BW Media Spotlight

It’s not easy to disagree with someone who you actually agree with most of the time. I do not live in an echo chamber and there has been the occasional BW Vs article where I displayed that disagreement–admittedly too many in a row, so I think I need to widen my discussion sources. Maybe I HAVE been in an echo chamber? I still enjoy and agree with them enough to use them in Daily Videos or Saturday Article Link, but sometimes I have a different perspective. “BW Vs.” has always been more of a counterpoint deal than attacking anyone no matter how much of their views I agree with or not.

This time the counterpoint goes to the Literature Devil, host of the Morning Nonsense podcast I listen to every weekday when I’m getting up. The screen name of the pen name S.A. Rivera (I don’t think he’s revealed his true name due to his place in the cultural discussion of storytelling and the internet being the internet–or maybe he’s just shy), LD has some great takes on storytelling, heroes, and their current state in the storytelling industry…namely that it’s all being poorly done by people who hate heroism and identify more with the villain, or want to change everything to fit their tastes and worldview because anything popular needs to be made for them, like the “cool kids” of high school. Or as we call them around here, the “everything for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” crowd. The Hollywood mindset is very high school. Take it from a high school victim. You’ve seen some of his videos posted in the Daily Video, and there’s a few in the coffer I want to use in the future.

However, I have to disagree with something he said in his latest video, “When Is Batman’s Mercy Actually Unethical?”, released on Batman Day, when the Caped Crusader made his comic debut. Not the entire video. Just one particular point he made in the ye ol’ argument “should Batman kill the Joker”, or rather in this case “should Batman let the Joker die if he’s dying?”. LD makes the case that trying to save the Joker when he should have chased the killer and let Joker pay for his sins was the wrong move. I haven’t read the comic storyline myself, but I do believe this is the inciting incident for the Bat Family cutting ties with him recently. That’s a rant for another time if I ever do read the arc to have a better idea of what I’m talking about beyond “I hate this plot and I’m sick of the Loner Batman BS”. The problem is the particular scenario as LD presents it that I have problems with. I built this article out of my comment, and altered it with other responses I saw and extended thoughts.

Like with Ra’s Al Ghul in Batman Begins, did Batman make the right move or just the right move for him? Personally I think there are times when letting Joker die wouldn’t hurt Batman’s reputation, at least with me. This particular scenario, though, I think he made the right call.

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