“This is what leads to the heart of Batman’s ethical failure: he doesn’t trust anyone but himself to take care of anything. His lack of faith in the justice system caused him to bring a gun to his parents’ killer’s hearing. That same lack of trust caused him to become Batman. His lack of faith in those who run his company means he doesn’t involve others in running it, and his faith in his own method of dealing with the ills of society causes him to raise up other vigilantes when he could be strengthening the bonds of society. And this is unfortunate, because trust, ultimately, can make the world better, while distrust erodes communities. To quote Robert Putnam in Bowling Alone:
“Other things being equal, people you trust their fellow citizens volunteer more often, contribute more to charity, participate more often in politics and community organizations, serve more readily on juries, give blood more frequently, comply more fully with their tax obligations, are more tolerant of minority views, and display many other forms of civic virtue…In short, people who trust others are all-round good citizens, and those more engaged in community life are both more trusting and trustworthy.
“We’d like to hold up Batman against another hero, Spiderman. The great moment in the latest Spiderman movie comes when, in order to help, ordinary citizens come together to enable Peter Parker to reach the scene of an unfolding disaster together. Spiderman doesn’t just believe in himself, he believes in us, too. Batman believes only in himself, and will, alas, be left with nothing but that in the end.
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“Gaining practical experience and becoming more mature is referred to in ethics as gaining phronesis—moral or practical wisdom. This is why the generosity of adults usually does more good than the generosity of children- because the adult knows how to effectively use charity and good intentions, while the child may do more harm than good.
Aristotle makes a number of specific remarks about phronesis that are the subject of much scholarly debate, but the (related) modern concept is best understood by thinking of what the virtuous morally mature adult has that nice children, including nice adolescents, lack. Both the virtuous adult and the nice child have good intentions, but the child is much more prone to mess things up because he is ignorant of what he needs to know in order to do what he intends.
“Which brings us to back to Batman: Batman allowed Wayne to express the remorse of his parents’ death, but stopped his path to gaining more phronesis. Batman then died, so Wayne could live.
“As a sort of proof, the scene in which Bruce escapes the well is full of references to Wayne’s father. When Bruce first encountered the bats, it was at the bottom of a well. He was rescued by his father, who both asked him “Why do we fall down? So we can learn to get back up” and told him “Don’t be afraid”, the exact two phrases he needed to escape. So once again, metaphorically, Bruce’s father allows him to escape a prison of his fear. Exiting the well indicated that Wayne finally learned the lessons his father tried to impart years before.
“(Oh yeah, and to all those who ask, “how did he get back to Gotham after being stuck in a well?” and call it bad storytelling- just hush. He’s the freakin’Batman; getting back is the least of his concerns.)
“Moreover, Batman’s death also allowed Wayne to do something he was never able to do as Batman, fulfill the legacy of his father. Thomas Wayne was the symbol Batman always strove to be: the first movie specified that Thomas Wayne’s death galvanized the fight against poverty which saved the city from the League of Shadow’s original assault. Batman repeated the act: through his sacrifice, Batman not only repelled the attack of the League twice, but he also became the symbol the city needed: evidenced by a statue in city hall. Batman’s “death” allowed Bruce to do the thing being Batman could never do: live up to the sterling reputation of his father, then move on with life and raise a family.
“That’s why this movie is entitled The Dark Knight Rises. Batman finally rises to become the symbol Bruce wanted him to be – by dying. And, of course, Wayne is now able to move past his parents’ death and, as all children must do, leave his parents’ shadow and start a new life. Having emulated his parents’ work as Batman, Bruce is free to grow, not as Batman, but as an ordinary hero, living life one day at a time, gaining phronesis and growing towards a happiness and a well being, a “happiness worth striving for” referred to as eudaimonia by many neo-Aristotelian philosophers. Batman, a great example of “the ends justify the means” teleological ethics, becomes an exemplar of virtue ethics instead.
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