For Batman, Skoble believes that superheroes have a good reputation with the government, and work with the government to obey the law. However, Batman is more likely to break rules than to follow them. His belief is that “for Batman, the presence of a badge or a flag is neither necessary nor sufficient for justice” (32). This shows that Batman acknowledges that even though a person is from law enforcement, there is no guarantee that there are any ethical standard imposed in each person. Because of this, Batman may break the law to do what he thinks is correct in order to save the world from criminals.
Watchmen had a very challenging past. He had been abused as a child and was not psychologically stable. Because of his troubled childhood, Skoble points out that “Watchmen forces us to rethink the superhero is by portraying several costumed crime-fighters as at least to some extent psychologically troubled” (34). Skoble then explains the story of Kitty Genovese being murdered, and that Watchmen was embarrassed that no one stepped up to help Genovese. Therefore, Watchmen may have started to play the superhero role because of the events that happened up to the present of his life.
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Although superheroes are sometimes required to do things that goes against the standard norm, the actions that the superhero does is the necessary right thing to do. For example, superheroes sometimes would have to go out of their way to prevent a crime or help law enforcement catch a criminal as with Batman. Skoble’s argument about not asking about why superheroes do what they do, but why superheroes need to exist is very true, because if events and problems happen, someone will have to step up and most people would not choose to take action. This makes superheroes moral because they are there with the intention to make the world a better
Throughout “The Dark Knight” by Christopher Nolan crime and deviance is seen throughout the film. Crime and deviance in The Dark Knight has two faces as society accepts crime for those whose are helping them and at the same time punishes those who are punished. Society in Gotham accepts crime when the Batman commits it to help for the betterment of society; however, crime is not accepted when it is committed by mob bosses, gangs, criminal cops, and most importantly through the joker. The forms of deviancy/crime which are seen throughout the film is the Labeling Approach, Human Rights Approach, and Human Diversity Approach.
In “Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America” Morris P. Fiorina writes about how Americans may or may not be polarized when it comes to certain issues. In chapter one Fiorina mentions many quotes about what many people think about this topic. In the next chapter he goes onto stating why Americans think that America is polarized. In chapter three Fiorina gives some examples of how of little differences are between the red states versus the blue states.
Good and bad a requirement in all superhero stories, without either one of them the story just remains incomplete. Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons two well-known writers in the graphic story medium. Both authors worked together to create a fantastic piece of work; The Watchmen. In the graphic novel, Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, the central theme portrayed throughout the graphic novel is the good versus bad. Throughout history, us humans have tried to obtain powers over others, for example, the World Wars, British rule in India, Rwanda Genocide; they were all a big fight for power. Some used the power for good things while other used it for evil things. It isn’t necessary for a hero to have super powers they can just be seen as anyone that helps out the society and
When it comes to superheroes, most of them have costumes, nickname, and certain powers that make them unique. The Google definitions of the term “superhero” is “fictional characters with superhuman powers.” In today’s world, there are superheroes who do not have superhuman abilities but use human materials to fight crime. Are those with natural abilities denied the title of a “superhero?”
Take a second to think about the word propaganda. What comes to mind? Do events such as World War II or The Cold War? According to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, propaganda is a noun which means “the systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause or of information reflecting the views and interests of those advocating such a doctrine or cause.” In other words, propaganda, in this particular definition, is viewed as the deliberate transmission of an idea or document that a group of people believe in. This definition suits the description of propaganda in the novel 1984 by George Orwell. The Inner Party is pushing the concept of “Big Brother,” the ultimate leader. But words can have multiple meanings and can
The artistic representation of the Batman myth is an important cultural artifact of our time because it represents modern society's thirst for heroic ideals in popular entertainment. Since his creation, readers and viewers have admired Batman's unique ability to battle villainy, transcend the law and administer justice. As cultivators of the noir genre in film as well as in literature, Americans have always identified with this enigmatic hero, who exists on the margins of society and yet represents one of the largest corporations in the world. The evolution of Batman in particular and the superhero genre in general (from comic book to television to film and back again) has seen in the latest adaptation from Christopher Nolan's Batman revamp a veritable tilting point for the character once known as the World's Greatest Detective. This paper will analyze why Batman is an important cultural artifact of our day, how he came into being, what he means for society, and how he will be treated in the future.
Upon close observation, one will find that there is a fascinating amount of parallelism between Socrates’ predicament in Plato’s Crito and the daunting, vigilante character of Batman, from the movie The Dark Knight. Both are playing the role of the unsung hero of their respective societies, and both tend to disregard the opinion of the people and follow the moral truth they believe in. But how would Socrates view a hero that circumvents and disrespects laws to do what is supposedly moral? And what would he say about a man who values justice, yet ignores the justice system? In search of an answer for these questions, we will be analyzing Batman’s choices, lifestyle, relationships, and interactions through the lens of Socrates’ calculated thoughts as found in the Crito.
Watchmen is a revolutionary piece of literature. It is technically a comic book, some prefer to call it a graphic novel. There is a negative connotation that goes along with that. Graphic novels are frequently presumed too childish and fantastic to actually teach any insightful lessons or even make you ponder them at all. Watchmen is a graphic novel that transcends this undue criticism of comic books. It is, “One of the first instances ... of [a] new kind of comic book ... a first phase of development, the transition of the superhero from fantasy to literature." (Klock, pgs. 25-26)
One of the most controversial topics involving the NCAA and college sports is the issue of student athlete compensation. Proponents of paying college athletes say that the student athletes who participate in basketball and football bring in large revenues for their universities, the NCAA, and the networks broadcasting games. Student athletes should not be compensated because most universities do not gain revenue from college athletics, they are being educated, not exploited, and athletes are treated like campus royalty and have far more perks than everyone else. First of all, student-athletes should not be paid because not all universities make a profit from college athletics.
Batman contradicts his morals while he is fighting the mutant leader and when he is about to shoot him he stops himself with “though that means crossing a line I drew for myself thirty years ago”. While Batman did not kill the mutant leader, earlier on Batman shoots a mutant grunt with a machine gun and faded blood is splattered behind the criminal holding a baby captive (Miller, 64). Later on in the novel Batman says to the joker “a gun is a coward’s weapon, a liars weapon” (Miller, 149). Batman has power to stick to his morals, to take on the evil of Gotham City, and to make the decision to deliver justice no matter whose side of the law he is. However, in the novel he has clearly stated that killing someone crosses his morals and that he despises guns yet he uses them to kill criminals. Batman crosses his golden rule of not killing criminals and shows that he will go above his own moral code of justice.
“ The newspapers call me a crimefighter, so the Pentagon says I must fight crime.” (Moore and Gibbons 4:14) Doctor Manhattan was put into the category of a crimefighter but this does not necessarily mean he is a superhero. This is another difference between Doctor Manhattan and Superman. Superman’s way of thinking is that he needs to help everyone and try save everyone from everything bad. Doctor Manhattan does not think this way, he may know what is going to happen because of his perception of time but he knows that if he does this one thing, that eventually something else will cause a butterfly effect. “Manhattan pushes the idea of fate being set in stone.”(Wu) They each have different morals and the great thing about Watchmen is that there is no clear protagonist or
If criminals are not immediate threats, they 'll be let go. Beowulf follows a similar code. He says to Unferth, “You murdered your brothers, Your own close kin. Words and bright wit/ Won’t help your soul.” (320-323.) Beowulf would not harm anyone unless they would harm innocents. They are also both committed to battling corruption. Beowulf travels many miles from home to aid Hrothgar and fight Grendel. Beowulf knows his heroic duty calls him to protect the people of Daneland, even if they aren 't his. Batman feels it’s his responsibility to fight evil in Gotham. He battles criminals regularly and ultimately ends the Joker 's reign. Batman is not threatened by these enemies, but the people of Gotham are, and thus he fights for them. Batman and Beowulf bear the burden of heroic responsibility well.
In the world of superheroes, there are numerous that believe they are heroes, while in actuality, they are merely vigilantes. This is demonstrated throughout the world of superheroes, but it is not as prominently demonstrated as in Batman. Batman presents himself as a hero, while he is only an over imaginative vigilante. He is more a vigilante than a hero since he has the ability to stop crime, but doesn’t, he only does deeds for his own benefit, and he helps the law but isn’t part of it. These are only a few ways Batman is a vigilante, rather than a hero. These are mainly based upon the idea of him trying to right his own past.
Some wonder if or why it is important to be a hero. Others don’t think that heroes are important at all. Why would it be important to be a hero? A hero, in today’s society, is someone that simply saves another person’s life. The “hero” doesn’t have to have an enormous amount of strength or ability. When a situation occurs where a life needs to be saved, there isn’t always an enormous amount of danger involved. Heroes show the rest of the world how to help others. Heroes also display what can be done in an emergency situation. Heroes are important because they provide everyone with good examples of morals that are lacked in present day society. Each minute of everyday, the morality of our country is reduced. Heroes show us all that there are still good people
Batman’s character is based on his will to fight for justice. Batman relates to the modern law through the unique ways in which he uses his intellectual abilities to reason. His reasoning provides insight about ‘true justice’ by operating externally to