THE GAME THAT I PLAY: I AM THE BATMAN

 

THE GAME THAT I PLAY

I AM THE BATMAN

By Toffee Torres

I was not a fan of the Batman during my toddler years. I thought his identity was easily discerned because his face was only half covered, unlike Spiderman whose mask concealed his entire head. I was only fascinated in the Batman in my late teens, when the Warner Brothers film company instilled a more sinister effect on his appearance.

By the turn of the century, however, my reverence for the Dark Knight Detective went more than just his external features. I was enraptured by the personality introduced into his character. His introversion and obstinacy were distinct. He had vulnerabilities, both physical and psychological, which were compensated by his tenacity. I was enthralled that his personal life had become more definitive.

The Batman idolized by juveniles morphed into a vigilante with an attitude. His objectives were right and just, but his method went beyond the boundaries of the law. The only lawman he showed allegiance to was Police Commissioner Jim Gordon. He acquired information clandestinely from government agent Amanda Waller – a woman who danced a line between hero and villain. For the Batman, his actions defined his person, as he claimed, “It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.”

What fascinated me the most about the evolution of the Batman were his complicated episodes of love. For a major part of his young adulthood, he chose to be part of the League of Shadows and become the favored protégé of master assassin Ra’s al Ghul, rather than nurture an intimate relationship with his childhood sweetheart Rachel Doss. Then, he was deceived by Miranda Tate with whom he had a brief romantic tryst, only discover that she was the daughter of his deceased mentor.

Above all was his infatuation for Salina Kyle, the Cat Woman. He shared the same ideals with her, but learned that her ways of fighting crime contradicted his. He grew fond of conniving with the feline vigilante and rescuing her from desperate situations she got herself into. Although, his affections never seemed reciprocated.

Batman fell for a woman who had an independent spirit, one who believed she could take care of herself. In the long run, he learned to be content at having intermittent escapades with the Cat Woman. That was as far as the boundaries of love would permit their alliance.

The relation of my article to the comic hero is the person I have been known as for decades of my life. I never donned a cape and cowl or fought freakish antagonists, but in some ways, I have experienced being akin to the Batman.

And I still do.

The Batman and Cat Woman