On Batman and the Problem of Constituent Power

Earlier this month anthropologist David Graeber wrote an article originally titled “On Batman and the Problem of Constituent Power” and its a must read for anyone interested in the sociological implications of superhero narratives. Below are a few of my favorite quotes but definitely go read the full piece over at The New Inquiry.

“Almost never do superheroes make, create, or build anything. The villains, in contrast, are endlessly creative. They are full of plans and projects and ideas. Clearly, we are supposed to first, without consciously realizing it, identify with the villains. After all, they’re having all the fun. Then of course we feel guilty for it, re-identify with the hero, and have even more fun watching the superego clubbing the errant Id back into submission.”

On superhero narratives and the connection to fascism…

“[Superheroes] remain defenders of a legal and political system which itself seems to have come out of nowhere, and which, however faulty or degraded, must be defended, because the only alternative is so much worse. They aren’t fascists. They are just ordinary, decent, super-powerful people who inhabit a world in which fascism is the only political possibility.”

On The Dark Knight Rises…

“If there’s supposed to be a take-home message from all of this, it must run something like: “Yes, the system is corrupt, but it’s all we have, and anyway, figures of authority can be trusted if they have first been chastened and endured terrible suffering.” Normal police let children die on bridges, but police who’ve been buried alive for weeks can employ violence legitimately. Charity is much better than addressing structural problems. Any attempt to address structural problems, even through non-violent civil disobedience, really is a form of violence, because that’s all it could possibly be. Imaginative politics are inherently violent, and therefore there’s nothing inappropriate if police respond by smashing protestors’ heads repeatedly against the concrete.”

Source: thenewinquiry.com

H&R Block made this infographic comparing the income of Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker. I’ve long held that Bruce Wayne’s wealth and his Corporate Empire are always vastly underestimated by the types of fictional audits used as sources for this graphic - even so the income inequality between the two superheroes is striking. 

Source: themarysue.com

Here is the first remixed component of the Batman Reimagined project. What would a television commercial for Wayne Enterprises look like? Now you can see for yourself. 

It’s no secret that Batman is funded and equipped via Bruce Wayne’s multi-billion dollar fortune and through his ownership of Wayne Enterprises. What you might not know is that Wayne Enterprises is a massive company of truly Orwellian proportions. If the corporation really existed it would most likely be the largest, most powerful company on the planet - bigger than General Electric, Boeing, Chevron and Lockheed Martin combined.

Although primarily known as a military defense contractor, Wayne Enterprises is actually comprised of dozens of subsidiaries involved in all sectors of the economy in Gotham City and around the world (operating in 190 countries). The Wayne family corporation literally built most of Gotham over the years and still owns a good chunk of the city today. Based on the DC and Batman wikis the corporation includes the following divisions:

Wayne Electronics
Wayne Technologies
Wayne Biotech
Wayne Medical
Wayne Healthcare (which runs Gotham Cities healthcare system)
Wayne Pharmaceuticals
Wayne Foods
Wayne Shipping
Wayne Steel
Wayne Automotive
Wayne Shipbuilders
Wayne Aerospace
Wayne Weapons
Wayne Aviation
Wayne Airlines
Wayne Chemicals
Wayne Industries
Wayne Oil
Wayne Botanical
Wayne Mining (which mines precious metals in Africa)
Wayne Manufacturing
Wayne Research Institute
Wayne Energy
Wayne Electric
Wayne Studios
Wayne Entertainment (including ownership of The Daily Planet newspaper)
Wayne Records
Wayne Stage
Wayne Television
Wayne Retail

Based on this extensive list of properties and holdings, Forbes’ magazine seems to have severely underestimated the value of the company in their 2007 list of the 25 Largest Fictional Companies. Forbes estimated Wayne Enterprises sales at only $31.3 billion which is a ridiculously low figure for such an omnipresent multinational corporation.

Wayne Enterprises - Everything Everywhere Everyday

I found this amusing video on Dorkly Bits under the title “Batman is the 1% - Why so seriously wealthy?”. It seems that since the release of the official Dark Knight Rises trailer, I’m not the only one now making transformative works critical of Batman’s socioeconomic status.

Jim Carrey tends to portray characters, in both dramas and comedies, who have been wronged, exploited or dis-empowered by the powerful. He is great at embodying the classic underdog figure. Its for this reason The Riddler (as re-imaged through Carrey’s extended filmography) makes the ideal remixed hero for this project. In fact the actor’s “everyman” characters have a lot in common with Donald Duck from the classic Disney cartoons.
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Jim Carrey tends to portray characters, in both dramas and comedies, who have been wronged, exploited or dis-empowered by the powerful. He is great at embodying the classic underdog figure. Its for this reason The Riddler (as re-imaged through Carrey’s extended filmography) makes the ideal remixed hero for this project. In fact the actor’s “everyman” characters have a lot in common with Donald Duck from the classic Disney cartoons.

Batman: The Ultimate Plutocratic Hero

Image from Batman (The New 52) Issues #1

One of the inspirations for this remix project was an excellent article I read back in January 2011 on Tor.com written by comic book editor Steven Padnick entitled Batman Plutocrat. In the post he argues that Bruce Wayne as Batman is essentially an aristocratic class warrior fighting on behalf of the wealthy (or at least on behalf of the system which upholds their power - and by extension his own power).

Here are a few choice excerpts that, as a lifelong Batman fan, rang extra true:

“By their nature as vigilantes, acting outside or above the law, most superheroes have a troubling undercurrent of aristocratic, undemocratic, authoritarian values. Only the hero, not the police, judges, lawmakers, and average citizen, can effectively protect and improve the city they patrol, and god help anyone who gets in their way. No one exemplifies these tendencies more than Batman, the ultimate aristocratic hero.”

Padnick goes on to point out that Bruce Wayne sits at the very top of the socioeconomic food chain:

“Batman isn’t just “the man,” Bruce Wayne is also The Man. He’s a rich, white, handsome man who comes from an old money family and is the main employer in Gotham. He owns half the property in the city. In a very real sense, Gotham belongs to him, and he inherited all of it.”

This next paragraph also got me thinking about what Gotham City would look like if the villain/hero roles were reversed in the narrative which is what I’m attempting to do with my remixed film:

“Just look at who he fights. Superman (for example) fights intergalactic dictators, evil monopolists, angry generals, and dark gods, i.e. symbols of abusive authority. Batman fights psychotics, anarchists, mob bosses, the mentally ill, and environmentalists, i.e. those who would overthrow the status quo. Superman fights those who would impose their version of order on the world. Batman fights those who would unbalance the order Batman himself imposes on Gotham.”

Make sure to read the full article for more detailed insights from Padnick on Batman and class. I was a little dismayed at the comment section of the article which was filled with fans defending the Batman myth by using the fictional situations as justification for the fictional character’s actions.

Here is my response to that line of reasoning in the comments:

“It always amazes me when I see people try use fictional contexts and fictional events inside of fictional worlds in order to try to rationalize or excuse the actions of fictional characters. Batman does not exist, we all know this, he is a construct. He is made up by the same people that make up everything that happens to him. He is written by writers making certain choices and as such they could, if they wanted to, make different choices. The writers create the narratives and in those narratives they make the hero an aristocratic, undemocratic, authoritarian, violent vigilantly. The writers also create the entire world Batman inhabits, create every single situation, as well as create all the “villains” he interacts with - all of it is specifically designed to justify Batman’s actions. Because the stories are meant to justify Batman’s actions those stories, of course, have an internal logic to them. Outside of Batman’s world however (the place all of us actually live) his actions can not be easily justified and are, more often than not, deeply problematic on a number of levels including class - as Steven’s article points out so well.”

Batman is both fictional and impossible. He is a fantasy. As such it is important to ask exactly who’s fantasy? And what ideological frameworks does that fantasy serve? My remix project will attempt to deconstruct that fantasy and create a Batman “anti-fantasy”.

[Above image of Bruce Wayne is from Batman issue #1 of the New 52]

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