When it comes to Batman, there has been an age-old question: is Batman solving the crime in Gotham City or is he causing it? It’s an understandable question. For all of the crime and injustice that Batman battles when he takes on the villains in Gotham City, there are villains who in turn make going after the Dark Knight their entire motivation. It begs the question of whether Batman is helping or hindering, especially when it comes to some of his more vicious rogues and threats.
It’s also a question that DC may have settled once and for all. In Batman: The Long Halloween: The Last Halloween #10, Batman finally addresses the idea of Batman’s role when it comes to Gotham’s crime, but while it’s direct way to both answer the question and close out the final chapter of Jeph Loeb’s saga that began with The Long Halloween, it may not be as definitive an answer as one might hope.
In The Long Halloween: The Last Halloween #10, while Batman is fighting with various rogues, we get an inner monologue from the Dark Knight. Part of that Inner monologue reveals that Jim Gordon had once asked Batman if he thought his “presence in Gotham City attracts these men and women here” — meaning the villains, the rogues, the “freaks”. Batman’s thoughts reveal that “I could not — would not — do anything that would hurt my city. I would die for Gotham.”
For Batman, it’s pretty clear that he does not see himself as a cause of Gotham’s crime. Instead, He makes it clear that his intent and his entire purpose is the opposite. Batman is prepared to die for Gotham City so it follows that he wouldn’t do anything to bring it further suffering than it already endures, including being the reason more crime — and more violent crime at that — takes place. One can take that to the next logical level and assume that Batman also feels like some of his biggest foes are products of the grim nature of Gotham that existed before Batman ever graced the night.
While it’s interesting that Batman is directly addressing the question of his role in Gotham’s crime, his rejection of the idea that he causes problems isn’t exactly definitive or necessarily accurate. It is entirely natural for Batman to not see himself as being part of the problem — and it actually would make sense that he wouldn’t. For Batman to be able to continue his crusade to save Gotham, he has to believe he’s helping not hurting. If Batman thought he was part of the problem, given the trauma he experienced as a child that led him to become Batman in the first place, he would probably not be able to function as a vigilante. It might even cause him swing entirely the other way and be more apathetic to Gotham’s plight. After all, if you see yourself as part of the problem, how can you possible see a solution much less see yourself as part of it?
It is also entirely possible that Batman’s ego may not allow him to consider that what he’s doing and his approach to Gotham City is in some way feeding its issues. It isn’t something that we really like to discuss, but Batman has a bit of an ego. He’s a person who comes from immense privilege and he is a superhero that is frequently among the smartest people in the room. We rarely see him actually own up to being wrong. Batman may not actually see himself as being part of the problem. It might not be possible for him to.
What is most realistic in terms of the entire situation is that Batman isn’t the root cause of the crime and violence in Gotham City, but he’s also at least a partial influence when it comes to some of it. There are, without question, some crimes and villains who do center their exploits around Batman. There are crimes that villains like the Joker, the Riddler, etc. carry out specifically to get Batman’s attention and if there were no Batman, would not happen. But it is also true that the dangers and threats in Gotham City are much larger than Batman’s rogues. The crime families harming the citizens would still exist even if Batman wasn’t part of the landscape and, in the grand scheme of things, Batman is probably doing more good than harm. He’s just got a very uphill battle to fight that will never be easily won.
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