Batman_Begins_Heros_Journey

Batman Begins: The Hero’s Journey Batman Begins is a representation of the classic tale of the hero that was described by Joseph Campbell. Campbell believed that every hero goes through The Hero’s Journey. Campbell wrote that the heroes in every journey share similar mythic adventures and that these adventures all have the same basic elements. He described the hero as the “hero with a thousand faces”, meaning that the story was the same throughout and that the hero could be different thus it was always one task performed by many. In Batman Begins, we view the life of Bruce Wayne as he steps through what Joseph Campbell describes as the “departure”, the “initiation” and the “return”. Each of these major steps of The Hero’s Journey occurs in the film and there are several subsets to each step of the journey that the film captures. I do believe that The Hero’s Journey is incomplete in Batman Begins and that the journey will continue in later adventures. I do not believe that we have touched all subsets in The Hero’s Journey and I will explain each section in greater detail. In the “departure” phase of The Hero’s Journey, our hero is “called to adventure”. Campbell describes this as the point in life when everything is going to change either known or unknown. A young Bruce Wayne, who is the son of a wealthy family whose values are based on using their wealth and success to bridge the gaps of the wealthy and the poor, suddenly has his world turned upside down when both of his parents are murdered by a desperate man. Bruce blames himself for the death of his parents because he had a fear of bats from an earlier childhood incident and asked his parents to leave an opera early because the opera reminded him of that incident. Since Bruce and his parents left the opera early, they crossed paths with a man who was desperate for money and Bruce’s father, who did not believe in violence and believed that everyone could be helped, chose not to defend their family resulting in the immediate death of Bruce’s father and mother. Campbell’s “departure” continues with another subset called “refusal of the call” where the hero refused to heed a duty for a variety of reasons. I believe that Bruce refuses to accept his role to take on his father’s company, missions and accept the family home because he fears that the death of his father was his fault. Bruce has an overall fear of fear and found it easier to be consumed by anger that to stand for what his parents really believed in. All Bruce wanted was revenge for the death of his parents and punishment of the murderer. Although the film goes in a slightly different sequence, I believe that Bruce enters what Campbell describes as “the belly of the whale.” This is represented by the final separation from the hero’s known world and self and is described as a person’s lowest point. As Bruce grows up, the murderer of his father is released from prison on plea-bargain and Bruce, whom has been consumed by all of his anger and desire to avenge the death of his father wants to kill the man as he leaves the courtroom. Another individual is able to kill the man before Bruce and when Bruce confides in a childhood friend, Rachel, about the situation she tells him that he needs to stand up for what his father believed in and that seeing him attempt to murder the killer would have disappointed his father. This low point signifies the essence of “the belly of the whale.” Bruce attempting to go down the right path and on his mission approaches one of the crime bosses, Falcone. Falcone is leading the city that his father loved into despair. Falcone said that he had something money can’t buy. Falcone had the power of fear and that Bruce’s anger would never prove anything. Bruce would never have the fear that the people of Gotham had from Falcone because Bruce could not fear what he didn’t understand. Bruce would not be able to fix Gotham because he was wealthy and didn’t understand fear. Falcone basically told Bruce that he was powerless against him and his father’s legacy wouldn’t remain. Bruce left on a spiritual journey to gain an understanding of desperation. He learned to steal in order to survive and he studied the criminals. He became more compassionate towards the criminal mind and was facing some of the fears he held inside. This transforms Bruce and shows his willingness to undergo a metamorphosis or a death of the life he knows. In Campbell’s interpretations, he says that a hero will have “supernatural aid” along the way to help guide the hero. While studying the criminals and in prison, Bruce is approached by a man named Ducard. Ducard offers Bruce the ability to grow and to join a group called the “League of Shadows.” In order to join the “League of Shadows” Bruce would have to continue The Hero’s Journey into the second phase called “initiation.” In “initiation” there is a subset called “the road of trials.” “The road of trials” is a series of tests, tasks and ordeals that a person must undergo to begin the transformation. In order to be accepted into “The League of Shadows” Bruce had to learn to face his greatest fears, release his anger, and do what is necessary for justice. Ducard is really Ra’s Al Ghul, the leader of The League of Shadows. Ra’s Al Ghuls’ intention was to teach Bruce everything he needed to know in order to destroy the town that Bruce grew up in, Gotham. He teaches Bruce how to purge his fear and harness its’ power. He taught Bruce that it is necessary to do things to demonstrate justice and wanted Bruce to kill a criminal in order to be fully initiated. Bruce refused, conquering his early beliefs that one should be punished. Bruce now believed that society must judge the criminal and not an individual. Bruce refused to become an executioner and turned on his mentor, saying that he would not destroy Gotham, he would protect it. Bruce waged a war against Ra’s Al Ghuls and escaped their complex. While escaping, he rescued Ducard leaving him behind and headed back to Gotham as a changed man with a new mission. Bruce was unaware at the time that Ducard was actually Ra’s Al Ghul. In the next step of The Hero’s Journey, the hero must have “atonement with the father.” In this step the person must confront and be initiated by whatever holds the ultimate power in his life. As a changed man, Bruce created a symbol of fear that he will harness the power of to help fight crime in Gotham and save the city. The symbol represents the fear that Bruce has overcome from his childhood, the bat. Bruce also returned to Gotham to save and eventually take control of his fathers’ company “Wayne Enterprise.” During this same time, Bruce uses the company and the technology to build up his new persona of Batman. “The Ultimate Boon” occurred when Ra’s Al Ghul came to Gotham and through a series of calculated steps was planning to carry out the destruction of Gotham. Ironically, the company that Bruce’s father used to unite the city was the supplier of the stolen equipment that was going to be used to destroy the city. The building that the company was located in was going to be the catalyst that would ultimately lead to the end of the city. Batman was able to stop Ra’s Al Ghul and his former mentor believed he had succeeded teaching Batman to do what was necessary for justice. Ra’s Al Ghul thought Batman was going to have to kill him in order to stop him however, our hero stood for his beliefs and chose not to kill him but rather chose not to save him. The final phase of The Hero’s Journey involves the return. I think that the movie skipped several of these steps and left the plot open. I believe that they did this because The Hero’s Journey is not yet complete. The movie did touch on the subset of “rescue from without” which means that just as the hero may need guides and assistants to set out on the quest, often times he must have powerful guides to bring them back to everyday life. Sometimes the hero doesn’t realize that it is time to return and that other need their boon and Rachel let Bruce know that she needs him. Bruce became the mask at the end and Batman became Bruce. Rachel said that she wanted Bruce back. I really enjoyed watching the movie. During the second viewing, I discovered so many layers and angles that could have been analyzed. There were several other characters of interest, including Dr. Crane whom used a hallucinogenic drug to cause psychosis. When analyzing these people, Dr. Crane referred to “Jungian Archetypes”. Fears were a major theme in the movie. There were several other characters that grew throughout the film. Detective Gordon grew and learned to face many of his fears. Bruce had several layers of fear and others feared for Bruce. There was death, resurrection and symbolism of varying degrees. I chose The Hero’s Journey because it is something that I really enjoy and find very exciting. I think that Batman will continue the journey and in the future we will see many more aspects of the return as the hero continues his journey. I also believe that “the meeting with the goddess” and “woman as the temptress” will be touched upon as the journey continues.