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We All Love the City of Gotham

Six Reasons Why

By Tales from a MadmanPublished 3 years ago Updated 3 years ago 10 min read
6
Gotham City as seen in Arkham Knight (2015)

If you’re reading this, then you probably already know of the vast array of characters to have spawned in the city of Gotham; the epic madmen like the Joker, Riddler, Two-Face, etc., even including the Batman. I’m not here to talk about them, but instead the city that makes them possible and why we love it so much. So, tighten your utility belt and get ready for a stroll through the mean streets of Gotham.

Arkham Asylum

Arkham Asylum in Batman vol. 3, #9 (December 2016). Art by Mikel Janín

First, let’s get right into the mysterious mansion turned insane asylum. Anyone who has ever been through the gates knows the air is different right on the other side. The grounds themselves bear striking gothic statues and architecture. Setting the mood for doom and gloom (like its Lovecraftian namesake), not for recovery. Whether the storyteller using the asylum focuses on the cursed grounds, the hauntings of the Arkham family, or plain old human corruption, one thing’s for sure. Arkham Asylum is ineffective.

The founding of Arkham Asylum is tied to the madness experienced by Elizabeth Arkham. Her son, Amadeus Arkham, converted the family mansion into an asylum to help those afflicted with conditions of the mind. Of course, then in the ‘20s the best doctors in the bustling metropolis of Gotham lacked the knowledge of the brain we have today. Making Arkham one of the leading centers for experimental practices. These extreme and often brutal methods were crazier than the poor people they were being performed on. Eventually, Amadeus too lost his sanity somewhere in the asylum.

As time has gone on, Arkham has always been on the forefront of experimental treatment for the criminally insane. So, of course, it’s the perfect place to house the unorthodox criminals produced by Gotham city. It is therefore also the perfect place for mad scientists to try their hand at curing the ill or to test their chemical concoctions on the discarded inmates trapped in their web, ala Dr. Jonathan Crane or Hugo Strange. This leads to what some refer to as Arkham’s revolving door, but it’s more like a pit-stop.

A person is sent to Arkham in a state of mind that is only going to be shattered further during their stay. Sometimes even turning a doctor into a patient, like Harley Quinn. This breeding ground of mental and emotional decay produces the perfect fuel for the fires of madness burning in Gotham and the perfect backdrop for a tale about our own psyche and how it is corrupted by the world around it.

Corruption

Batman Returns Movie Adaptation (June 1992)

It is often the whole city government. The mayor’s office can often be found to be taking bribes or conspiring with the same people the GCPD is pursuing for felonies. It seems the whole city can be corrupted, right down to city inspectors who can make anything look legal. Shipments signed off on without so much as opening the container, permits rushed under shady circumstances, and many other offenses are hidden right in plain sight. This isn’t only for your organized crime organizations, either. Business leaders like Max Shreck and Derek Powers often held more power than any government.

At least that’s it. No one else to corrupt after all that, right? Wrong. This is just the tip of the Iceberg Lounge. Hidden behind all this surface level corruption lies a deeper rot. Gotham city’s founding was rooted in secrets. The Illuminati-like secret society known as The Court of Owls have been pulling the strings of Gotham all along. Making it impossible for you to trust anyone because their Talons could be anywhere.

The endless secrets and lies that fill Gotham force us to stay on our toes. Always we must be on the lookout for scandal and deception. Never knowing who to trust keeps us, the audience, in the dark. Which is why we’d visit Gotham in the first place, because it’s always dark, even in the sun.

Moral Ambiguity

Gotham City Sirens #14 (July 2010) Cover art by Guillem March

Despite all the corruption, Gotham is a city of greys. It is not simply black-and-white, but a blur in between. Many of those taking bribes and consorting with criminals are just trying to put food on the table or care for a sick loved one. Even in Batman’s rogues gallery we see this kind of moral ambiguity. Mr. Freeze is trying to save his wife, but at any cost. Ra’s al Ghul feels the same way about humanity and Poison Ivy feels the same of nature. Each one has admirable goals, but most would argue they don’t justify their means.

Meanwhile, we have characters like Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and the Red Hood who all walk on both sides of good and evil depending on the circumstances. In Harley’s case the circumstances are a little less predictable. Then there’s the Batman, who works outside the law. With exceptions, of course, but these exceptions further my point. The law cannot condone Batman, for his actions are criminal. He illegally gathers evidence, uses force to get confessions, and is remarkably violent. Though he does not kill, he sure does cripple and maim. Things you can’t do, even if you’re the police.

So, a city centered around such a persona wears this moral greyness like a badge. Any officer who looks up to Batman or works with him sees weakness in the law. The rest are likely dirty or unwilling to admit how bad Gotham truly is, leaving the GCPD a murky grey puddle instead of the blue wall it should be. Arkham Asylum mirrors this, as well. Doctors from all over the world come to the asylum to help, but they are hardened by their time there. Many lose their compassion and empathy along with their years wasted on dead ends with super-intelligent patients.

One character sums up Gotham’s moral ambiguity best. I refer, of course, to the DA who crossed the line, Harvey Dent. It is easy to sympathize with Harvey and many of the other rogues I mentioned earlier, but Harvey’s tale, however told, is that of the pavement on the road to hell. Regardless of whichever was split in two first, his mind or his face, we get to see how Gotham blurs the line between right and wrong.

Surrealism

Joker (2019 film) portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix

Because that’s what Gotham is, a blur. It is a blur between reality and fiction. Though it is most associated with mediums and genres that take on profound out-of-this-world adventures, Gotham manages to stay somewhat grounded. Most of our characters have likely enough origins. Especially, if you take stock in Joker’s theory that it only takes one bad day. Gotham has a lot of bad days, but you don’t have to suspend too much disbelief to follow them. Surrealism replaces the unrealism you might expect.

Instead of superpowers, it is psychoses that make up Gotham’s gallery of rogues. Narcissists, megalomaniacs, schizophrenics, and more all take their turn controlling the city. Usually, through means that seem quite plausible. This keeps us on the edge of our seat eagerly anticipating the next new revelation to cause paranoia in our own life.

Gotham city is our world in a funhouse mirror. You still see your own reflection but warped in some way. You can glance in the mirror and see the piece of you in Batman wanting to right all the wrongs, but you can also see yourself in the Joker wanting to let go and do whatever you want. Gotham gives us even more than that. Unlike other fictional places, where your heroes and your villains are so far from reality the characters and themes in Gotham feel almost in reach for all of us. Would you be hero or villain?

Media and entertainment have long been used by society as an escape from our mundane lives. Gotham city is an escape that makes you appreciate home. The subtleties of our life seem so much brighter when we look at how close to madness the world could be. The closer we look, the more depth there is.

Depth

Batman Begins (2005 Film)

Depth can mean a lot of things in fiction, the depth of your lore, your characters, your history, your plot, etc. Gotham has been around for a long time both in the stories and in the stores. Giving it plenty of time to grow from its foundations into a bustling cityscape with a plethora of tales to emerge from within.

That said, each character has played their part in crafting the history of the city and vice versa. The bubbling stew of societal decay and madness boils over onto countless pages, both canon and not. If there is a detail about a character you need to know, it’s out there somewhere and it probably ties into someone else’s story.

To the untrained eye, Gotham’s tales would look like a spider’s web connecting points in time and points on a map to one another and to the characters who inhabit it. It is actually a broken window. Not simply points connecting, but lines and ripples created by an epicenter and we’re looking through it. It isn’t dots connected to each other, but lines in motion across the canvas.

There's always another trail to follow, a clue to notice, or a mystery to solve. Gotham is a mystery spanning hundreds of thousands of pages, episodes, movies, etc. It would take lifetimes to know everything, and the tales would keep growing the whole time.

Adaptability

Hi Diddle Riddle (January 1966)

Much as the city’s history has changed and grown over years, so has the city itself. Gotham has been adapted to fit every possible medium and countless genres and styles. Many of which exclude the Dark Knight. Tales have been told of Gotham before and Gotham after Batman. Most people today see Gotham as the gloomy basement of a city portrayed in Hollywood since the early 2000s.

But Gotham has worn many faces. We can look back to the 1960s and the late-great Adam West with the colorful sights and sounds of the time. The sun shone on the open-top Batmobile and the morally upright, if somewhat dim-witted Gotham police department. And who could forget Gotham Observatory being held up to the sky by a giant statue in Batman and Robin circa 1997. Completely impractical, but who cared? Nobody, Gotham was rich, decadent and we loved it.

Lesser known may be the tales of Jonah Hex and Amadeus Arkham in western-style Gotham city or the deadly streets of Gotham by Gaslight, but these tales among many others represent the ability Gotham possesses to host a story while still being Gotham. You never lose the feel of the city. Cold, dark, and alone, even in the colorful ‘60s series the villains were still a sinister presence with a maniacal deathtrap for our Dynamic Duo.

Whatever it is we seek as an audience, we can find it in Gotham city. Diversity, versatility, and adaptability allow Gotham to be the setting for any variety of tale. Where else can you find that? You may ask. Well, in another Gotham in another multiverse.

Gotham City in LEGO Batman: The Video Game (2008)

I hope you’ve enjoyed my opinions. If not, sorry, but I’m glad you made it all the way here anyway. Either way if you’re looking for something new to read, stream or otherwise be entertained by then grab something set in the glorious city of Gotham.

Or you can subscribe to me on Vocal.

If you’re inclined to share your opinion with me, please do on Facebook @TalesfromaMadman

Be sure to click the heart before you go and thanks for reading.

Good Fortune to You

superheroes
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About the Creator

Tales from a Madman

@TalesFromAMadman

.. the figure in question had out-Heroded Herod, and gone beyond the bounds of even the Prince's indefinite decorum.

The Masque of the Red Death

Edgar Allan Poe

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