tampers with the equipment and causes an accident that soaks Fries in cryopreservation fluids. Victor’s body temperature plunges and his body chemistry changes in adaptation. Now he must wear a special refrigeration suit to maintain his subzero temperature while he seeks revenge on any he believes have wronged him and steals equipment and funds to continue his efforts to restore Nora.3

  “It would move me to tears if I still had tears to shed.”

  —Mr. Freeze in “Heart of Ice,” Batman: The Animated Series, ep. 17 (September 7, 1992)

  “Heart of Ice,” the Emmy-winning episode of Batman: The Animated Series, established this origin, subsequently integrated into the comic books and one movie. Television turned Mr. Zero, one nearly forgotten gimmick villain among many, into the most tragically sympathetic member of Batman’s best-known foes, Mr. Freeze, this cold-bodied man with the coldhearted personality who’ll stop at nothing for the sake of the one person who ever warmed up his life. In the stages of grief Elisabeth Kübler-Ross4 made famous (see next chapter for more detail), Victor Fries blasts his way through denial and anger into the bargaining stage, determined to fix what’s wrong and save Nora’s life. Any threat to that bargain fires up his anger.

  In killing not only those who’ve wronged him but security guards and any other innocent person caught in his way, Victor Fries embarks on a quest on Nora’s behalf regardless of what her wishes would have been, with some parallels to how Bruce Wayne as a young man at times disregards his late parents’ wishes, ideals, and legacy. Bruce matures. In Batman Begins, he goes from cursing Wayne Manor as a mausoleum he’d gladly tear down brick by brick to mourning its loss when a villain burns it down and then planning to rebuild it exactly as before.

  No actress voices Nora Fries. In cartoons and live-action film, she floats dreamily in frozen storage, a thing of beauty in a cryogenic snow globe. Victor’s love is real, but by carrying out his murders and heists heedless of how she’d feel, he gives no thought to the fact that if he succeeds, she’ll have feelings about everything he’s done. He engages in her objectification—that is, he treats her more like a precious object and less like a human being. Objectification leads to dehumanization, forgetting that the other person has a mind and morality associated with personhood.5 Victor’s objectifying of Nora may result from her inanimate state; then again, distant, standoffish Victor, who never warmed up to anyone else, never having picked up a normal array of social skills or interpersonal perceptiveness, may always have objectified the beautiful woman to some degree.

  For all his sociopathic shortcomings, Victor values Nora’s well-being above his own, her happiness over his. In the comics and cartoons, her restoration is poignant, each format offering different reasons why, after doing everything for her sake, he can never touch his wife again. The animated film Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero ends with Nora cured and Victor presumed dead. Televised news of her restoration gives Victor a smile before he heads back into the Arctic snow, crying icy tears of joy as he lets Nora live without him, in peace.

  Notes

  1. Batman movie serial (June 16, 1943), Chapter 1, “The Electrical Brain.”

  2. Harry S. Truman Library (n.d.).

  3. Batman movie serial (September 22, 1943), Chapter 15, “The Doom of the Rising Sun.”

  4. Batman movie serial (June 23, 1943), Chapter 2, “The Bat’s Cave.”

  5. Harmon & Glut (1972).

  6. Eisner (1986), 8.

  7. Rosenberg et al. (2009).

  8. Batman television series (September 28, 1967), episode 97, “The Wail of the Siren.”

  9. Batman television series (December 28, 1966), episode 67, “The Sandman Cometh.”

  10. Batman television series (February 15, 1967), episode 81, “The Joker’s Last Laugh.”

  11. Batman television series (February 16, 1967), episode 82, “The Joker’s Epitaph.”

  12. Langley & Rosenberg (2011).

  13. Burton & Salisbury (2006), 76.

  14. Di Novi (2005).

  15. Boucher (2011).

  16. For example, All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder #2, 8.

  17. Burton & Salisbury (2006), p. 76.

  18. Burton & Salisbury, 72–73.

  19. Burton (2005).

  20. Goldsman (2005).

  21. Freud (1989/1965).

  22. Rofé (2008).

  23. McNally (2004).

  24. Kreisman & Straus (1989), xv.

  25. For example, Mendelson (2008).

  26. Quoted by Dini & Kidd (1998), unnumbered page.

  27. Matson, Rivet, & Fodstad (2010); Sachdev (2000).

  28. Chavel (2008).

  29. Boucher (2010).

  30. Showcase #4 (1956).

  31. The Flash #123 (1961).

  32. Justice League of America #21 (1963).

  33. Adventure Comics #462 (1979); DC Super-Stars #17 (1977); Superman Family #211 (1981).

  34. Batman #217 (1969); Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85 (1971); The Amazing Spider-Man #97 (1971); The Amazing Spider-Man #121 (1973); Batman #251 (1973).

  35. Batman: Son of the Demon (1987).

  36. Batman #655–658 (2006).

  37. Batman and Robin #1 (2009).

  38. Batman Incorporated #1 (2011).

  39
. Nolen-Weathington (2008), 61.

  Case File 2–1: King Tut

  1. Batman television series (March 8, 1967), episode 87, “King Tut’s Coup.”

  2. Batman television series (September 29, 1966), episode 42, “Tut’s Case Is Shut.”