Blog 9

I chose to watch The Batman 2022 adaptation film, featuring Robert Patterson as Batman/Bruce Wayne. This film follows Batman and his efforts to stop a killer named the Riddler. As the killer wreaks havoc on Gotham City, he leaves behind special clues for Batman that hints to who his next victim will be and what his game plan is. As Batman follows the trail of hints, he finds that the Riddler has a personal vendetta against him and his family. Bruce’s late father donated his ancestral home to be used as an orphanage, where the Riddler lived as a boy. When the funding was taken away due to the murder of Bruce’s parents, the children who lived in the orphanage were forced to endure seriously harsh conditions. The Riddler began to resent Bruce and his wealth and dedicated his time to making him pay. After figuring this out, Batman works to put the Riddler behind bars and undo the damage he’s done to the city. He then sticks around to rebuild Gotham in a way that is less corrupt. The cinematography of the film features very dark hues, making Gotham city look like a sadistic place. There is a lot of ruins and the bright lights are usually used to highlight crime indicating that it is one of the main features of the city. The weather is usually rainy adding to the miserable element of the plot. Batman himself seems to be a very lonely person, usually by himself or with his family butler. He never seems to be happy or to enjoy anything and spends most of his time trying to get justice for the never-ending crime in his city.

The Batman film and the Batman: Ego is similar in the way that is depicts batman as a person who is not very happy but frustrated with the ongoing crime in Gotham City. It also shows the physical and even mental toll that it takes going after the villains and the criminals. In addition, it also features darker hues in the book, similar to the Batman film adaptation. These hues add to the depressing and terror aspect of the story and becomes a Gothic element in both. The difference between the film and the book is the level of terror they have. The film features a lot more death and sadistic events. It also features intertwining mysteries and shows that there is more than one villain, so Batman is fighting a more complex battle. The Batman: Ego reminds me a little bit of the Vampyre in the way that Aubrey and Bruce resemble each other. The weight of trying to save something you love (Aubrey with his sister and Batman with Gotham City) took a toll on them both physically and mentally.

I would say some superheroes have some gothic elements such as mystery and death, but not all of them are fully gothic. For example, Batman I would consider gothic because the stories tend to be darker and do not offer much optimism or brightness. Batman seems to gain only a partial victory and Gotham City never gets better. However, other superheroes like Captain America offer a more wholesome and optimistic take. Steve Rogers seems to always get the job done and looks at the most humane way of doing so. I would not consider Captain America to be gothic at all because even though it does feature mysteries and death it is depicted in a brighter way than Batman.