KMC Forums - Batman 3 Discussion Thread

quote: (post)
Originally posted by roughrider
I can't believe you used the word 'selfish' to describe Bruce WayneDid you think Bruce Wayne was being selfish in the beginning of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, being retired for ten years when he was still physically capable?

Bruce let himself be the fall guy for Harvey's Dent's crimes, and by keeping him clean the Dent act got passed and huge numbers of criminals were forcibly kept in jail. Plus he was broken somewhat in body & spirit (due to Rachel's death) and came to see Batman may not be needed for Gotham any more; until the arrival of Bane and his plan to devastate the city.

No one elected Bruce to become Batman; it was something he chose for himself. So you can't say he selfishly shirked his duty by walking away for as long as he did. He didn't blame Selina Kyle for her help in losing his fortune, or for helping him get busted and broken by Bane; he understood why she did it and forgave her, feeling there was more to her. Not the actions of a selfish man; nor was coming back to Gotham after being isolated in that prison for months, or arranging for so much of his private fortune & property to go to charities after his 'death.'

I tend to agree that Bruce did at times act selfishly as Batman.
I mean the driving force was the senseless death of his parents in front of him, as a child, by a petty thief. Yet throughout the entire trilogy, we only see Bruce don the mask to tackle organised crime syndicates. Never once do we see Batman prowling the streets at night tackling would-be muggers & rapists or drug dealers for that matter. Never once do we see him try & stop senseless violence that made him in the first place.

As for Bruce being the fall-guy for Harvey Dent's crimes....refresh my mind, but I can't quite recall what his crime (or crimes) were?
All I remember is that Harvey escapes the hospital & then kidnaps Gordon's son...did he kill or commit any other crimes prior to the kidnapping?
I'm not saying that kidnapping a child is a minor (no pun intended) crime but it was simply a situation that Batman & Gordon could've kept privately to themselves...you see Batman running off at the end of TDK with the cops coming but no where do you see Gordon & Batman composing an alibi to protect the "good name" of Harvey.It was entirely Gordon's idea for Batman to take the fall.

Rachel's death might have been a motive for Batman's retirement BUT that seemed to overshadow the driving force of his parents' deaths in the first place.
It was also stated at the beginning of TDKR that because of the Harvey Act (& Batman's past actions), Gotham no longer suffered from organised crime. So once again for the 8 years of Batman's absence, petty crime is still rampant but of no interest to Batman.

It wasn't Bane that brought Batman out of retirement but more of Bruce's infatuation with Selina...his first task in the Bat cave is to find out about her past & track her down...not find Bane or worry about his intentions.

Clearly stating that Gotham no longer needed Batman, then why not decommission the entire police force as well?

Yeah no one elected Bruce to be Batman...but throughout the trilogy, Bruce DID CHOOSE (selfishly) when to be the caped crusader. There was never the driving force of his parents' senseless deaths that forced him to stop criminals in general.

And yeah he did chose to come back to Gotham & save it but regardless of a ticking time bomb, his first action is to make sure that Selina got his forgiveness & to personally give her a means to escape. Bruce Wayne may not have been a spoilt billionaire but TDKR portrayed Batman's intentions selfish at times.