You Are Batman
By: Steven Andrew Schultz
I’m Batman! And so are you.
One of the things I admire most about the Batman character is he is the only superhero without superpowers. Batman is just Bruce Wayne with a cape and the courage to fight for what’s right. It’s not vengeance that drives him, but virtue.
Here’s a guy with all the wealth in the world and could easily just be consumed with himself and his lavish cocktail parties, but what does Bruce do every time the bat signal breaks through the clouds of Gotham? He excuses himself from the wealthy elite of the city and sacrifices himself in service to strangers.
You don’t need a cape to be a hero. You just need empathy to notice a problem and the temerity to provide a solution. One of the reasons Gotham is so dark and dangerous is not solely because of the corrupt politicians covertly working with the criminals they allow to run amok, it’s all the everyday folk of Gotham who when they see the Bat Signal, wait on one man to solve their problems. Imagine what Gotham would be if every time the people of Gotham saw the Bat Signal, they said the two most infamous words from the franchise: I’m Batman!
In class, I dressed up as Batman to give a lesson on characterization, and one of my students in my Honors class asked me to say those two words in my best Batman voice and I acquiesced and belted out in my most intense voice: “I’m Batman!” The class laughed and I asked this student to give us his impression and he responded, “Nah, I’m good.” And encapsulated in those three words are why so many cities like Gotham, aren’t good.
We all must be less Bruce and be more Batman. Meaning, we must shift from a self-absorbed, scared, apathetic “Nah, I’m good” attitude and elevate to a “Now, I’m going to do good” service to others courageous mindset. Batman is brave. Be brave…be Batman!
My grandpa Hill used to say to me, “When you see something wrong, see to it that it’s made right.” And the first step to being Batman is seeing what’s wrong, who’s hurting and needs help. Batman is looking for the Bat Signal, are you?
The second step to being Batman after noticing the Bat Signal is looking in the mirror and saying, I’m Batman! I tell my writing students they must see something before they can say something, so start paying attention and notice what’s happening around you and inside of you…get in touch with your core, your “magma” and then let your “lava” out. As leaders, you must let your lava out and do something when you see something. My grandpa was right, and right now you must make a decision that your life will be about elevating the lives of others without any expectation of a reward in return.
What does Batman get for his troubles spending his nights serving the people of Gotham? Besides all the villains coming after him, many elected officials, media, and other powerful people blame him and make him the scapegoat for their failures. Sadly, being attacked is part of being the solution. Like a teeter-totter, you will have to lower your ego to the bottom in order to elevate others up in love and just stay down there, as most people you help will not give you the bounce back.
Now, you may get action figures and movies made about you, but most of being Batman involves rebuilding what others broke and no one ever knowing who you really are.
Case in point, the other day some students were goofing around on their way out of class and one boy bumped another into my desk and he broke this custom Lego teeter-totter a former student made for me. As my prized piece of art was wrecked in pieces on the floor, those that broke it just fled the scene. But a Batman did emerge as a student who had nothing to do with its wreckage, picked up the pieces and put it back together for me.
All around you are pieces that are waiting for you to put back together. Are you noticing the Bat Signal and are you doing something about it? You don’t have to answer every call, but you must find a call to answer.
Maybe you notice the Bat Signal for all the hungry people, and you don’t feel equipped to answer the call like my former neighbor did who is a chef and started a non-profit business called Bracken’s Kitchen where they drive food trucks around and feed the hungry hearty, healthy meals for free. But you can answer it like I do where I buy food and feed at least one student every single day.
Maybe you notice the Bat Signal for corrupt politicians but don’t feel confident to run for public office yourself, but you can volunteer for someone’s campaign and get people registered to vote, informed to vote properly, and gain donations so this good person can defeat the corrupt ones.
Maybe you notice the Bat Signal for the homeless but don’t have the capacity to house someone, but you can be like the people of King of Glory church who through their King’s Kitchen program provide meals, temporary shelter, clothing and company for those in need.
The truth is, you might not be a billionaire like Bruce Wayne and so maybe you don’t have the capacity for a butler, and a bat cave, batmobile, and bat suit with special gadgets in your arsenal, but you can do something more than what you have been doing to make your community less Gotham-like.
Most people never love outside of themselves and their family, some don’t even take care of their family, but being Batman requires you to love outside of yourself, to reclaim the virtue you knew naturally as a small child, that villains must be met by heroes, as goodness has a responsibility to show itself in the face of Jokers and Penguins. There is no riddle to it, love doesn’t always work, but love is the only thing that defeats the heels that create heartache in our lives. Behind the mask is a boy named Bruce, whose love for his slain parents propels him to take flight each night to ameliorate suffering in Gotham and stand for a cause greater than life itself: the one thing that outlasts our life when we give enough of it away to others: love.
Indifference never made a difference. No longer can you ignore the suffering of others or notice the Bat Signal but wait for someone else to take care of it. You must look in the mirror and realize you’re someone; and, in a gravelly voice, speak with full intensity and courage:
I’m Batman!
