Is not liking Batman a crime?

[Qtastic]

Batman the character blows. Not liking Batman VILLAINS is a crime.

 

[Korolev]

IT IS A CRIME.

Report to the nearest Re-Bat-Ucation center by noon tomorrow. You will be assessed on your bat-knowledge (or lack thereof) by several bat-experts and assigned to an appropriate bat-labour bat-division. You will be required to write "Batman could beat Superman" several hundred times a day, chant the theme song from the 1960s Batman TV sitcom for a solid hour, then perfect your bat-symbol drawing skills. Speech is allowed only if you speak like Christian Bale in the Christopher Nolan directed Batman films. No clothes will be given - you have to sow your own batsuit by hand. The sooner you do this, the sooner you will be warm, com-bat-rade.

Violation of any of these rules will mean you have to fight Mr. Freeze. Mr. Freeze is 2 by 4 cell where you are showered with ice cold water for an hour. You stand it in and you freeze while guards shout ice-related puns at you non-stop.

Within 5 to 10 years you may be successful re-bat-ucated and learn the true glory of Batman.

 

[Soviet Steve]

The whole premise of the batman story is that society is totally helpless and must depend upon the charity of the wealthy to address its issues. I liked batman for the coolness factor in my youth but the political subtext is tainting it.

 

[FalloutJack]

It's not a crime, and Batman won't beat you up for saying so. It isn't a popular opinion, but it's hardly a crime.

 

[shootthebandit]

Batman himself is boring but the batman villians are really cool

 

[blackrave]

The thing you overlook is that there is one thing that scares Batman. One thing that terrifies him.

And that is becoming like his enemies. He's afraid that if he kills a villain, that the next time a villain shows up, he'll go "why even bother with second chances? It never seems to work." and kill him. And then next time "Ok, this guy is dangerously close to becoming a villain. Better nip this in the bud before he kills anyone. DEAD". And then "this person is enabling a bad guy. DEAD". And then he'd let himself fall further and further down the slippery slope until he's essentially a villain himself.

Would this necessarily happen?

No.

I don't even think it's that likely, given how strongly he sticks to his morals. But he's scared shitless of the possibility. So he sticks to his super rigid sense of morality because he's convinced that one slip up will be all that he needs to go over the edge. He'd rather let a hundred people die because he didn't kill someone than kill one person to potentially save a hundred, because he's too scared to take a life himself and deal with the results.

Is he stupid? Maybe. But being scared does that to you.

I think one of the comics dealt with that. They made one where he kills joker and then goes over the edge and goes on a gotham wide manhunt to kill every last villain he's ever fought. And it's apparently not pretty at all...

Captcha: Nut case. Wow, even Captcha agrees. Batman IS insane!

Valid point.
But there are other ways to permanently get rid of villains besides Batman killing villains himself.
One of the most obvious? Tie villain down, drug him if necessary, and drop his neutralized ass to people who have lost friends and loved ones due to this villain.
I don't think any ordinary person would think twice to chop Joker's head off, if his/her spouse/kids/parents/siblings/friends would have died from the hand of Joker.
And what happened to police and prison guards executing especially vile criminals? Hell, few years ago we had a case of serial pedophile/murderer getting arrested and imprisoned. It was his second time, first time he raped under-aged girl. After few months in prison he "committed suicide" (there are rumors that he received "help" from fellow prisoners and prison guards). If Gotham would be THAT corrupt as claimed, such thing would occasionally occur.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

Valid point.
But there are other ways to permanently get rid of villains besides Batman killing villains himself.
One of the most obvious? Tie villain down, drug him if necessary, and drop his neutralized ass to people who have lost friends and loved ones due to this villain.
I don't think any ordinary person would think twice to chop Joker's head off, if his/her spouse/kids/parents/siblings/friends would have died from the hand of Joker.
And what happened to police and prison guards executing especially vile criminals? Hell, few years ago we had a case of serial pedophile/murderer getting arrested and imprisoned. It was his second time, first time he raped under-aged girl. After few months in prison he "committed suicide" (there are rumors that he received "help" from fellow prisoners and prison guards). If Gotham would be THAT corrupt as claimed, such thing would occasionally occur.

My main question is why Gotham hasn't had Joker executed yet. I mean, they don't have the moral straightjacket that Batman has.

 

[Sarah Kerrigan]

Oh no, it's not. I'm not a fan of batman, but I am a fan of Robin, Nightwing, and alot of other characters in the Batman Universe, just not him.

I loved the Arkham Games, though. Sooo its not a crime, no.

 

[SeeIn2D]

I personally never got the whole obsession with Batman either. A lot of those main canon superheroes are to be honest kind of boring. I mean I think they are ridiculously important for the industry and helped it get off the ground, but they're so generic. Batman is just a rich smart guy who could easily do something more interesting with his money and intelligence than make sharp throwing knives shaped like bats. Iron Man is a far more interesting to me just because the powers of the Iron Man suit are much more exciting than the stuff Batman does. Superman as well kind of bores me. His character is necessary. He's basically the quintessential superhero. Super strength, flying, can't really be hurt at all. But he's just that, generic.

So in short no, I don't think it's a crime. I think the whole Batman obsession kind of started because of the ridiculously good Dark Knight, and then flew off the rails. If that movie didn't exist then Batman would not be this huge icon that he is now.

 

[Artina89]

I used to like Batman when I was younger, but then I sort of just stopped caring. It is not a crime to have an opinion, you are entitled to it and express it like everybody else. I for one, have always preferred Iron man over Batman.

 

[stroopwafel]

Strangely Batman was the first 'superhero' I really liked way back as a child and even after superheroes started to bore me to tears it's the only comic book character I continue to like. It's main appeal for me that kept me consistently entertained and interested in Batman is the wild variety of takes on the character. I really dislike the 60's campy version of Batman but always loved the 'dark' Batman popularized by Frank Miller in the '80's. Ofcourse Batman is a fantastical character(and fairly ridiculous on it's own merits) but in the hands of the right creative team is a character that can also deal with a lot of mature subject matter(also thanks in no small part to his fantastic rogues gallery). That's why Batman has been around for so long in so many different versions.

I agree Batman is now mostly (still)popular b/c of The Dark Knight. But it's not just the Christopher Nolan movies; Snyder's run on Batman is really good, the cartoons are great(espescially Year One and The Dark Knight Returns) and the Arkham games are fantastic. Batman is now WB's most popular character so I don't think they'll let him fade into obscurity again anytime soon.

They made one where he kills joker and then goes over the edge and goes on a gotham wide manhunt to kill every last villain he's ever fought. And it's apparently not pretty at all...

Yeah in Crimson Mist one of the Elseworld books Batman is a bloodthirsty vampire completely giving into his bloodlust after killing the joker. It's a fantastic series. Batman as a vampire in a Victorian setting works extremely well. This was by Doug Mounch and Kelley Jones whose overstylized run on Batman was also really good.