Today Bruce Wayne is trending on Twitter. Lots of folks are making the very unoriginal point that Bruce Wayne is a billionaire, and that he’s therefore immoral.
I Wanna Get Fictional
In real life, it would be crazy for a billionaire to spend billions to create a satellite base in space to help monitor the Earth and threats coming for it. In the world of Batman comics, this 100% makes sense and has saved humanity many, many times.
When Darkseid decides to come and kill everyone, he doesn’t give a flying fuck where they fall on the socioeconomic spectrum. He shoots fucking lasers out of his eyes and the person ceases to exist.
Applying real-world morality to fiction doesn’t really work. The parameters of our world and theirs are different. In a world like ours, Bruce Wayne’s application of money wouldn’t make sense because while we have billionaires, we do not have world-level threats that seem to come around every month like clockwork. In the world of DC comics, Bruce Wayne’s application of money has probably saved far, far more lives than he would if he started a rehab facility or college scholarship fund.
Is It Possible For A Fictional Character to Be Moral or Immoral?
While it’s possible for a fictional character to act morally or immorally, when we’re talking about a character with 75+ years of history and hundreds of different storytellers putting him through the motions, you’re naturally going to find things that don’t work with modern ideas of what is and isn’t moral. At times he will act with what some people consider morality and others consider an immoral slant. He’s also living a life that’s created by someone, so he’s put in positions that test his morality in extreme ways, whereas we don’t live in a way that’s created to test us at every turn.
In a real person’s life, if it were recorded with the fine detail of Bruce Wayne’s, I suppose one could add up the moral and immoral acts, how many people were touched by each, and make a decision about whether the person lived a moral or immoral life. Seems pretty subjective, but it’s possible to make the argument.
In a fictional life with as much material as Bruce Wayne’s, this is essentially impossible, and really, why do it? Is that an enjoyable activity? What does it prove, either way?
The Transfer Of Morality to Real Life
You can play GTA in any number of ways, and I don’t think the style of play one engages in makes that player, in real life, moral or immoral. I also don’t think the style of play affects the real world. I ALSO don’t think that the way most players play, like if you added up players who were moral or immoral, necessarily says anything about the real world. Because it’s a designed world, and it’s designed to be fun to act in an immoral way.
Let’s compare to Monopoly. It’s not reasonable to take the morality of real life and apply it to Monopoly, nor is it reasonable to compare the morality contained in Monopoly and apply it to real life. The game’s parameters do not allow you the choice to use your earnings to create social change. Even if you wanted to, it’s not possible.
People can engage with fiction as though they themselves, their real life versions, are set into a fictional world. They can also engage with fiction as though they are making choices they would never make in real life. Both of these poles, and everything between, are fair game in fiction, and we have to remember that different fictions are set up to be perceived in different ways. The “fun” of some things is in their immorality, and fiction is a safe way to experience immoral things without hurting anyone.
To put it briefly, as Rob Zombie once said, “Fiction doesn’t play by the same rules as reality.”
Fictional Billionaires and Non-Fiction Billionaires
The stance that being a billionaire is immoral, this doesn’t really apply to fiction.
My understanding of the argument is that a billionaire could use their resources to save and improve many, many lives.
Bruce Wayne is a fictional character inhabiting a world of fictional characters. Thus, his acts don’t affect any actual lives.
Any writer of Batman comics could simply write universal healthcare and an end to homelessness into the world of Gotham City. What does this do to the real world? Who does this actually help?
I mean, not to get overly philosophical about it, but I don’t think the characters in comics necessarily possess object permanence. When they’re not in the panel, do they exist?
But What About The Kids?
I’m sure some will say that Bruce Wayne could serve as an example, especially to kids, of morality. Bruce Wayne could be written differently to “normalize” the idea of the generous billionaire.
One, the idea that the behavior of Bruce Wayne will change the behavior of real-life billionaires is asinine. If you wanted to change the way billionaires work, would you be better off making some new laws and regulations, or by critiquing the morality of a fictional character who dresses as a bat-man?
Two, this is about the expectation that art, which does not cause the problems of the world, should be saddled with the responsibility of fixing the problems of the world. The expectation that this is what art is “for.” Art can certainly choose to attempt to solve real world problems, but I think the expectation that art will solve real world problems is wrong.
Three, the Batman and Bruce Wayne that appear in comics for young people are very different from the Batman and Bruce Wayne who appear in titles meant for teens and adults. Believe me, the stuff for young kids is rarely, if ever, delivered without an important lesson. Try reading it some time.
Four, specifically regarding kids, go ahead and try to teach a 9 year-old about the immorality of wealth. See how far you get with that one.
I Won’t Read Batman Until He Uses His Billions For Good
It’s called The Amazing Spider-Man. If you want a book that’s about the alter ego as much as the hero, Spider-Man is what you’re looking for.
Batman comics are about Batman, and Bruce Wayne is the side character that facilitates Batman. In comics, it’s a tired argument about who the “real” main persona is between Batman and Bruce Wayne. “Is he wearing a mask as Batman, or is Bruce Wayne the mask!?”
If you just can’t stand the morality of Bruce Wayne being a billionaire, there are tons of other comics, try one of ‘em. Try The Authority. Or Rising Stars. These both deal with the question of why superheroes can and can’t work on global problems.
When You Make This Point, You Mostly Reveal That You Don’t Read Comics
They go over this shit in the comics all the time. Bruce Wayne tries various charitable things, works to improve the world in the ways he thinks are most impactful. You’re talking about something that doesn’t come up much in the movies, but in the books, they talk about this sort of thing plenty.
When you make this point, or any number of unoriginal points, all I hear is someone who doesn’t generally read comics talking about a subculture they don’t really understand. I mean, if you’re going to demand something of comics, and if you’re not coming from a place of reading them often, maybe check and make sure that there isn’t an entire wiki page about a fictional foundation and its inner workings that address precisely what you’re talking about.
This isn’t like a gatekeeping thing where I’m saying that you shouldn’t read comics. It’s a thing where I’m saying that the demands that something exist in a medium, from someone who doesn’t normally care about the medium or spend time with it, aren’t super relevant. That’s like me asserting that too many hedge mazes are by straight people. I have no idea what the ratio is, whether or not this happens, or how any of that works. Also, I’ve never been in a hedge maze and don’t necessarily plan to be in one. For all I know, EVERY hedge maze in existence was designed by a gay person. I have no fucking idea.
If you insist on jumping in on a topic like this, at least google it a little first.
If You Want This Comic, Write It
Seriously, if you want to read a comic about the financial ways Bruce Wayne could be a moral person, write it. See how compelling it is. See if it’s interesting. If you can make it fun, go for it. Pitch it. You probably won’t get through, but writing this comic is a better use of your time than asking someone else to do so.
Remember, comics are an entertainment medium, not necessarily a delivery platform for politics or moral ideas. If someone isn’t entertained by the story you’ve created, it’ll be a tree falling in the forest. Or it’ll end up like this Marvel/Visa team-up that was only fun because it’s so goddamn ridiculous.
It’s not impossible to create a compelling story about finance. The Big Short is pretty good. I just don’t think any fool wants to watch Avengers: Endgame where the “Endgame” in question is retirement and we’re talking about Captain America’s military benefits versus the private 401k of Dr. Bruce Banner.