To say that this freedom is "situated" is to acknowledge that we're all born into a world already brimming with buildings, ideology, poems, commerce, dental hygienists, mythology, bacteria, and hats."

I finished Batman and Philosophy but don't feel clever enough to write about it. It did turn out to be more of a book about Batman than a book about philosophy, but I'm not disappointed. Even though I meant it as a joke, my favorite chapters really did turn out to the be the ones comparing Batman and Superman.

Think about it like this: Superman is a demigod trying to earn people's trust. As such, in his dealings with the public, he has to downplay his distance from them. Therefore, he acts like the Boy Scout, and everyone (with a few notable exceptions) loves him. Batman, on the other hand, is an ordinary human trying to do extraordinary things. He has to create a myth around himself that serves as part of his armor. ... Batman must likewise distance himself from the citizens he protects. It's not enough for criminals to find Batman mysterious -- everyone has to, or the jig is up. Naturally, this creates a lonely, isolated life that is in large part self-imposed.

They had chapters on who is better and on how each of them views friendship (Superman along Aristotelian lines and Batman more like Nietzsche). There was a great argument that Batman is the better "superhero" because he knowingly puts himself into danger and potential death with every deed whereas Superman goes into things knowing he is impervious and unlikely to die; therefore, Batman exhibits greater bravery, and bravery is "superhero trait."

Furthermore, Superman can depend too much on his powers and not on ingenuity. He can underestimate people because he is so much more powerful than others, and he never uses all his strength or abilities against someone because he would do more damage than needed. (My bad summary.) Anyway, the point is Superman would hold back and Batman would not. Also, Superman wouldn't want to hurt a friend, but Batman could (they say). Consequently, in a fight Batman would win. This amused me, because I know people can come to blows over this type of Hero1 versus Hero2 discussions.

There was also a neat Tao-esque chapter discussing, among other things, the effect of Batman's shadow. As Lao-Tzu wrote, "The use of the pot is precisely where there is nothing. When you open doors or windows for a room, it is where there is nothing that they are most useful to the room." Nothingness can be more important than substance, which Bruce uses to "strike fear into the hearts of criminals," as he likes to say (endlessly, I'm afraid).

Hey - For those of you who have seen the new Batman movie ( I have a question )

Anyway, for the last few weeks I've seen a bunch of these types of icons. When Raven made one, too, I decided to jump on the bandwagon. Wheeee!



EDIT - BTW, Alan Cumming hosts Mystery! now :) :) :) Yippie!

and others who like batman, of course. found it in a comment to nostalgia_lj whose posts are incredibly brilliant. nos is is teh clever and i want to be her. in fact, below the link i will recopy her post to promote her brilliance because despite the fact that there are already 76 comments in response none of my friends will probably see/read it and many of them should especially after the movie we saw yesterday and all the buffy episodes we watched last night.

anyway...the batman comic -
http://www.shortpacked.com/comics/20070205vigilante.png


and now taken from: http://nostalgia-lj.livejournal.com/1242220.html
but go to it because she has a cool icon there, too...
Angsty Manpain
My thoughts on watching Constantine are that it shouldn't work but it does. Also that, for reals, put Angel, Constantine, Batman and Ten in a room and make them argue about who has the most manpain.

"Fuck you, bitch, I was in Hell!"
"Well, me too and I can't die and if I have sex I go evil (though whether this in fact still applies is open to some argument)!"
"I can't die and I killed all my own people!"
"I have the powers of a bat!"

And then Jackie Tyler gives them all a good slap, because Angsty Manpain is all very well but it contributes almost nothing to promoting social responsibility for the far more common plight of single parents living in government housing with no hope of getting past the borderline of poverty while everyone mocks their tracksuits and pretends that it's perfectly okay to act as though there were no social conditions involved in the whole thing that the message isn't that a working-class woman is only worthwhile if she marries a rich playboy and conforms to middle-class cultural expectations while remaining undereducated and forced to rely on nepotism for her extremely limited career options.

See, kids, "I'm eighteen quid a week better off" is a sign of evil and greed and laziness, whereas "lols, I own a city and occasionally cause massive death and trauma to innocent people simply by living there" is what makes a man a hero. Yah, bitches, Jackie Tyler > Everyone. Including Batman. "Hey, let's mock your mother's sexual freedom and pretend it's not rooted in feeling unwanted and underappreciated."

YAH I HAVE ISSUES.


back to being me - see i never think up this stuff. i'm all "look, a pony! i like shoes. does anyone have a cracker? hey, what's this button do?" socially relavent issues in DW? nah! i'm just happy he wears converse hightops. lalalalalalala tralalalalalala penguins.