City Hall: DC Comics

[Abishai100]

Two very interesting American comic book super-villains are Joker and Harley Quinn, maniacal nemeses of the masked urban vigilante Batman (DC Comics), a superhero who tackles criminal insanity.

Joker and Harley Quinn do something no other comic book villains do --- they incite insanity.

How you ask?

They goad human sensibilities about the reality of human frailty (the temptation to sin, the loopholes in the law, the instinct for profiteerism, etc.).

That's why understanding interactions between Batman and this devilish duo helps us evaluate the presence of evil, as presented in civics stories about redemption and vengefulness.

Batman works in a fictional place called Gotham City, which is seething with criminality and is therefore a storytelling symbol in pop culture art regarding urbanization and traffic-related human frailty and human negotiation. That's why it's important using such 'avatars' to understand modern-era urban evils.

Will President Trump be a champion of urban crime (and hence a 'superhero') or a dead-beat (and hence a 'bane')?

Somehow, this sort of storytelling makes difficult politics more...digestible.


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BATMAN: You two are accused of corrupting the Gotham mayor!
JOKER: How do you explain we did that?
HARLEY QUINN: You have no proofs!

BATMAN: Harley had an illicit extra-marital affair with the mayor so Joker could blackmail him.
JOKER: Every political officer requires a little danger and excitement in his life.
HARLEY QUINN: The mayor sure didn't mind what I had in store for him.

BATMAN: Are you suggesting that human frailty warrants spiritual torture?
JOKER: We simply want to 'poke fun' at human corruption.
HARLEY QUINN: People are bored of you, Batman!

BATMAN: Do you two claim to be immune from human frailty?
JOKER: We wield a certain...panache.
HARLEY QUINN: We have style and grace!

BATMAN: Then you should work as criminal psychologists.
JOKER: We have no interest.
HARLEY QUINN: Very boring.

BATMAN: If you have no peaceful solution to human frailty, then don't add fuel to the fire.
JOKER: We're no arsonists.
HARLEY QUINN: Arsonists are psychos!

BATMAN: Well, then, if you're 'creative geniuses,' I'm sure you won't mind private time making art.
JOKER: I love art!
HARLEY QUINN: Crime is an art form!

BATMAN: Why don't you draw portraits of criminals?
JOKER: Sounds intriguing.
HARLEY QUINN: Would we have sanctuary?

BATMAN: I can guarantee sanctuary at Arkham Asylum.
JOKER: We'll concede to that.
HARLEY QUINN: You better not betray us, Batman!

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[Abishai100]

The Kingdom


It's interesting to see how modern era urbanization/industrialization has yielded pedestrian daydream/fantasia themed stories that create juxtapositions of new age nihilism with old world mysticism --- e.g., American films such as American Beauty, Sin City, and Highlander.

Is this romance or Cassandra-time?


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Bruce Wayne was the 'prince of Gotham,' a successful socialite-businessman by day and a masked mysterious vigilante by night. He was dating both Vicki Vale (a journalist who dressed up as a woman from Ancient Rome every Halloween) and Talia al Ghul (a well-meaning member of the crime syndicate Leviathan). Vicki was Bruce's 'princess,' but Talia was Bruce's 'damsel.' As Batman, Bruce was contending with a deranged criminal named 'Mad Hatter' who wore a hideous rabbit-mask (to signify his malice and mischief). Fortunately, Batman was getting help for his war with Mad Hatter from a new generation of Hell's Angels vigilantes who rode on horseback and carried sabres --- calling themselves the Sand-Cops.

Batman got a note from Mad Hatter (sent to the Gotham Gazette), which read, "I challenge Batman (aka, 'the Dark Knight') to rescue Ra's al Ghul (the father of his 'girlfriend' Talia) from my death-trap set at the Gotham Raceway (the site of the annual summer stock-car and dirt-bike races)." Batman realized that since the Sand-Cops would read the note in the Gazette too, they would show up trying to tackle the Mad Hatter and help Batman. Batman realized that's precisely what the Mad Hatter planned, but he could not deduce why. Batman said to himself, "If we can stop Mad Hatter, we can establish a sane 'modern urban kingdom' in Gotham City (secured by the 'normal' police!)."

Vicki and Talia became very worried that the Sand-Cops would betray Batman and warned him to watch out for their treachery too while dealing with the Mad Hatter at the Gotham Raceway. Vicki and Talia were the only ones who knew Batman was actually Bruce Wayne. When Batman showed up at the Raceway, he found Ra's al Ghul tied to a pole (Mad Hatter was standing next to him!) and recognized that if he tried to untie Ra's, a bomb might go off. He kept watch for the Sand-Cops and when he noticed them parachuting down to the Raceway grounds from a jet-plane flying above, he immediately realized that they were allied to the Mad Hatter. He grabbed Mad Hatter and ordered the Sand-Cops to go home or he'd kill him.

The Sand-Cops disappeared and Batman delivered Mad Hatter to Arkham Asylum. Mad Hatter asked him how he deduced that the Sand-Cops were allied to evil, and Batman replied surprisingly, "I wasn't sure, but it was worth the bet just to grab you and prevent you from setting off a detonator at the Raceway!" Mad Hatter was enraged and realized Batman outdid him on a simple crime-fighting guess. Batman then got a note from the Sand-Cops (another piece submitted to the Gotham Gazette), which read, "We were never allied to Mad Hatter, but we pretended to be, so the wily maniac would simply think he'd have to wait for us to help him --- giving the Dark Knight enough time to make the right guess and help free Ra's al Ghul from the death-trap. We are retiring with the mental peace that Batman is the righteous defender of the 'Gotham kingdom.' We also hope he marries both Vicki Vale and Talia al Ghul --- all he has to do is move to Utah and convert to Mormonism!"

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[Abishai100]

Circuit City

Here's a tale about modern consumerism-related paranoia as it relates to commerce/traffic related confluence.


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Craig was a real 'American psycho.' He had a job as a TV installation and repair-man for the company Firedog, a service-subsidiary of the popular American consumer electronics chain Circuit City. Craig was skilled at mounting and wiring TV and entertainment systems in homes, repairing sets with loose or malfunctioning parts, and even assessing computing-systems maladies (e.g., Internet viruses). His co-workers at Firedog called him 'Mr. Wrench,' since he seemed always able to make things turn to work. Craig lived alone in a modest apartment in Los Angeles, California. He would sometimes blog on the Internet about technology and consumer comments and even write romantic suggestions to female Internet bloggers.

One summer, there were news stories of a string of Los Angeles murders --- housewives home alone. Detective work by the LAPD narrowed down the suspect-pool to potential neighborhood stalkers (eyeing the departure of working-husbands), Internet-predators (looking for lonely housewives blogging in search for 'romantic adulterous play-pals'), and electronics/utilities repair-men. The detective in charge of the investigation was a young officer named Frank Delprey. Frank suspected that the culprit was a serial-killer who had a very normal job (perhaps helping people with home-utilities or doing neighborhood landscape work) which could serve as a 'cover' for criminal intentions.

Craig got a knock on his door. It was Detective Frank Delprey. They had a long conversation about the modern world, consumer electronics, loneliness, abandoned housewives, legal loopholes, American cynicism, consumerism culture, and (of course), criminality.

FRANK: How long have you been working at Firedog (Circuit City)?
CRAIG: Oh, about three years.
FRANK: Do you like working there?
CRAIG: Everyone does. It's rewarding and skill-based politically-neutral 'modern work.'
FRANK: Do you get lonely?
CRAIG: No. I surf the Web sometimes and talk to people in Chat-Rooms.
FRANK: Do you use an alias/avatar?
CRAIG: Um, yes, I do. 'Iceman.'
FRANK: Why do you think you're a suspect in the LA murder-spree case?
CRAIG: Housewives living alone are vulnerable to 'consumer/electronics-savvy' repair-men.
FRANK: That's correct. Have you ever had a girlfriend? Where's your mother?
CRAIG: My mother was an alcoholic. She passed away. I don't have a steady girlfriend.
FRANK: We have reason to believe you may have contacted one of the housewife-victims in an Internet chat-room.
CRAIG: You have testimony of me 'flirting' with this victim as 'Iceman'?
FRANK: We believe we do, yes.
CRAIG: You're just sifting through a mass of Circuit City 'dominion' generic 'traffic.'
FRANK: Isn't that where we should look?
CRAIG: Sounds like a cynicism-ad against the 'culture of consumerism.'
FRANK: The modern world has no pity for wandering souls (e.g., crime syndicates).
CRAIG: Is that why the TV show Desperate Housewives was so popular?
FRANK: Don't be rude, Craig. I suspect you have more anti-social malice than you're revealing.
CRAIG: How do you know I'm not simply cynical about Intel?

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