Batman Begins (spoilers)

[Brown10985]

Hi,

Recently I saw the movie Batman Begins and, though I felt the movie was good, I think that there were some ethical problems in the film.
In a scene with Dr.Jonathan Crane, Batman takes lethal gas and sprays it directly into his face causing Crane to go mentally insane. In another scene, Batman is fighting Ducard and, rather than saving him and putting him into a Gothom mental institution, he allows him to plummet to his death.

Did anyone else besides me find these two situations extremely morally pragmatic for a “superhero” to be conducting himself this way?

Thanks

 

[bengal_fan]

when it came to spraying the gas in his face, i didn’t see a problem with that (in a make believe movie world that is…lol) as that was the doctor’s weapon and he didn’t really have the time to take him outside to the police as the police were looking for him and he needed to save his girl. (i can’t believe i am actually taking the time to write about this but…oh well ).
as for ducard, i’m not sure about that situation. on the one hand, he probably could have saved him, but he knew that the man would never stop and that the city was probably safer without him around. i believe there is a difference in actively killing some one and choosing not to save them. ducard put himself in that position with intent to harm and batman left him to his own fate. by the way, i loved the movie. especially the line, “it’s not who i am underneath, but what i do that defines me.” really makes us realize that we can say we believe all we want, but even the demons believe and tremble. faith without deeds is dead.

 

[Stu]

Brown10985:

Hi,

Recently I saw the movie Batman Begins and, though I felt the movie was good, I think that there were some ethical problems in the film.
In a scene with Dr.Jonathan Crane, Batman takes lethal gas and sprays it directly into his face causing Crane to go mentally insane. In another scene, Batman is fighting Ducard and, rather than saving him and putting him into a Gothom mental institution, he allows him to plummet to his death.

Did anyone else besides me find these two situations extremely morally pragmatic for a “superhero” to be conducting himself this way?

Thanks

I have not seen the movie and probably won’t unless I catch it on DVD or something like that. But I thought this movie was supposed to be more in line with the original comic book where Batman is much more of a vigilante cosumed with destroying evil. So much so that he is almost crazy himself.

 

[ShroudMan]

Nope…not at all. I dont go into these type of movies for proper moral resolvement. If they’re there, fine. But I go into them for escapism and to see what what the majority of people wanna see… vengence and justice meted out vigilante style… with a thin veneer of ethics thrown in… If the filmakers can squeeze some morality into that more power to them. BTW… I TOTALLY loved those two scenes…

I aint gonna kill you…but I dont have to save you either…SWEET!

 

[chach995]

I saw the movie with my little brother, the day after it came out…There were 6 people in the theater including us…I guess that’s what I get for watching it on Game Day of NBA Play-offs.

But in general the biggest criticism that I have of the movie was how bad Christian Bale tried to make his voice sound dark when he was wearing the Batman Costume…Did anyone else notice that??

As far as the original reason for this thread…I have to say that he’s right in saying that he can’t kill him (Durac)…but he doesn’t have to save him. It’s a fitting end…

***Rumor alert: Mark Hamel as the Joker in Batman Begins 2? fitting since he did the voice in the animated series…

 

[tkdnick]

I saw the movie and I thought it was the best Batman movie so far. I didn’t see anything morally unacceptable…I wasn’t looking for it. I was looking to be entertained. Mark Hamil could probably do a pretty good job as the Joker, but I don’t think anyone could match Jack Nicholson.

 

[jrabs]

tkdnick:

I saw the movie and I thought it was the best Batman movie so far. I didn’t see anything morally unacceptable…I wasn’t looking for it. I was looking to be entertained. Mark Hamil could probably do a pretty good job as the Joker, but I don’t think anyone could match Jack Nicholson.

I saw it last week and LOVED it. I did not have a problem the those 2 scenes. Don’t forget, Bruce Wayne opted not to kill at the Monastery either - and I thought that was a big moral statement.

My beef??? I did have a problem with tkdNick sitting behind me and tossing popcorn at me the entire time. Popcorn grease is tough to get out of long hair.

 

[wcknight]

At first I too thought it was unusual that the superhero did not leave the criminals for the proper authorities to deal with.

BUT I thought it was entirely appropriate in both situations and quite brilliant that Batman leaves the worst criminals to suffer the consequences of their own murderous intentions.

Plus given that the justice system of Gotham was corrupt, it would not be reliable to leave the bad guys up to the courts, where they could easily subvert the system again.

I also thought Christian Bale went out of his way to make Batman’s voice sound more sinister. But that also worked in the sense that Batman’s identity is a bit more disguised with the deeper voice.

One of Superman’s silliest assumptions is that he is able to “disguise” his alter-ego by merely removing his glasses and putting on a set of tights. What person, who is not totally blind, can not recognize someone who merely puts on glasses.

Even Batman’s 3/4 mask is not quite sufficient a disguise, but altering his voice significantly adds to the idea that just maybe he is not Bruce Wayne. At least it is not so obvious.

This Batman was by far the best of the Batman movies. I just hope the next one is as good or better.