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Earlier quoted context omitted.
I thought Gotham was a fictional city.
Gotham is a nickname sometimes used for New York City, and while Batman's Gotham is based on NYC, it's not meant to actually be NYC as we know it. Via Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotham_City
Pfft, no vision! However, this thesis seems mostly sensible. I think the crucial answer is that the "Skillz" of Batman are attainable, and there is a reasonable proportion of people in the world with potential to attain them, BUT the problem of being Batman is not in the technology. The problem, as highlighted, is that there is no role for Batman in our current society. Vigilantism is frowned on, and, practically spe…
The real problem is a lack of moronic costumed super-villains with ridiculously complex plans that require a huge amount of money to set up and have almost no chance of making a profit.
Pfft, no vision! However, this thesis seems mostly sensible. I think the crucial answer is that the "Skillz" of Batman are attainable, and there is a reasonable proportion of people in the world with potential to attain them, BUT the problem of being Batman is not in the technology. The problem, as highlighted, is that there is no role for Batman in our current society. Vigilantism is frowned on, and, practically spe…
The real problem is a lack of moronic costumed super-villains with ridiculously complex plans that require a huge amount of money to set up and have almost no chance of making a profit.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What's most unrealistic to me is that Batman doesn't use lethal weapons. Good luck fighting armed criminals unless you have a kick ass body armor.
I'm not sure that's so unrealistic. Batman utilises "shock" tactics (i.e. appearing in the middle of a group before they can react). He also promotes a fear factor; where he is viewed as being generally invulnerable - which means criminals psychophysically expect him to be able to avoid/take/survive gunfire. Then on the practical aspect he works at night or in the dark and has technological advantages (as well as ran…
"A retired Indian Gorkha soldier recently revisited those glory days when he thwarted 40 robbers, killing three of them and injuring eight others, with his khukuri during a train journey. He is in line to receive three gallantry awards from the Indian government." [http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_deta...]
Pfft, no vision! However, this thesis seems mostly sensible. I think the crucial answer is that the "Skillz" of Batman are attainable, and there is a reasonable proportion of people in the world with potential to attain them, BUT the problem of being Batman is not in the technology. The problem, as highlighted, is that there is no role for Batman in our current society. Vigilantism is frowned on, and, practically spe…
Frank Miller directly addressed that point in "The Dark Knight" comic series. At one point Superman is remembering a past argument with Batman, and (semi-quote from memory):
"And then you laughed that scary laugh of yours. 'Of course we're criminals', you said. 'We have to be criminals to do what we do.'"
Earlier quoted context omitted.
A single individual accomplishing these things and utilizing these tools and tactics is not realistic. A movement of many individuals all using the same "brand" could work.
Interesting idea. Perhaps there should be a cadre of several thousand of these people, trained to subdue criminals in a non-violent way, but with access to lethal means when absolutely necessary. Ideally, they should be distributed throughout the city in various secure bases. The best part is that the very presence of such a force might be a powerful deterrent to crime. They could all share the same branded uniform,…
Wasn't there a woman on This American Life who tried to become as close to a real life superhero as possible? EDIT: Found it. She calls herself Zora. (Which is the name of a character in Powers.) http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/178/s...
Wow. I found this account of her: http://www.audiojournal.com/zora.html She sounds amazing; having achieved an amazing amount (academically a PHD by age 21!). The rest of "The List" is mad.. weapons, vehicle training, politics, history, herbology, various extreme sports.
"Until a man is twenty-five, he still thinks, every so often, that under the right circumstances he could be the baddest motherfucker in the world. If I moved to a martial-arts monastery in China and studied real hard for ten years. If my family was wiped out by Colombian drug dealers and I swore myself to revenge. If I got a fatal disease, had one year to live, and devoted it to wiping out street crime. If I just dropped out and devoted my life to being bad."
— Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Gotham is New York.
I thought Gotham was a fictional city.
The original question has a link to a Scientific American that explores the same idea: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=dark-knight... I like this quote: How many of us do you think could become a Batman? If you found the percentage of billionaires and multiply that by the percentage of people who become Olympic decathletes, you could probably get a close estimate.
As mentioned in the article, the book "Becoming Batman": http://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/ecom/MasterServlet/GetItemDet... (Man, that's an ugly URL)