Batman Begins, the Flood Again

(14-Oct-06 – Draft 0)

Batman Begins could very easily take the form of a modern reinterpretation (or retelling) of the Biblical story of the flood.

Those more familiar with the Batman comics than I might point out that Old Testament stories are not unfamiliar to the series, such as in the “Tower of Babel” storyline.

The Batman Begins narrative centers around Ra’s Al Ghul: an immortal, centuries-old mystic, alchemist and intellectual. Ra’s Al Ghul leads an esoteric organization called the League of Shadows, dedicated to the preservation of justice, by whatever means necessary.

The first ten minutes of the film finds Bruce Wayne under the tutelage of Al Ghul, who teaches Wayne martial arts, swordsmanship, and mystic self-control. He also instructs Wayne in the means and necessity of preserving justice, and informs Wayne of a plan to destroy the unjust and morally dissolute Gotham City.

The story pivots, however, during Wayne’s induction ceremony. Wayne is instructed to kill a captured despot– whose exploits against the local populace were numerous and egregious–and thereby to demonstrate his unwavering dedication to justice. Wayne, disgusted, revolts, leaving Al Ghul for dead and his mountain hideaway in flames as he flees back to civilization.

Wayne, despite is revulsion of Al Ghul’s means, is equally troubled by Gotham City’s injustice and violence. He chooses, then to fight against the injustice directly, rather than destroying everyone– the just and unjust, alike. Wayne continues his training and, through the use of advanced technology, gives himself super-human powers.

Meanwhile, Al Ghul has continued his plans for the utter and genocidal destruction of Gotham City. He has released a deadly virus(called Ebola Gulf A) into the city’s water supply. For the virus to be effective, however, it must be inhaled. This fits in Al Ghul’s plan, who has commandeered a weapon capable of instantly vaporizing the city’s entire water supply.

In the film’s climatic battle for the fate of Gotham City, Wayne, in the form of Batman, narrowly stops Al Ghul’s detonation of his water-evaporating laser, thereby saving the city’s inhabitant from being suffused in the virus-laden steam.

With Batman Begin’s narrative in mind, then, let’s consider the Biblical story of the flood.

Genesis 6:11-17 reads:

(11)The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. (12)And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

(13)And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. …

(17)And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein [is] the breath of life, from under heaven; [and] every thing that [is] in the earth shall die.

In Chaper 7, “the windows of heaven were opened (12)” and “fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered (20).” After 150 days of flood, “every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained [alive], and they that [were] with him in the ark (23).”

The similarities here are striking. Just for the sake of an intellectual exercise, substitute “Al Ghul” for “God” and “Bruce Wayne” for “Noah” in the above narrative and see how it reads.

In each narrative, we a supernatural power has passed judgement on human settlement as being irremediably unjust and corrupt. Being so, each power has decreed the complete and utter destruction of human life, with the exception of a faithful few. The means of this destruction, in each case, is water.

In the Biblical story, God informs Noah that he will destroy the earth. Unlike Wayne, however, Noah is submissive and builds his ark, in accordance with God’s wishes, and thereby saves himself and his family. One might argue that, in the Biblical narrative, Noah ultimately had no choice: Noah’s choice was either acquiescence or destruction. Refusal, for Noah, would have meant death.

By contrast, however, when Bruce Wayne discovers Al Ghul’s intention to destroy the earth, he balks.

Like Noah, Wayne, in and of himself, is no match for the centuries-old, immortal Al Ghul. Unlike Noah, however, Wayne has access to modern technology. Wayne uses technology to mold himself into something more than human– endowed with superhuman strength, the ability to fly, etc. So equipped, when Al Ghul attempts to open the “windows of heaven,” Wayne meets him and fights him one-on-one– eventually defeating him, and thereby saving humanity from Al Ghul’s destruction (although not from itself).

With this in mind, it’s possible to interpret Batman Begins as being an indictment of the Christian (or Jewish) God of the Old Testament. Whereas Al Ghul assumes the role of a villian, the Christian God is likewise villianized for his wish to serve “justice” by the utter destruction of humanity.

In this modern reinterpretation, however, God’s destruction of humanity is checked by the advance of human science and knowledge– Bruce Wayne becomes equal to “God” in knowledge and power through modern technology.

We live in a modern society– a modern society that has, to a lesser or greater extent, acknowledged the death–or defeat– of God, by the advance of modern science and thought. As a modern society, we still rustle with the questions of justice as much as any early Jewish society, but the story of Batman Begins represents the transfer of the responsibility for justice from a supernatural power to a modern, scientific human power. It’s arguable that we’re no closer to justice than ancient Jewish society, but no longer do we look to a deity for justice– that responsibility has been shifted fully and levelly to our shoulders.