Identity Within a Trinity: Batman As a Person

Last time on the blog: I whined about how secret identities are not really a thing unless you consider the ones you do everyday.

     But why does Batman keep a secret identity? Sure, stocks at Wayne Enterprises might go down if everyone found out Bruce Wayne was beating up poor people every night. Imagine the social media uproar. But he could do it. He can protect himself and Alfred and all the children he dresses up to fight crime. 

     That sounds very bad when you write it out.

     No, Bruce protects the Batman persona for a few reasons. Most notably, his whole thing is fear. Not knowing who Batman is causes his image to be more frightening. Imagine if I told you if you stole a box off a porch, a giant ninja bat would kick your ass. Now imagine the same scenario, but it is Jeff Bezos in the rodent costume. I do not care how jacked he gets, I am pretty sure I can order some tech on Amazon that would warn me if that bald billionaire was coming for me. Hell, I bet there are a dozen websites out there that already track Bezos's moments. Not very scary, also, not very cool.

     More to the root of the Batman character, there is no real Bruce Wayne. Like most heroes, Bruce has three identities: Bruce, Batman, and Bruce Wayne. Bruce is the traumatized adult dealing with his pain through having a found family and preparing for every eventuality. Batman is the manifestation of that preparation as an imposing mythic figure of mystery that has the superpower of always being able to win. Bruce Wayne is another mask that Bruce wears, similar to Batman, but far removed from his actual personality. The affable, aloof playboy and head of a multinational company is as much of a fiction as the six foot bat ninja, but Bruce as a real person is devoid of all those Wayne characteristics.

Next time on the banned blog: Why does Superman keep a secret identity when he is a god and why Batman is the best?