Parts of the Batman mythos that really don’t make sense in a modern setting.

[SiegePerilous02]

Arkham Asylum and the depictions of mental health.

Though some of it can be hand waived away as Gotham being corrupt as hell, most of the big name Arkham inmates not being legitimately mentally ill and just being sent there to avoid a harsher sentence, and the doctors in Arkhams being absolute quacks.

[Jackalope89]

Maybe that inmate was wrongly accused? I don't know, to me it just raises more questions why anyone would want to live in Gotham when they let all these dangerous criminals basically murder with little to no consequences, no matter what jail or Arkham cell they get locked in. It's funny because all the recent live action Batman movies want to go for gritty realism, yet if it was realistic every Gotham City would have a Death Penalty and the likes of Joker, Bane, Scarecrow, ect would be on the list. I never understood this portion of the Batman mythos.

Nope. The guy was guilty, 100%. Cass got too carried away with "no one dies" thing. The police and victim's family talked to her and told her that the man had been tried and sentenced, thus being the law.

[Caivu]

Maybe it's been addressed before but why does Gotham City not have a Death Penalty?

It's in New Jersey, where capital punishment was abolished in 2007.

[thefinalguy]

It's in New Jersey, where capital punishment was abolished in 2007.

Only that doesn't account for anything before that. Which is the inverse of this question, it didn't make sense then, but makes sense now.

[Frontier]

On the Arkham thing...it feels like they're starting to shift it from being a pure mental institution for the criminally insane to just being a general Supervillain prison or at least the only place that can contain the more dangerous members of Batman's Rogues Gallery for more than five minutes (I say this knowing full well it is basically been depicted as a revolving door).

[bat39]

Most of these aren't really deal-breakers.

I'm sure there are plenty of wealthy families who still have old family retainers around. And in Alfred's case, he's been sometimes depicted as a personal friend of Thomas Wayne's who was legally appointed as Bruce's guardian...so he's much more than just the ''butler who raised Bruce''. What I find less realistic is the idea that Alfred is Bruce's only domestic employee...that's why I loved how, in Matt Reeves' film, there actually was another staff member working at the Wayne penthouse (who wasn't in on the secret).

Likewise with circuses. Sure they might be very rare now, but they've not disappeared completely. And given how Gotham as a city is often depicted as an anachronistic mish-mash of various past eras, circuses being a big thing there is hardly a stretch.

On the mental health front - look, the fact is that the likes of the Joker, Riddler etc. are mentally ill. But they're also highly dangerous criminals and terrorists. Their villainy isn't purely down to them being ''crazy'' and I think this idea that ''Batman is beating up mental patients'' is a gross oversimplification. A lot of real-world criminals and terrorists could probably be diagnosed with some psychological condition but that doesn't excuse their actions, or make them the same as an ordinary innocent person who's suffering from mental illness and deserves to be treated with compassion. In that regard, I do believe there's a need to clarify that Arkham isn't just some ordinary psychiatric institute but rather a high-security prison for violent criminals who are a legitimate threat to society and also have a serious psychological condition that distinguishes them from, say, the kind of criminals who get sent to Blackgate.

Incidentally the ''mental health'' point is probably why the Joker and the other villains aren't given the death penalty (assuming Gotham is in a state that has it). Much like in real-life, you could imagine mental health advocates and human rights activists campaigning to spare the Joker and characterizing him as someone not in control of his actions who deserves leniency. The fact that Arkham is a revolving door is something which I sadly believe is very realistic.

What else? Bruce taking on wards isn't something outdated at all. In any case, I prefer the idea of Bruce being a wealthy benefactor who serves as a mentor or ''older brother''-figure to Dick than as a foster father.

[Coco Loco]

Maybe it's been addressed before but why does Gotham City not have a Death Penalty? I know Batman has a no killing thing going on, but the other authorities of Gotham? You mean to tell me they always just lock up Joker instead of giving him the death sentence? This never made sense to me. Even if they had a no Death Penalty prior I would think extreme criminals like Joker would force them to consider one.

You should check out the excellent Joker: Devil’s Advocate graphic novel, which revolves around this very question.

Gotham has been shown to be in a state that has capital punishment on several occasions, but given how quickly people seem to escape custody it’s unlikely any of them would be incarcerated long enough to exhaust the appeals process. It takes a LONG time to execute someone irl.

As to the original question, there is absolutely no way Batman could preserve a secret identity in the modern world of surveillance, DNA evidence and the like.

[Coco Loco]

What else? Bruce taking on wards isn't something outdated at all. In any case, I prefer the idea of Bruce being a wealthy benefactor who serves as a mentor or ''older brother''-figure to Dick than as a foster father.

The Qanon people would be camped outside the manor 24/7 though, especially after Jason died.

[bat39]

The Qanon people would be camped outside the manor 24/7 though, especially after Jason died.

Depends on the circumstances of Jason's death though. In the original story he gets killed in the Middle East while on a quest to find his birth mother. If the 14 year old ward of a billionaire traveled to the middle of a warzone and got killed in an explosion there, it doesn't necessarily follow that said billionaire is responsible for the death. Yeah, there would be questions raised perhaps, but no doubt Bruce has the connections to make those go away.

[Coco Loco]

Depends on the circumstances of Jason's death though. In the original story he gets killed in the Middle East while on a quest to find his birth mother. If the 14 year old ward of a billionaire traveled to the middle of a warzone and got killed in an explosion there, it doesn't necessarily follow that said billionaire is responsible for the death. Yeah, there would be questions raised perhaps, but no doubt Bruce has the connections to make those go away.

There actually was a story that dealt with that, during Scott Beatty’s run on Gotham Knights. I meant more the unofficial aspect of it, though, as internet conspiracies and whatnot have grown in magnitude. Bruce could probably shut down a government investigation, but even he can’t shut down the internet. Jason being overseas when he died would only make it worse - “He’s using his wards as emissaries for his spying!”

[Restingvoice]

There actually was a story that dealt with that, during Scott Beatty’s run on Gotham Knights. I meant more the unofficial aspect of it, though, as internet conspiracies and whatnot have grown in magnitude. Bruce could probably shut down a government investigation, but even he can’t shut down the internet. Jason being overseas when he died would only make it worse - “He’s using his wards as emissaries for his spying!”

Spying for what?

---

Arkham Asylum already has the tagline of Criminally Insane. It is meant for extreme, dangerous, nigh-incurable cases. So I don't know what else you can do with it, except making it less of a horror hospital, which they already do in the comics.

[bat39]

There actually was a story that dealt with that, during Scott Beatty’s run on Gotham Knights. I meant more the unofficial aspect of it, though, as internet conspiracies and whatnot have grown in magnitude. Bruce could probably shut down a government investigation, but even he can’t shut down the internet. Jason being overseas when he died would only make it worse - “He’s using his wards as emissaries for his spying!”

Someone as resourceful as Bruce Wayne could manipulate the online narrative though...as they showed hilariously in Batman Inc where Bruce is on message boards spreading rumors that ''Bruce Wayne is Batman'' which will be written off as a crazy conspiracy theory

[HeartofTheStoriesWeTell]

What else? Bruce taking on wards isn't something outdated at all. In any case, I prefer the idea of Bruce being a wealthy benefactor who serves as a mentor or ''older brother''-figure to Dick than as a foster father.

TBH I think they missed out on having Bruce adopt/take in multi wards that (and this is important) have no connection to batman. No not a robin or batgirl or what ever... just orphans that bruce (and when he comes back) alfriad and the others help raise...

[DCfan2022]

1. The Batmobiles would get Batman caught. Driving around in an unusual car that has your face on it is not a good idea. I'm surprised Bale Batman managed to get away driving that huge tumbler.

2. The fact that gotham villains can chill out in bars and no one bats an eye. Joker, Harley, and Ivy would have to hide their skin tones with heavy makeup and wear wigs whenever they go out in public.

3. You can't kill 10 of your henchmen and expect some of them not to turn on you.

[thefinalguy]

1. The Batmobiles would get Batman caught. Driving around in an unusual car that has your face on it is not a good idea. I'm surprised Bale Batman managed to get away driving that huge tumbler.

2. The fact that gotham villains can chill out in bars and no one bats an eye. Joker, Harley, and Ivy would have to hide their skin tones with heavy makeup and wear wigs whenever they go out in public.

3. You can't kill 10 of your henchmen and expect some of them not to turn on you.

On that second point, what are they gonna do? Kick out villains known to be extremely violent out of their establishment? The only thing they have to be concerned with are police officers, but the city is corrupt, and any cops who may be out might just ignore them.

The BOP movie tackled this with Harley; she was fine to go wherever she wanted because she was tied to the Joker, the extremely violent villain. Of course, she had a hit on her head when people found out they broke up, but it does establish the idea that fear and power offer these people some freedoms when going out.