Page - 81 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 03/01

Shadows of the Bat | 81www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/1, 75–104 In conclusion, Batman’s character has origins not only in heroic figures like Sher- lock holmes, but also in famous incarnations of evil like Dracula. this vital dual- ity is also evident in Batman’s relationship with his enemies, who function as his doppelgangers: “Understanding Batman requires us to look hardest at him and his foes. the villains mirror and warp his darkness, his fears, his needs for puzzles to solve and criminals to hurt, and his hopes too.”18 Batman’s antago- nists play a part for the narrative that is as important as the part played by the protagonist himself. Just as the Dark Knight is not solely good, his opponents are not solely evil. Batman’s rogues’ gallery unfolds as a panorama of tragic existences that were shattered by reality. in a dystopian hell like Gotham City, “all it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy”, as the Joker explains in Alan Moore’s graphic novel The Killing Joke (1988).19 the comic also raises the question whether Gotham’s villains created Batman as their own nemesis, or if the self-appointed avenger attracted these troubled spirits by his presence, thus being himself responsible for their making. “i made you, you made me first”, Batman growls at his eternal adversary, the Joker, at the end of Batman (1989).20 “you complete me” is the clown’s answer 19 years later in The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, Us 2008).21 Batman and his villains are “locked into a ritualized dance” with each other (see fig. 3), justifying each other’s exist- 18 Langley 2012, 268. 19 Moore 2008, 42. 20 Batman (1989), 01:50:50–01:50:52. 21 The Dark Knight (2008), 01:24:32–01:24:34. Fig. 3: In Batman (1989), Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton) and the Joker (Jack Nicholson) are visualized as reflecting doppelgangers. Film still, Batman (Tim Burton, US 1989), 00:47:50.