Getting to the Heart of Batman's Character

Warning: The following contains spoilers for Batman stuff.

The character of Batman has been around for over 80 years. Various artists and filmmakers have created different versions of the character with different personality traits and story lines.

The most recent film renditions of Batman have failed to portray elements of his character that are displayed in the comics. There are two main components to Batman's character that are often poorly represented but greatly impact who he is as a person and as a hero.

1. His relationships with other people
2. His moral convictions

Contrary to popular belief, Batman is not a loner. Sure, he pretends to be one. "Look at me. I wear black, and I'm dark and brooding." In truth, Batman brings together teams of people and has trained more heroes than most members of the DC universe. His team is called the Bat Family for a reason.

Arguably, the Dark Knight Trilogy with Christian Bale's Batman comes the closest to showing how Batman interacts with others and his personal convictions. He is able to ask for help from people like Catwoman and Commissioner Gordon. However, I did not love the Alfred/Bruce dynamic in the Dark Knight Rises. His moral convictions are shown through his actions, like how he chooses not to kill the Joker.

But the films still gloss over Batman's team dynamics by completely leaving out Robin and other similar characters. (Unless you count the Blake story line, which I don't count.) Rather, Batman is portrayed as someone who is alone and pushes other people away until he is able to put away the cowl.

Ben Affleck's Batman degrades the character by giving him a persona of "I am a law unto myself, and I can do whatever I want." Batman killing people or branding them before they go to prison? Yeah, that's pretty dark, especially when you consider the Batman that has been developed over years of comic book history. It did not feel right.

In Batman V Superman, Robin is already dead, brutally murdered at the hands of the Joker. And apparently in this film version, it was Dick Grayson's Robin rather than Jason Todd, dashing hopes for appearances of Nightwing and Red Hood alike in the Ben Affleck universe.

I'm not sure how to feel about Robert Pattinson's Batman, but I remain optimistic and skeptical.

The importance of the Batman and Robin team dynamic

The ethics of Batman recruiting underage partners aside, the Batman and Robin dynamic shows Batman's need for help and his ability to train and mentor others. Batman feels the pain of other people and seeks to help them.

This is why he ends up fostering and later adopting Richard Grayson after the death of Grayson's parents. (Yes, Batman trivia night, he does actually adopt him later on but is initially only his foster parent.) He similarly helps Jason Todd, Tim Drake, and his biological son, Damien.

Batman's history with the Robins shows his compassionate side and the difficulty he has in forming friendships, something that is missed when the character of Robin is removed from the films.

Batman is the kind of person who sees other people's pain and works to alleviate it. He sees the orphan and adopts him. He sees a city overrun with crime and fights to stop it. But he has a hard time verbally expressing his emotions. He's not the kind of person who would say "thank you." But he is the kind of hero who would give his life to save Robin's in a heartbeat.

Under the Red Hood: Who Batman is

Up front, I do want to note that Batman: Under the Red Hood has disturbing elements and some dark and twisted components to it. At the same time, it's one of those films you need to watch at least once.

If you want to understand years of Batman character development...

If you want to understand the struggle Batman faces between guilt, the people he loves, and his moral standards...

If you want to understand how Robin influences the character of Batman...

This is the film to watch.

It's an animated film that captures Batman's struggle with past failure to protect those closest to him and this colliding with his moral convictions.

It centers around the story of Jason Todd, his brutal death at the hands of the Joker, and his return from the dead. Jason was once Robin, and Batman had to live with the guilt of not being able to save him.

On the lighthearted side, the film shows the playful dynamic between Nightwing (the first Robin) and Batman. Nightwing is a strong character who is able to see that Batman needs help even when he won't ask for it. Batman trusts Nightwing and is able to open up to him when he starts to track down the Red Hood.

When Batman finds out that Jason Todd is the Red Hood, Batman is both intrigued and desperate to stop Jason from hurting anyone else. (Jason's tactics in the fight against crime are quite brutal.)

In the final showdown, Jason demands an explanation from Batman for why the Joker is still alive. Jason holds a gun to Batman and explains that if it had been the other way around, if the Joker had killed Batman, he wouldn't have stopped until the Joker was dead. Throughout the scene, there is minor comic relief from a kidnapped Joker offering snarky commentary, but it somehow makes the scene more powerful.

We see Jason struggling through feelings of betrayal and not feeling loved. While there was a time in his life when Batman was like a father to him, Jason sees the Joker still breathing as a sign that Batman doesn't care about him.

He asks, "What, your moral code just won't allow for that? It's too hard to cross that line?"

But Batman replies:

No. It'd be too damned easy. All I've ever wanted to do is kill him. A day doesn't go by I don't think about subjecting him to every horrendous torture he's dealt out to others and then end him. But if I do that...if I allow myself to go down into that place, I'll never come back.

We see Batman make a choice to stay true to his moral convictions, even though he loves Jason. It's a stirring scene because we see the struggle Batman has to not cross certain lines. He admits his own desire to kill the Joker and admits his own moral frailty. It's a moment where he doesn't pretend he's better than anyone else.

You want to talk about films that make me cry? This one. Totally this one.

Jason then creates a scenario where Batman will either be forced to kill the Joker or kill Jason to stop Jason from killing the Joker. Batman finds another way, but the entire room is laced with explosives.

Batman has seconds to make a choice: save the Joker or save Jason. And when it comes down to that choice, he chooses Jason in a heartbeat.

And this is the glimmer of hope, that one day Batman and the Red Hood will be able to work together and resolve the wedge between them. And we see Batman's strength as he stands true to his moral convictions, even when it comes to the people he would die to protect.

Hope for the future

There is an abundance of source material for filmmakers to delve into when it comes to Batman if they would be willing to open up the history between Batman and those who have served as Robin.

And it's annoying when they ignore it and simply say "We can't have Robin in this film." And maybe that's over concerns of making Batman into a more lighthearted character and losing some of his "Dark Knight" appeal.

But it is somehow a bad thing to add in an element of hope to Batman's character? When Tim Drake assumed the role of Robin in the comics, he insisted that Batman needed a Robin to give him hope. And this is an acknowledgement that when the character of Robin is taken away, Batman is free to go down dark paths and risks losing his ability to be a strong and moral hero.

But when the character is added back in, multiple possibilities open back up. And not all of them take on a jovial tone, as seen with Under the Red Hood. But Robin allows for elements of Batman's character to shine through and for the exploration of his imperfections in a light that a solo film cannot achieve.

So, my hope remains that Robert Pattinson's Batman will open up new opportunities and allow filmmakers to capitalize on characters that other Batman films have thrown out. Because these characters make Batman better.

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