Since I have some time off today (thanks, Corona) I wanted to spend the evening discussing with you about your favorite characters mental states. What's something you've always wondered about their psyches? What's something you've wondered about yours? I can only speak specifically about material I've seen, but can speak more broadly about general topics.
QUESTION FROM THE COUCH: Has the quarantine allowed you to watch or read more of your favorites, or has the downturn given you the opportunity to find other hobbies?
We've had some fun in the BatMoth threads discussing the psychosexual implications of Barbara's Batgirl persona, especially in light of panels like this. Cass and Steph aren't nearly as fascinating in a psychosexual aspect.
>Has the quarantine allowed you to watch or read more of your favorites, or has the downturn given you the opportunity to find other hobbies?
I've been pretty depressed since losing my job at the start of lockdown. But I've been turning things around. Getting back into writing, and hopefully I can make some money that way.
Barbara's unfortunately a textbook Elektra complex, as much as I LOATHE the popular fixation with debunked Freudian theory. Actually, that's probably the whole crux of it. The writers aren't psychologists, and made her a practical strawman of the condition.
Bab's complex isn't directed towards her father, but what her father represents. Authority figures. It's why in a lot of interpretations, she's attracted to Batman, who in Gotham, is the ULTIMATE authority figure. It's telling in that, in that panel, Barbara aligns his voice as that of a principle. An authority.
That was our analysis as well. And Freud may have been "debunked", it's still a valid meme in the popular conciousness, and not neccesarily invalid when applied to narratives, characters, and archetypes. But rather it is simply a focus of perspective. And tropes are tools, afterall, so it's fun to play with regardless.
Blake Sanchez
If you were the original questioner, let me just also say that I'm sorry you lost your job, but take some comfort that this isn't permanent. The market will return, and so will demand. You may not get your old job back, but hopefully you'll get something.
Jordan Allen
What the fuck is her problem!?! Especially with necks!
You can actually take a look at the screencap I posted to see what happens when people are raised to understand that violent solutions are the appropriate ones.
Howard has the same issue a lot of people entering into higher education have. A lack of focus. Children are taught from a young age that they can be anything, but unfortunately that's where it ends. Howard had domineering parents, apparently, that wanted only one career path for him, in spite of whatever other talents or interests he may have had. This stunted his development because the foundation of his education and training were on unstable ground. Without a desire to be a lawyer, it doesn't matter how much your parents want you to be one, or how good the education in law you're given. You're not going to be interested in it, and therefore, as we see in Howard's case, he's directionless. He wasn't given the opportunity to uncover and hone his own talents. Now he's internalizing that bad start, blaming himself and thinking that he's a failure.
He's not. He just never got a chance to find his niche.
Trauma, obviously, but digging further, it was the fact that he had his worldview badly shaken by incident. He was, as far as he knew, abandoned by his father figure, and became a byproduct of Batman's inability to appropriately handle the Joker. He suddenly was able to empathize with the hundreds of victims of Joker's insanity, and the realization that he was complicit in that pain brought him to the conclusion that he came to.
>You may not get your old job back, but hopefully you'll get something.
Thanks! Like I said, I'm getting back into writing. There's more people at home, so there's probably more people looking for something to read on Kindle. If I can get back in the habit, I might be able to make it a full time thing.
While the ATHF characters are SO cartoonish in their behavior it's almost pointless to try to pick them apart, Carl's actually fairly well adjusted. He doesn't seem to be remorseful of his situation except when the Team wreck his day. Yes, he's unmotivated, slovenly, and a sexual deviant, but comparatively, he's not that bad.
But I need to reiterate, he's not a fully fleshed out character. We know actually very little about him.
His views on sensuality, and most everything else, is stuck at an 8-year-old level of development. Everything stopped for him when his parents were killed. He dropped everything, including his emotions, and dedicated himself to avenging his parents. Unfortunately for his social life, he still had to age, and still had to interact with other people. What they don't realize is that Bruce is still a child in many respects. This is why he's normally so averse to commitment, and has such an easy time being with Robin. It's not because he's homosexual, it's because, if anything, he has no sexual inclinations, and views the Robins he has as little brothers more than anything else.
Now Batman DOES have a fear, if you'd care to know it.
Is it loss or abandonment? I bet it's loss or abandonment.
Aiden Flores
that's probably it at surface level but I'm hoping psychanon's idea is a fun spin on that
Christopher Reyes
I know it's common to portray batman as somehow stunted or too severely traumatized but I've always prefered the idea of a batman that is far more adjusted than he lets on. The whole "I am the night" thing is a theatric persona to scare criminals but ultimately he's capable of moving on from his trauma on some level. (Not entirely, since it's what motivates him to right crime). That's why I like when he's portrayed as a family man or a team player, or when he uses his resources and public persona to fight crime and poverty on a more structural level. It displays facets of maturity that the brooding loner batman couldn't convey. Hell, for all the cringe in the Tom King run I think marrying Catwoman would be a great development for the character, in the same way that having a son was a great development for Supes. That said, what does the batman fear?
Julian Brooks
Quick and dirty Myers Briggs. I use this as a basis when designing characters for my own work. It especially helps identifying any major overlapping traits when characters should be contrasting. It's too easy to have most characters sound the same because you're the dude writing them. jupiter-34.appspot.com/ >Where my INTP bros at!!!!! >Probably agree more than disagree. Hate most of the "heroes" associated with the type though.
Paraphilias are understood to be caused by traumatic or emotionally significant events occurring during the onset of puberty. Having a taste in a kind of partner (same-sex, larger partners, older partners, etc.) is not normally maladaptive. Where issues arise is when these sexual desires interfere with ones normal day-to-day activities. Can you not be in public because your arousal at an exposed neckline makes you behave inappropriately? That's when you may need to seek clinical intervention.
What you're looking for is a balance in extremes. You want a woman who is self-sufficient, in this case in terms of their physicality, but has enough emotional need for a relationship that you won't need to fear them growing independent of you. I know it sounds a bit demeaning saying it that way, but it's what your interest is. There's nothing wrong with that. Just keep in mind that you may be interested in relationships where there may not be an appropriate power dynamic. Be mindful of that, for your sake and for that of your partner.
Not exactly. Batman experienced what might be considered the ultimate loss for a boy his age. Losing friends does hurt him, but not as much as might be considered even healthy.
No, Batman's fear is apart from that. Let me start by saying that, in the DSM-V, and at least since the prior text revision, psychologists no longer use the Latin prefixes for phobias and philias. Whereas before, you might have said 'arachnophobia', the clinically accepted term now is 'Specific Phobia: Spiders'. Reason being is that the field is trying to distance itself from academic circle-jerking, as well as making the terminology more easily translatable for non-Latin rooted languages. Batman's fear, in most versions of his character, would be Specific Phobia: Murder. The one thing that Batman fears above all else is breaking his 'one rule'. (And yes, I'm aware that it's not how he began in the '30s, but let's not be eye-rolling pedants). The act of killing someone intentionally is something that he is so averse to, even going so far as to fight his allies who try to do so, is pathological when in many instances it would be ethically and pragmatically justifiable to do so. Given any other stimuli (clowns, public speaking, etc.) this would be normally associated with a phobia. In a diagnostic sense, it's the same for Batman. His one rule is a product of his worst fear.
The Myers-Briggs Personality Test is as useful as a horoscope, by the way.
Yes, I agree. Batman's reluctance to kill is almost pathological, unlike, say, superman's or Wonder Woman's.
Luis Cooper
>or Wonder Woman's. Tell that to Max Lord's snapped neck!
Owen Sullivan
It's good for analyzing trends. Sure there's a fuck ton of variation and most don't fit nicely into the categories, but the description of traits is more accurrate than innacurrate.But then again we may just have to agree to disagree.
