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A rich guy dressing up in body armor and going around beating up poor people to fight systemic corruption is the most believable part of the whole Batman franchise. In his original incarnation he had a gun too.
Always mildly annoyed by this type of meme.
First and foremost: Gotham is fucked. Like… really fucked. Evil secret societies run the place, the water supply is very likely poisoned in various ways, both conventionally and naturally, there’s ancient evils buried under the city that have been corrupting it for centuries, a portal to hell in the asylum. We can say “Oh surely a food bank would help” and Wayne absolutely does do that via foundations in both of his parents names… but all the shit to erase systemic poverty in the world can exist and The Joker, Zsasz, Mr. Pyg, The Court of Owls, Solomon Grundy, and the like are still going to be doing their shit (Not to mention big alien threats like Darkseid.). Likely most of his villains would still be on their grind except maybe Mr. Freeze who actually could have his problems solved by money.
Secondly: You gotta suspend disbelief. Make Superman a transitional power source and no one is gonna read it anymore, even if it would be ‘realistic’. Any number of heroes could readily solve a number of the worlds issues. Why doesn’t Iron Man put Arc reactors everywhere to power the world on clean energy? How come Storm doesn’t get rid of every hurricane before it starts? Why doesn’t Ice Man freeze up the poles and cool the planet down? The Flash could instantly deliver supplies to places in need. It’s realistic, but it’s boring, and boring doesn’t sell comics. Okay, maybe Ruins but that couldn’t be like… a whole series.
I think they did a comic where Iron Man did exactly that, but it ended with him going mad with power.
The problem with Super Heroes is that if Reed Richards isn’t useless, you don’t have a comic anymore.
For those who don’t know what I mean…
Super Geniuses are really good at coming up with cures for “Anicent Polymorphic Diseases created by an Alien Civilization that threatens to turn us all into robot slaves!” that “Work like no bacteria ever before seen under a microscope.”, usually having a 100% cure rate by the end of the storyline, it might take a while… like 5 issues spanning over three weeks in-universe
Cancer has them completely stumped and the best they can do for you is to show up in costume when you use your make-a-wish foundation favor to meet Spider-Man.
In Batman begins, the issue is corruption.
Everyone knows Falcone is guilty but no one has the legal ability to arrest him.
So Bruce Wayne becomes a vigilante in a more Luigi kind of way in which he is willing to risk things cause he has the tools to do it right.
The whole point of Batman is doing all he can with his resources, even if that means breaking the law.
But yeah, we know today that the most effective thing he can do is not even charity, but pay for lobbying
It’s a feature in all superhero media. They don’t touch the status quo, or the systems we live in. It’s always the fault of a few rotten apples and they’re taken care of. Normal people don’t need to apply, it’s up to a few people with special power to fix it. And in reality, people with money see themselves as more special and empowered than normal people.
Here’s a Tumblr post about how different versions of Bruce Wayne (comic books, animated series, etc.) have donated huge sums of money to charities and other improvements to Gotham City.
Meh. Only suckers give a shit about the “generosity” of billionaires. Tax them. Tax them down to millionaire status. Why should they dictate what programs get funded? It’s never worked before… it’s not suddenly going to start now.
I mean, your own tumblr link is proof of that. After all, Gotham’s still a crime ridden shithole, isn’t it? Clearly Bruce Wayne doesn’t know what Gotham actually needs.
So you think removing the main plot device is the way to go for Batman stories?
Not necessarily disagreeing with you in the real world. But what do you expect from fiction?
At the end of the day it’s all propaganda. Yes, I think the best version of propaganda about how to deal with the wealthy would do this, and show how it’s more effective. I don’t think creating media about how we should rely on billionaires to solve our problems out of their own good will is a good idea.
It’s funny that in Judge Dredd the city changes as the story goes on, with political change, without waiting for Dredd to change things.
