Abstract
“This house,” a stoned Mad Hatter leers at Batman in the graphic novel Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, “It…does things to the mind.” While there is little doubt that the cursed walls of Arkham must wreck havoc on the minds of the poor souls confined therein, what about those residents of Gotham City who are not so confined? How do Gotham’s citizens form opinions about their city—and Batman’s place therein—and what forces work to shape and refine these opinions? This chapter explores these questions, and then asks why it is that Gotham City’s citizens continue to place so much trust in the news media, while, in reality, Americans’ trust in the media only decreases.
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Notes
- 1.
Grant Morrison, Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, (United States: DC Comics, 1989).
- 2.
L.W. Bennett and Shanto Iyengar, “A New Era of Minimal Effects? The Changing Foundations of Political Communication,” Journal of Communication 58, (2008).
- 3.
Batman, directed by Tim Burton (1989; Westwood, CA: Warner Bros. Company), Film.
- 4.
Lynette Rice, “The Top 50 Most-Watched Shows of the 2017–2018 Season,” Entertainment Weekly, May 31, 2018, https://ew.com/tv/2018/05/31/top-50-most-watched-shows-2017-18-season/
- 5.
A representative weekly example can be seen at: Mitch Metcalf, “Showbuzzdaily’s Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.7.2018,” Showbuzzdaily, August 8, 2018, http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-top-150-tuesday-cable-originals-network-finals-8-7-2018.html
- 6.
Bill Finger, “The Joker’s Comedy of Errors!” Batman #66, (United States: DC Comics, 1951) Dial B For Blog, http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/136/; Blah Blah Blah (Blog), February 14, 2009, https://cacb.wordpress.com/2009/02/14/the-jokers-comedy-of-errors/
Very special thanks to the websites, “Dial B for Blog,” and “Blah Blah Blah,” for hosting images for this Golden Age comic book online.
- 7.
Frank Miller, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, (United States: DC Comics, 1986).
- 8.
Frank Miller, Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again, (United States: DC Comics, 2001–2002).
- 9.
Ibid. Page 44.
“We will kill the old man Gordon. His women will weep for him. We will chop him. We will grind him. We will bathe in his blood.”
- 10.
Ibid. Page 85.
“Batman is a coward. I broke his bones. I conquered the fool. I made him beg for mercy. Only by cheating did he escape alive.”
- 11.
Sean Murphy, Batman: White Knight, (United States: DC Comics, 2017).
- 12.
Philip E. Converse, “The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics,” Ideology and Its Discontents, (1964).
- 13.
Robert Huckfeldt, “The Social Communication of Political Expertise,” American Journal of Political Science 45, no. 2 (2001).
- 14.
Elihu Katz and Paul F. Lazarsfeld, Personal Influence: The Part Played by People in the Flow of Mass Communication (Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press, 1955), Rudiger Schmitt-Beck, “Mass Communication, Personal Communication, and Vote Choice: The Filter Hypothesis of Media Influence in Comparative Perspective,” British Journal of Political Science 33, no. 2 (2003).
- 15.
John Zaller, The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992); “The Myth of Massive Media Impact Revisited: New Support for a Discredited Idea,” in Political Persuasion and Attitude Change, ed. D. G. Mutz, P.M. Sniderman, and R.A. Brody (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1996).
- 16.
Batman, 23, “The Ring of Wax,” directed by James B. Clark, aired March 30, 1966.
- 17.
When referring to the Batman comics, this chapter will include both the series’ named after Batman and devoted to the Caped Crusader solely, as well as anthology-type titles such as “Detective Comics.” For the sake of brevity, both will be referred to as “Batman comic books.”
- 18.
Gerry Conway, “The ‘I’ Of the Beholder,” Detective Comics #511, (United States: DC Comics, 1982).
- 19.
Chuck Dixon, “The Factor of Fear,” Batman: Gotham Knights #1, (United States: DC Comics, 2001).
- 20.
Don Cameron, “Brothers in Crime,” Batman #12, (United States: DC Comics, 1942); Bill Finger, “The Man Who Led a Double Life,” Detective Comics #68, (United States: DC Comics, 1942); David Vern Reed, “The Menace of the Fiery Heads!,” Batman #270, (United States: DC Comics, 1975).
- 21.
“…You’d think all there is to running a city is making decisions…!”
- 22.
Paul A. Djupe and Brian R. Calfano, God Talk: Experimenting with the Religious Causes of Public Opinion (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2013).
- 23.
The one-shot Elseworlds title “Batman: Holy Terror” that features an alternate universe inspired by an ascendant Oliver Cromwell is noted but also takes place outside of any “canon” Batman universe.
- 24.
Batman writers have stated that, spiritually or emotionally, Gotham City is “…Manhattan below 14th Street at eleven past midnight on the coldest night in November” (Dennis O’Neil, afterword to Batman: Knightfall, A Novel (New York: Bantam Books, 1994), 344) and “…New York at night” (Barry Popik, “Metropolis is New York by day; Gotham City is New York by night,” The Big Apple (blog), March 29, 2008). Geographically, however, DC Comics have traditionally placed Gotham City in New Jersey (“All About the Justice League of America,” Amazing World of DC Comics #14, ed. Paul Levitz (United States: DC Comics, 1977)). The Archdiocese of Gotham City could thus parallel either the Archdiocese of New York, or the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey.
- 25.
One can argue, of course, that Dr. Jonathan Crane, Professor of Psychology at Gotham University, is able to exert a great deal of influence over the citizens of Gotham when he terrorizes them in the guise of Scarecrow. This point is conceded. Considering that the academy has little influence over Gothamites when its members are not donning fanciful costumes and unleashing “fear gas,” I think it is safe to make the assertion that the institution of higher education, nonetheless, has little sway in the day-to-day lives of the citizens of Gotham City.
- 26.
It is not clear if it was rechristened Gotham City University (GCU; as seen in 2016’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice), or if GCU is a cross-town rival for Gotham U.
- 27.
Jerry Siegel, “Superman: The Case of the Death Express.” World’s Finest Comics #3, (United States: DC Comics, 1941).
- 28.
Larry M. Bartels, “Messages Received: The Political Impact of Media Exposure,” The American Political Science Review 87, no. 2 (1993); Walter Lippman, Public Opinion (United States: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1922); Maxwell E. McCombs and Donald L. Shaw, “The Agenda-Setting Function of Mass Media,” The Public Opinion Quarterly 36, no. 2 (1972); Diana C. Mutz, Impersonal Influence: How Perceptions of Mass Collectives Affect Political Attitudes (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1998); Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, “The Spiral of Silence: A Theory of Public Opinion,” Journal of Communication 24, no. 2 (1974); John R. Zaller, The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1992); “The Myth of Massive Media Impact Revived: New Support For a Discredited Idea,” in Political Persuasion and Attitude Change, ed. Diana C. Mutz, Paul M. Sniderman, and Richard A. Brody (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1996).
- 29.
Various motivations for Jameson’s hostility toward Spider-Man have been retconned into different Spider-Man story lines, ranging from Jameson’s inability to trust “heroes” due to the abuse he suffered from his war-hero father, to a simple jealousy of Spider-Man. Whatever underlying motive an individual story arc or motive has been ascribed to Jameson, however, no reader of the Spider-Man series, or fan of J.K. Simmons’ portrayals of Jameson throughout media, can deny the malevolent glee J. Jonah Jameson takes in turning New York City against the web slinger.
- 30.
Readers eventually discover that even the powerful Interfaces bend to the will of a mysterious entity called the Joker Virus.
- 31.
MediaMan’s role here is not dissimilar from the villainous mass media monopoly in the 1987 action/adventure film The Running Man.
- 32.
Even Gata’s motivations seem more driven by a need for positive media coverage than anything else. Toward the climax of the novel, she snarls, “Of course there are no cameras! You’ve stolen all the cameras! But I’m going to get them back! Even if I have to kill you to do it!” before attacking Batman with a deadly electronic whip.
- 33.
Art Swift, “Americans’ Trust in Mass Media Sinks to New Low,” Gallup, September 14, 2016, http://news.gallup.com/poll/195542/americans-trust-mass-media-sinks-new-low.aspx
- 34.
Gallup did not ask this question in 1982, 1987, or 1992 but did ask it twice in 1991, in a poll taken from February 28 to March 3, and then again from October 10–13.
- 35.
“Media Use and Evaluation,” Gallup, http://news.gallup.com/poll/1663/media-use-evaluation.aspx
- 36.
“I’ll explain all of it in a moment. First, let me play some old news clips for you. They’ll help clarify things, help prepare you for what is yet to come….”
- 37.
“Here, with our latest report, is a midget wearing a bikini.” “Thanks, Tom!….”
- 38.
“…It would never be enough. No, I don’t keep count. But you do. And I love you for it.”
- 39.
Miller stated, facetiously or not, that the book began life titled, “Holy Terror, Batman!”
- 40.
Hunter Daniels (July 23, 2011). “Comic-Con 2011: Frank Miller on HOLY TERROR: “I Hope This Book Really Pisses People Off””. Collider.com . Complex Media.
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Russo, S.J. (2019). #FAKENEWS in Gotham City. In: Picariello, D. (eds) Politics in Gotham. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05776-3_12
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