The Secret Guardian of Gotham
The Dark Knight portrays Batman well enough for the audience to easily analyze Batman’s characteristics and personality. Batman is one of the most crucial characters in the movie. Bruce Wayne, or Batman, is portrayed as a billionaire and an owner of a gigantic industry, who actually at night works as a vigilante fighting criminals with his bare hands. Batman’s sense of morality, self-righteousness, and self-sacrificial attitude in his actions allow effortless classification of Batman’s characteristics in True Color’s Personality Test, Myers-Briggs Personality Test, and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
The way Batman believes the good in people, and the way he spends his nights for the safety of the people in Gotham proves that Batman is most likely the color blue from the True Colors Personality Test. People with blue characteristic hate with fervor, value harmony, give self to others, promotes feelings and warmth among people, and are too generous. Batman falls into all of these descriptions.
Even though Batman abhors Joker, he never kills Joker despite all of the chances he is given because he believes in change in human potential, because he wants to inspire others through his actions, and because of his stern self righteousness of always wanting to do what is good for everyone. Also when Harvey Dent died after killing five people “fairly,” Batman tells Lieutenant Gordon to point the finger at him instead of Harvey Dent. Batman says, “You will hunt me. You will condemn me.
Set the dogs on me, because that is what needs to happen,” (The Dark Knight) in order for people of Gotham to not lose hope by hearing and seeing the downfall of the Gotham’s White Knight, Harvey Dent. This sacrificing attitude is difficult to find in the characteristics of orange, green, and gold, but is the compassionate feature of the color blue. Towards the end of the movie, when Joker sees that the two ships didn’t bomb each other, Batman tells him, “This city just showed you that it is full of people ready to believe in good,” (The Dark Knight) implying that he, as well, believes in good nature of humans.
From what is shown, my hypothesis would be that Bruce Wayne’s dichotomies are ESFJ, or extraverted, sensing, feeling, and judging. Even though Bruce Wayne is surreptitiously living another life as Batman, with only a few close confidants being aware of it, he seems to enjoy social gatherings and occasional dates with many different women. He approaches his criminals through high tech researches and careful observations of facts and proofs. Batman also does not use his sudden insights to act and rather weighs the different possibilities using his tangible sources. Therefore, I assume that Batman is more sensing than intuitive.
Bruce Wayne is more feeling in the way he processes data because he considers the points of view of other people and he tries to do whatever establishes harmony within the society. For example, when Bruce Wayne had turned every cell phone in the city into a microphone and a high-frequency generator receiver, knowing that Lucius would not like such dangerous machine, he made it accessible and destructible by only Lucius. Also knowing that citizens of Gotham will lose hope and faith if they learn the truth behind Harvey Dent’s fall and death, Batman says, “Sometimes the truth is not good enough. Sometimes people deserve more.
Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded. ” (The Dark Knight) Batman also shows his willingness to do whatever is needed to help Gotham by saying, “I am whatever Gotham needs me to be. ” (The Dark Knight) Maybe because Batman is so engrossed in many different endless jobs he has to finish, he never seems to be having his pleasure and leisure time. He always seems to be task oriented and organized in his plans and well in control with the help of Alfred Pennyworth and Lucius Fox so that the plans never fail. Watching this movie, I could not help but notice the parallel between Jesus from the Bible and Batman.
Just like the historical character Jesus, who supposedly had no sin and dedicated to give up his own life for the forgiveness of others, and who eventually gets accused by the same people who used to acclaim him as the “Savior,” Batman, who did nothing against the morals, gets chased by those who used to praise him as the “Hero,” by becoming the scapegoat. Therefore, in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, even though I believe that Batman is sometimes on the level of safe and security because he gets injured often while fighting against criminals and Joker, Batman is primarily on the level of self-actualization.
He truly dedicates himself for the benefit of others and to satisfy what the citizens of Gotham want. He knows what he is meant to do and does what he does not as a service for himself but as a guidance for the citizens of Gotham. Lieutenant Gordon, watching Batman run away, tells his son, “Because he is the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now, so we will hunt him because he can take it. He is not our hero; he’s a silent guardian, a watchful protector, a dark knight. ” (The Dark Knight)
Bruce Wayne, Batman, or the Dark Knight’s characteristics summed together support Batman’s famous quote, “Batman has no limits. ” (The Dark Knight) The way he dives into danger every day, cleans up all the violent and illegal mess made in Gotham, and sacrifices himself for people’s mental comfort proves his idealistic characteristics. Because he has no limit, I believe he was able to be the person and the hero portrayed in the movie. Without Batman, his perfect sense of morality, and his boldly courageous deeds, Gotham would not be the same.
