"Madness is the emergency exit..."

So a few weeks ago I said I'd write about the mythos of the bat...

I LIED.

This week we're going to talk about everyone's favorite villain

That's right - The Joker.

The Joker's been around since Batman Issue 1 and has terrorized Gotham for what seems like decades (even though in the storyline, its only been like...20 years tops). He's insane, quick (in The Man Who Laughs by Ed Brubacker, Batman says that he's surprisingly quick and difficult to pin down), manipulative, intelligent...basically every negative quality in a criminal mastermind.

But the history of the character is an interesting one; one that, again, involves psychoanalysis. The Joker exhibits signs of Amnesia, which is a condition in which memory is lost in a patient due to an external factor. More specifically, we would say the Joker exhibits Dissociative Fugue.

In order to define Dissociative Fugue, let's take the example of the Joker.

In the popular graphic novel The Killing Joke, written by esteemed writer Alan Moore, we learn (or think we learn) the past life of the Joker. Originally a comedian, the Joker helps two criminals break into a chemical plant to get money for his pregnant wife. The job goes awry as the two criminals are killed by the police and the Joker falls into a vat of chemicals. The unnamed character emerges from the chemical plant and becomes The Joker. And so the history of the Joker is revealed...or so we think.

Towards the end of the comic, the Joker barricades himself in a house of mirrors and reveals to Batman that he cannot remember his past. The Joker says, "Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another...If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!" Thus, we learn that the Joker doesn't really remember his past life. The traumatic (and chemical-induced) event of that fateful night the Joker fell into a vat of chemicals was the point at which the old personality of the unnamed comedian became the Joker. When a patient cannot recount any memories before a certain point, and then creates a new identity from that point on, it is called Dissociative Fugue, a subcategory of amnesia.

However, a Fugue does not last a lifetime; usually the old identity of a Dissociative Fugue can be recalled in days, or months. That is, they can be recalled through therapy. Due to this fact (and the fact that chemicals were involved in the Joker's creation), we could say the Joker would be diagnosed with an extreme form of Dissociative Fugue (which could border on Dissociative Identity Disorder). And really, one can blame everything on chemicals (Scarecrow, Two-Face, Clayface...etc. etc.).

But allow me to disregard the chemicals for one moment and examine the psychological trauma that the Joker experienced right before his creation. His pregnant wife had been killed, the police killed two men in front of him, and he was about to be captured by a giant bat that breaks the bones of criminals. That alone could account for amnesia occurring in a broken mind.

This article was mostly about amnesia. Next, we'll talk about what it means to be criminally insane.

Batman: Arkham City Review

I'm going to take the opportunity to set aside the topic of psychology of Batman for the day and instead talk to you about the new game the world has been buzzing over.

Arkham City is a fantastic game, from top to bottom. The original game Arkham Aslyum, in comparison, feels like riding a bicycle with training wheels. You, being five, think this is probably the greatest thing ever and that nothing ever will come along that will upstage that bike with training wheels.

That's where your stupid, primitive, five-year old mind is wrong.

Arkham City is like getting a motorcycle right after that bike with the pathetic training wheels. Oh yeah, and the motocrycle's wheels are on fire. Better yet, you can fly off a fifty foot jump over a pool of lava and when you land, the most beautiful women tackle your very body with ecstasy (or men if you'd like).

But alas, my metaphor is getting out of hand. Let's get back to the actual game. Arkham Asylum's visuals, first of all, are astounding. The detailing of every wall in the game is a special thing to behold. While chasing the Penguin through a museum, I was constantly stopping at each and every exhibit that included dinosaur fossils, stuffed dead animals, and so much more. Further, each exhibit had a button to press and the Penguin would say something diabolical about what was in the exhibit over a speaker. The development team didn't even have to assume players would want to press the buttons, but they did it anyway. This is just one example of many of the perfectionist, attention-to-detail work of the animation team. I'm not even going to mention the snow effects in the game and how each flake dissolves on Batman's person (oh wait I just did).

Controls-wise, the game is flawless in it's execution and fun-factor. The battle system of Arkham Asylum returns. Many of the techniques and gadgets of the last game has returned (with new perks, of course) but even more have been introduced. Probably my favorite is the inclusion of the ability to summon bats to disorient your enemies. Or maybe my favorite would be the hundred mile per hour, sky-dive into an unsuspecting foe from above. Or maybe it's the- you know what? There's too many things to love about the combat system of Arkham City.

The open, Grand Theft Auto-esque world feels fantastic. While there is a main story line, you can literally stop at dozens of places in between plot points around the city, fighting crime, saving prisoners, solving Riddler puzzles, etc. I played for about 4 hours the first night, quit and returned to the main menu. Surprisingly, the game said I was about 7% through the entire game. SEVEN PERCENT. This was definitely worth my 60 dollars.

Last thing I'd like to cover is sound design - which, of course, is stellar. Mark Hamill voices the Joker (for perhaps the final time) and, along with all the other voice actors, brings their characters to life giving them depth and a lasting impression. The music is very inspired by not only the Tim Burton film adaptations, but I also sensed some Christopher Nolan Batman. I swear, every time I punch someone, the sound effect resonates with such force that I believe I just knocked the lights out of a criminal.

So basically, buy this fu**ing game. Enjoy it. And if you're disappointed by the lack of psychological reading this week, play the game and psychoanalyze yourself - you may surprise yourself by talking, walking and fighting crime like Batman.

"He Wanted the Pearls"

Last time, we discussed Batman and Bruce Wayne as if they were two different people, due to the mental psychosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder. As a short review, patients of D.I.D. exhibit many of the things Batman seems to do, which includes depression and ritualistic activities. Further, we established that the alternate identities of a split personality patient could also be that of an animal.

But how does one get this way? How does one literally break into two (or more) pieces of an entire persona? Doctors are still out on that subject but they do have a good idea: traumatic events at a young age.

And of course, our very own Bruce Wayne had the biggest traumatic event of any boy's young life - the murder of his two parents. RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. Stuff couldn't be harder to process than that.

But to keep this blog from exploring too many topics, I'd like to focus on a symbol that's been running through several Batman comics - Mrs. Wayne's pearls. See, D.I.D. usually comes about when there are repeated instances of abuse or trauma to a child. But I would argue that if the patient has experienced an extremely traumatizing event, then D.I.D. could take place. Further, to add to this theory, I would say Bruce has experienced what psychologists are calling Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. And often, a co-occurence of PTSD is guilt. It is Mrs. Wayne's pearls that I would say is the symbol of guilt.

The Long Halloween, written by Jeph Loeb and penciled by Tim Sale, takes place a year after the birth of Batman. Many of the villains have been introduced including the Scarecrow. Eventually Batman and the Scarecrow meet, Scarecrow sprays his really ****ed up mindshattering spray on Bats, and soon, Batman is walking down memory lane. Except he's going psychotic. Delusional, Bruce Wayne is chased by Jim Gordon but thanks to the funny gas, Bruce thinks he's his parents killer.

I would argue that in this delusional, drugged-out state, we are seeing the child that never grew up. Bruce utters "He wants the pearls." Previously on page 220, Bruce reveals that it was he who urged his mother to wear the pearls for a "special night." In the Dark Knight Returns, often we see the death of his mother symbolized by her pearl necklace being ripped from her neck. Basically, in every origin page that tells the story of the birth of Batman, you can guess that there will be pearls in them.

So why all the pearls? Is it just a poetic symbol of Bruce's parents's death? I'd take it a step further. Bruce often said he was the one who forced his parents to go down the alley that eventually claimed Mr. and Mrs. Wayne. Bruce, in the Long Halloween, continues to bring up the pearls and how he wanted his mother to wear them. On page 222 of the Long Halloween, Bruce falls to his knees and cries at the foot of his mother's grave. If this isn't someone apologizing then I don't know what is.

Ok so I have to at least introduce some scholarly subject material right? So what is the relationship between guilt and post-traumatic stress disorder?

The correct term is trauma-related guilt and it is a common co-occurence. Basically, the PTSD patient will feel he or she should have done something different at the time a traumatic event occurred. Matthew Tull, PhD, writes in his article on PTSD and Guilt that there is such a thing as SURVIVOR GUILT (okay, wow. Seriously. Batman, your psychotic nature surprises me everyday). Essentially, a surviving member of some traumatic event will blame himself for doing something wrong. This extreme sense of guilt and shame leads to depression, social anxiety, and even the development of PTSD.

So there you have it; if Bruce Wayne laid down on a psychologist's chair and told her what had happened to him, the doctor would probably diagnose him with this: D.I.D. or maybe PTSD coupled with extreme guilt due to a traumatic event in the early stages of development.

Now, Bruce has chosen to fight crime, to rid the city of the evil that took his parents, to right the wrongs of the people...to try and right his own wrong. Wow. That's some heavy stuff right there. But why the Bat?

Next time we'll explore the mythos of the Bat. Or maybe not. I don't know.

Bibliography:

All information on PTSD and Guilt:

http://ptsd.about.com/od/relatedconditions/a/guilt.htm

"For I Am Your Soul...You cannot escape me"

Okay, so this is a blog about Batman right? And every Batman-related document has to talk about the whole dynamic between the persona of Batman, the creature of the night righting the wrongs of Gotham City, and Bruce Wayne, the civilian playboy who just so happens to have the body of a God and the mind of a modern day Einstein. Also, he's loaded. Cash-wise.

One of the most prominent topics of discussion in the Batman series is the battle between Batman and Bruce Wayne. In fact, sometimes Batman speaks in the third person and talks as though Bruce Wayne is another person. This split between both personalities is taken to the extreme in The Dark Knight Returns, a graphic novel written in the 80s by Frank Miller.

Here's a panel from page 25 of the Dark Knight Returns

Some backstory: Bruce has been out of the business of crime fighting for about 20-30 years now, retiring the Batman persona for good since the death of the second Robin - or so we think. See, Bruce can retire the Batsuit, the Batcave, the Batcar...the Bat everything. But Batman, the persona, has forever been lurking inside of him. This creature even talks to Bruce, as evident in this panel on page 25. The creature says, "For I am your soul."

To further cement the idea that Batman and Bruce Wayne are two totally different characters, let's look at another page from The Dark Knight Returns.

In this scene, Batman confronts Two-Face (also known as Harvey Dent) but Two-Face has reconstructed his face using plastic surgery. Harvey, however, is addicted to crime and continues his reign of terror on Gotham City. When Batman finally catches him again in the middle of a crime, Harvey ashamedly admits that the Two-Face persona still lives on inside of him. He asks Batman to see him for what he really is; to look past the newly constructed face of Harvey Dent and see the demon lurking within. Batman obeys; he looks at Harvey and sees "a reflection," or in other words, he sees his own demon (the Batman). The Batman and Bruce Wayne are waging a psychological war for one body. Batman and Two-Face are essentially the same in this respect.

This example of D.I.D., or dissociative identity disorder, is a powerful one - in fact, (to my knowledge, at least) no other popular superhero struggles with two personalities in such a dynamic way. On the DC side, Superman has his Clark Kent and is totally fine with it. Wonder Woman is Wonder Woman; no problems. On the Marvel side, Captain America, Iron Man, Spiderman, the X-Men - they're all fine with two identities and are mentally stable, for the most part (but there is a creepy story of the Iron Man suit desperately trying to put Tony Stark inside of him...sexual undertones intended...I'm not making this up. Check it out here.).

So what is D.I.D.? Symptoms of split personality disorder include "two or more distinct or split identities or personality states that continually have power over the person's behavior." Some other symptoms include forgetfulness and memory variations, where memories will be different over the personalities. A patient can switch between personalities in an instant or over years. These other personalities are different from one another; for instance, these personalities can differ in sex, age, gestures, way of talking - sometimes there are even cases of the personality being an animal.

That's right ladies and gentlemen; animals. Batman could literally be a dictionary example of D.I.D. and would run something like this: "Dissociative Identity Disorder 1. Split personality psychological disorder where a patient will have multiple personalities in one body. 2. See Batman"

Other symptoms of D.I.D. include depression (Bruce has got that down), mood swings (oh definitely), sleep disorders (hello, the guy stays up all night dislocating jaws), compulsions and rituals (does dressing up like a Bat every night for 40 years qualify as a ritual? I'd think so), and psychotic-like symptoms (Scarecrow helps out with that).

D.I.D. is a huge topic in the Batman mythos and I'll definitely take a few blog posts to completely flesh out the details. For instance, D.I.D. occurs when a traumatic event occurs in a child's life. In order to save itself, the mind fragments itself into pieces, attempting to forget. Does this sound familiar?

source: http://kidsdontgetit.wordpress.com/2010/08/05/list-o’-the-week-worst-superhero-parents-3-1/

It should. Until next time!

Bibliography:

All information on D.I.D. taken from this article from WebMD:

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/dissociative-identity-disorder-multiple-personality-disorder?page=2