Social Class in Gotham City

I'm sure I've mentioned this before but I find elements of class psychology fascinating. One of my favorite JSA stories ever, for example, is that one where the 40s JSA have their little debate on class. I like to observe people, and class culture is a particularly interesting phenomenon to analyze. Especially in comic books.

Class Relations in the Bat-Clan (contains slight spoilers for this week's 52)The key to this analysis is, of course, Bruce Wayne. I've always suspected that a great deal of Batman's presence comes subconsciously from social cues he's learned since birth. They say there's a palpable difference between Old and New Money in terms of class. And they're right. It's not a matter of breeding of course, but it's a matter of culture. Learned behaviors that emphasize particular social patterns evolved over decades, if not centuries.

Matters such as "taste", "refinement" and "etiquette" can be taught, but like any knowledge, assimilation works best when you're young, where it gets buried into the subconscious.

Bruce Wayne has this. He's a socialite. He's been raised with notions of How To Act, complex etiquette and mechanisms to show his "breeding", to be at least subconsciously aware of how he's presenting himself at all times.

While Batman naturally doesn't portray the same image as Bruce Wayne, he's still got a lot of that ingrained social awareness, which he undoubtedly uses to its full extent. Look at the way younger characters like Wally or Kyle act around him, look at how he can stand equal with an Amazonian Princess and the most powerful man on Earth. He's a man used to being in charge, who knows without a doubt that this is his proper place. That seems like trained class arrogance at its most efficient.

What makes it fascinating is how class effects the interactions between him and the rest of the Gotham heroes. Dick for example is carnival folk. He became Bruce's ward at 13 or so, but all ready a little too late to have been fully indoctrinated in the social system. Dick's more approachable, but he'll never have the presence or arrogance of the Bat. As charming as he is, as privileged his upbringing as Bruce's ward, he still works a lot better as a police officer or a model than he would as a junior socialite.

This has interesting elements to his interaction with Bruce too. He's aware, on some level, of the social cues that Bruce utilizes as Bruce Wayne or Batman, but he often misreads them. Bruce's anger after a particularly disasterous mission gets read as being targetted toward poor performance rather than at particularly risky behavior. And he's effected by that because he's trained to respond consciously to the cues but not how to counter them, which may feed into the constant misunderstandings between Bruce and Dick.

Jason Todd was, on the surface, in the same position as Dick, but he turned out very differently. While also of a traditionally considered "low class" background, his actual upbringing was very different. Dick was carnival folk. Regardless about whether all those movies glamorizing the family structure that springs up around carnival life are true, he's still got supportive parents and close friends to rely on. Jason was a street urchin without anyone, really. Wis mentality is very "us against them" Batman wasn't a savior for him initially, he was a *mark*.

I'm not, of course, saying Jason turned out the way he did because of his background, but I think it did feed in with his relationship to Batman. His openness to be trained constantly warring with a wary skepticism. He was angry at the world and I don't think Bruce ever understood why. He wasn't really prepared for dealing with someone who came from Jason's situation, so he was trying the same methods that worked with Dick, and thus was never able to defuse the situation before Jason's recklessness got the better of him.

Steph, (I'm skipping Tim for a moment) parallels Jason in a lot of ways. Her father was a criminal, her mother an addict, her financial situation pretty dismal. She was never quite in Jason's position, to adopt a criminal vs. mark mentality though. She had some measure of support from her mother and her anger at her father helped motivate her to take up a hero mentality herself already.

Steph's relationship with Tim (and Bruce) has some elements of lower class to upper class. She's the renegade on the outskirts, he's the favored sidekick. She reacts to this with defiance. Defiance of social roles and expectations. She pushes at him, gets him to react, presses for training, company, to know who he is. Batman is the distant, stern authority figure. Even while she's his Robin, he's still the authority to obey/defy. She never really had the chance to develop anything more with him.

Tim Drake is the weird Robin. The successor. He's the first and only Robin to have a similar class background to Bruce himself. He's got the same awareness of social cues and the same unconscious training of how to use them. Like Bruce he was raised isolated during his formative years (through neglect instead of death) but very aware of his social responsibilities as the son of Jack Drake. In Young Justice, Tim uses, on a lower scale, the same social manipulation techniques Bruce does with the Justice League. Fascinatingly, perhaps due to his nature as an observer, Tim shows a lot more conscious awareness of those techniques than Bruce himself does.

Actually, it could well be because of the way Jack Drake lost his fortune. Suddenly being dropped into a more normal life was a turning point to the character, an element of chaos added into the mix. Batman's considered Tim his heir since Cataclysm, but this is where we first see signs of Tim actively fighting against it. Part of it might be the influence of Steph, Dick and Young Justice as well. With more exposure to the outside world instead of high society during his adolescence, Tim may have a better sense of perspective.

Tim's so far one of the few Gotham characters to really respond to Batman on something of an equal level. He's clearly subordinate, but it's an apprenticeship, not a familial bond. The big key though is that where Dick, Jason and Steph all had knee jerk reactions to Batman's persona (be they submission, anger or defiance), Tim was never one to be provoked into a reaction. His responses of obedience, disobedience, even fear where all more logical and intellectual rather than instinctual. Batman's usual tricks don't work on him.

Jim and Barbara Gordon are interesting because they're much more able and willing to act on an equal level with Bruce than any of the Robins. However, a slight class element can still be perceived. While Barbara and Jim have no intention of being subordinate to Batman and have shown themselves to be more than capable of standing up to him (That Birds of Prey scene is still the best ever!), they still show a certain subconscious reaction to his presence. A certain initial respect/awe, though neither character lets that get in their way. That element is reinforced also by the nature of the relationships between them. Jim relies on Batman to uphold justice in the city in the ways that he cannot, Barbara is something like an apprentice graduated. She had to prove herself *against* him.

Helena Bertinelli is one that should not be subordinate to Bruce, by all rights, as an adult woman taking the costume under her own initiative. Where Barbara had been quite young and thus open to the guiding force of a more experienced hero, there's no need for Helena to do the same. However, I think this is where the social cues come into play again. Helena's family was as rich as Bruce's however, theirs was a different social court than the upper crust WASP aristocracy. The mafia families, at least as portrayed in the comics and on television/movies, don't play with the same social techniques. It's more of a straightforward velvet gloved menace, and that's the kind of social cues she'd learn, rather than the subtle aristocratic arrogance. She's more than capable of using that menace as a vigilante, but it still leaves her unarmed when it comes to the more subtle power plays. Batman's unconscious impression of superiority leaves her grasping for approval, even though she's really got no need of it.

Cassandra Cain and Jean Paul Valley have interesting similarities. Their initial backstories couldn't be more different, but once Azrael's father died, the whole relationship with the Order of Saint Dumas does bear an interesting similarity with Cassandra's with David Cain. Both were essentially programmed, both resisted their programming and escaped. Both ended up aided by and allied to Batman.

In a weird sort of way, while Jean-Paul was adult, and Cassandra matured quickly through her experiences, Batman still ended up taking on a very direct paternal role. With Cassandra it's more obvious naturally, but even with Jean-Paul, he'd ended up naming the guy his temporary successor. He was a guiding figure, to follow and learn from and emulate. Both Cain and the Order are very powerful, very controlling forces. Batman's unconscious arrogance/projected superiority would have played into and against those memories, allowing him to essentially take their roles in Cassandra and Jean-Paul's lives.

Now why am I thinking of this now? Because we've just met Kate Kane in 52. And I have to say, I'm finding her very intriguing thus far. And it occurs to me, she has a potential for a very interesting clash with Bruce. I can't imagine he'll be terribly pleased with someone running around with a name derived from his.

Not to mention that as she's characterized thus far...I do not imagine her rolling over for him at all. She's an adult woman with the same arrogance and superiority he has. She's a socialite too, specifically emphasized as being of equal class status as Bruce Wayne. She'll know his techniques and the social counters. She'll be immune to his sexual charm.

This is going to be interesting.