A Flawed Fictional Comparison?

In the Wall Street Journal piece comparing Batman to Bush I can see where the author might conceptualize the two being connected and showing how wonderful the movie did in the theaters with what he saw as “right wing” values compared with the movies he sees as “left wing” but when looking closer at such a comparison many flaws become apparent. The need to compare a comic book character with a real life person can be troublesome, Batman invented in the 1930’s and his continuum ever since show a man fighting crime in a mask to protect his loved ones but also the system was too corrupt from the inside so he had to step out and do things his way. Bush is the system he is the president all authority begins and ends with him, for the most part. I fail to see the comparison looking at the two men from that perspective, if we widen it though to say the United Nations the world agreed with the invasion in Afghanistan many nations pledged troops and supplies. When it comes to Iraq, those comparisons do arrive for the most part because France was a major player in saying No to the invasion. The proof was given later that France and Iraq had strong diplomatic ties as well as economic with almost everything in Saddam’s palace originating from France. This is the only connection I can make for the call to step out of the system. The call to step out of the system can easily grow to a problem because there is nothing to keep you in check, because power corrupts. With Batman his super-power is control, he has one absolute rule and Joker did not fail to see it or call it in question, Batman lives his life by rules so he does not become corrupted by his other persona. We see today that many liberties were trampled on during the Bush years and that power might have tainted some of his administration. Batman and Bush while fighting for what they believe have had both highs and lows shown in the movie, popularity is fickle and the John Q public will question things the longer they go on. While it is important to finish what you start conversely Batman is not up for re-election this is his career, Bush can only be in office for eight years. While I do agree with Mr. Klavan’s opinion with what he calls “left-wing” movies looking at the list they were all wildly unpopular to the public none of them scoring a lot of money, it illustrates a disconnect. Batman in my opinion is not a right-wing movie; the director said in an interview it was not political. Comic books do allow writers to tell a story I agree but few writers take such an abrupt political tone. Making tough choices is not a labor simply shared with the right it is a labor both parties deal with. I agree also that freedom is not free and defending those rights takes sacrifice Batman showed it and Bush did as well from time to time. The trapping that people can fall into when discussing comic book characters and real life people is that they live in different worlds, the real world is more complex yes but the values are still shared between them. I can see where he Mr. Klavan can draw similarities but for the most part his piece stretches a lot of reality.

Robert Foster