Between the Hero and the Shadow: Developmental Differences in Adolescents’ Perceptions and Understanding of Mythic Themes in Film

This academic paper has an interesting literature review section about popular culture, myth, and Batman:

The Role of Myth in Popular Culture

Myth and religion prepare people for moments of trial by cultivating fundamental attitudes toward existence. Myth outlines the taboos of a civilization, such as “thou shalt not kill”; the punishments for violence against others, such as “an eye for an eye”; and the circumstances under which violence may be acceptable, such as self-defense or the protection of others from tyranny (Bataille 1986).

The mythic hero’s journey is compelling because it dramatizes the struggles that all people must face: that of choosing the right path of justice over the dark path of revenge (Kotler and Calvert 2003). The hero’s story often teaches a social lesson about how we should act and what we should aspire to when faced with adversity in our own lives. Power and nurturance are two qualities of effective models (Bandura 1997)—qualities that many heroes possess.

The Myth of Batman

Among the contemporary myths of American culture, superheroes like Batman are popular (Pecora 1992; Terrill 1993), in part due to the universality of the themes they portray: the struggle of good versus evil, between restraint and anger, between justice and revenge. Bruce Wayne’s struggle and triumph to heroism is born in the traumatic murder of his parents. Because of these events, Batman, Wayne’s alter ego, has the potential to be evil, to become dark and sinister if he succumbs to revenge even as he fights for justice. He finds integration when he finds acceptance by others, particularly by thewoman he loves. The story of the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne is essential to the myth of Batman. In most accounts, Batman is born from the vow of Bruce Wayne to avenge the senseless killing of his parents. In Batman Forever, a careful account is given for each of the main heroes and villains: the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents; the murder (we witness) of Dick Grayson’s family; the disfigurement of Harvey Dent by a mobster. In the case of nearly every main hero or villain, an alter ego is born of the trauma, driven by revenge and hate, to a life of either good or evil.

Few cultural texts so blatantly confound good and evil polarities as Batman Forever. In Batman Forever, violence is the modus operandi for traumatized heroes and villains, and the line between good and evil is drawn on razor-thin distinctions of degree and implied intention (e.g., for what reasons is the character employing violence?). Batman is just as violent as many of the villains, but his means are not seen as evil, because he uses aggression only when called upon to stop the violence of another. That both heroes and villains are violent lends itself to complex questions about abstract morality: What degree of justice is acceptable for a victim to pursue against the villain? When is violence justified? Is it possible to be totally good or totally evil?

URL - http://cdmc.georgetown.edu/papers/between_the_hero_and_the_shadow.pdf