Post by Cary Friedman on Sept 1, 2008 9:58:07 GMT -5
www.theculturebeat.com/?p=654
Book Review: Wisdom from the Batcave
Alex Wainer
August 30, 2008
The book market has for several years seen a proliferation of books that purport to draw religious and philosophical insights from pop culture. I’ve written about books that draw that adduce spiritual principles from superheroes. And this Amazon search page shows what kind of titles you get when you try searching for a non-canonical source using “The Gospel According to . . . â€
I was watching a fascinating History Channel documentary, "Batman Unmasked: The Psychology of the Dark Knight," that aired right before the record-breaking Bat-film premiered in July (I hope this becomes an extra on the Dark Knight’s DVD release) and one of the expert commentators was Cary A. Friedman, a rabbi who has taught “spiritual survival†to FBI classes at Quantico. I had never grasped how Batman had displayed a moral philosophy that is useful for everyday people rather than just vigilantes. I ordered his book, Wisdom from the Batcave (it was sold out at Amazon and I had to wait a week for it to ship, but it’s in stock this writing.) What sold me were the effusive endorsements from comic-book professionals who appreciated that someone had detected and expounded upon the morally exemplary life led by the complex character. Longtime Bat-scribe and professing Christian Chuck Dixon’s blurb reads:
It was a rough neighborhood I grew up in back in Philadelphia. And a kid needed some guidelines to make sure he didn’t follow the wrong path. The nuns at St Andrews would have been horrified to learn that sometimes What Would Batman Do was of more practical use than anything contained in my Catechism. Bruce Wayne, and the man he would become, spoke to me more than the other costumed do-gooders I read about because he wasn’t transformed by a lightning bolt, magic ring or the benefit of extraterrestrial origin. He became the Dark Knight Detective through dedication and courage and hard work. That meant that if I stayed in school, obeyed my parents and ate my vegetables then I could be a hero. That’s the message that seeped into my brain from the thousands of pages of comic books that I read and re-read throughout my childhood.
Rabbi Friedman beautifully articulates the lessons and meaning and source of inspiration that Batman provided for me and millions of other kids; what we assimilated as kids through countless hours of following the struggles and solving the mysteries and going into combat beside Batman and Robin. The Rabbi distills that experience elegantly and provides a lesson even for the already-initiated. This book makes the case better than anything that I have ever read for why Bob Kane’s creation continues to fascinate (and instruct) decades after his first appearance.
More such reviews can be read at the book’s website linked from the title above. Reading the book was no disappointment–rising above the Reader’s Digest level of sentimental bromides, Friedman draws upon his rabbinic training in wisdom and virtue to offer any reader simple but deep insights into such values as perseverance, hard work and preparedness, old fashioned axioms that have never been disproven and which form the foundation of Batman’s appeal. The chapters are quite short, sometime one or two pages but illustrated with appropriate panels from Batman comics that show indeed how the Batman’s character is his greatest weapon, and potentially, one, each of us ordinary folks can appropriate in our daily battles against discouragement, cynicism and yes, the evils we encounter.
Book Review: Wisdom from the Batcave
Alex Wainer
August 30, 2008
The book market has for several years seen a proliferation of books that purport to draw religious and philosophical insights from pop culture. I’ve written about books that draw that adduce spiritual principles from superheroes. And this Amazon search page shows what kind of titles you get when you try searching for a non-canonical source using “The Gospel According to . . . â€
I was watching a fascinating History Channel documentary, "Batman Unmasked: The Psychology of the Dark Knight," that aired right before the record-breaking Bat-film premiered in July (I hope this becomes an extra on the Dark Knight’s DVD release) and one of the expert commentators was Cary A. Friedman, a rabbi who has taught “spiritual survival†to FBI classes at Quantico. I had never grasped how Batman had displayed a moral philosophy that is useful for everyday people rather than just vigilantes. I ordered his book, Wisdom from the Batcave (it was sold out at Amazon and I had to wait a week for it to ship, but it’s in stock this writing.) What sold me were the effusive endorsements from comic-book professionals who appreciated that someone had detected and expounded upon the morally exemplary life led by the complex character. Longtime Bat-scribe and professing Christian Chuck Dixon’s blurb reads:
It was a rough neighborhood I grew up in back in Philadelphia. And a kid needed some guidelines to make sure he didn’t follow the wrong path. The nuns at St Andrews would have been horrified to learn that sometimes What Would Batman Do was of more practical use than anything contained in my Catechism. Bruce Wayne, and the man he would become, spoke to me more than the other costumed do-gooders I read about because he wasn’t transformed by a lightning bolt, magic ring or the benefit of extraterrestrial origin. He became the Dark Knight Detective through dedication and courage and hard work. That meant that if I stayed in school, obeyed my parents and ate my vegetables then I could be a hero. That’s the message that seeped into my brain from the thousands of pages of comic books that I read and re-read throughout my childhood.
Rabbi Friedman beautifully articulates the lessons and meaning and source of inspiration that Batman provided for me and millions of other kids; what we assimilated as kids through countless hours of following the struggles and solving the mysteries and going into combat beside Batman and Robin. The Rabbi distills that experience elegantly and provides a lesson even for the already-initiated. This book makes the case better than anything that I have ever read for why Bob Kane’s creation continues to fascinate (and instruct) decades after his first appearance.
More such reviews can be read at the book’s website linked from the title above. Reading the book was no disappointment–rising above the Reader’s Digest level of sentimental bromides, Friedman draws upon his rabbinic training in wisdom and virtue to offer any reader simple but deep insights into such values as perseverance, hard work and preparedness, old fashioned axioms that have never been disproven and which form the foundation of Batman’s appeal. The chapters are quite short, sometime one or two pages but illustrated with appropriate panels from Batman comics that show indeed how the Batman’s character is his greatest weapon, and potentially, one, each of us ordinary folks can appropriate in our daily battles against discouragement, cynicism and yes, the evils we encounter.