People need hope (Lessons from "The Batman")

Movies for me, are not just entertainment. A great movie has a deep moral and message behind it, which, as a poet, I delve deeply into, especially comic book movies.

Growing up, I'd always resonated with Batman.

It sounds weird, I know and I wouldn't blame you if you rolled your eyes reading that because well, I wasn't born a billionaire and I didn't lose my parents in a tragedy but I've always been able to relate to the pain and trauma that Bruce feels.

I mean, I created a whole dark persona personifying my trauma (but's that hardly something to bring up at the dinner table now is it?)

Now, how the hell does a movie about a man who dresses up like a Bat and beats the crap out of criminals relate to self-improvement?

Patience my friend... I'm just about to get into it.

We follow Batman throughout the dark and dingy streets of Gotham, as he paroles the streets trying to put an end to crime. We see the city from his point of view and we can feel the fear he puts into the hearts of the corrupt.

As the movie goes on. he learns that he isn't having the effect he thought he was.

That he's inspiring evil instead of good.

It's when he realises that he needs to change.

That inspiring fear was not the way to make a powerful impact. All this time he was looking at things wrong.

We see the regret in his eyes, as a criminal doing his best Mole man from the Incredible's cosplay (thanks to Batman smashing him in the face like he'd just gone after his girl. oh) calls himself "Vengeance."

That's when Bruce realises the people need more, and he needed to become it.

He needed to become a symbol of hope.

So he led the people out of the tunnel.

Lighting the way forward.

Vengeance was no more.

The Batman was born.

The Batman taught me that I needed to overcome my pain. That i needed to rise from the ashes of my trauma and use it as a tool to inspire those less fortunate than I.

When I sat in the cinema the many (and I mean MANY) times I went to see it, for the friend sitting next to me, it was just a movie.

but for me, it was a calling.

A calling that I knew I had to answer.

If I didn’t answer this calling, I would be denying the world something of value. It is like Bruce Wayne running from the cowl. Running from being Gotham’s protector.

What would happen to them without Batman? They'd be screwed.

They need him.

Am I saying I’m a saviour and the protector of my readers?

Of course not, but the knowledge I have gained and the message I can spread will help people.

People like me, who a year and a half ago, couldn’t even get out of bed to face the day.

People, who, even today, are caged by their ill mental health. We can do something about that. It doesn’t have to stay the same.

I felt like Matt Reeves wrote this movie for me. I went into it angry and filled with hatred. Wanting to inflict Vengeance on my past and those in it.

Late night hours in the gym, walking the streets with a hood up, embodying Bruce Wayne’s emo persona, unknowingly. My writing reflected that too. I wrote pieces about being Vengeance. I was angry that I had “lost” others in my life, I was angry that I was broke and my social media presence was going nowhere.

Then as the movie went on, I learned. I learned, as Batman did, that vengeance was not the answer.

As Pattinson’s Batman said in the final monologue “Vengeance won’t change the past, mine or anyone else’s. I need to become more. People need hope.” People need to know there is a way out of their pain and i needed to become a symbol of that. That monologue was talking to me. It reached out and spoke to me. It was what, my entire life, I was waiting to hear. I needed to hear.

Maybe you needed to hear it too.

Stop running from your calling. Whatever it may be - answer it. Because "it's not just a call, it's a warning," A warning that you need to make change and you need to do it now.

The world needs you and the gifts you have to offer.

So be an example in your daily life.

For your family. For your friends. For your loved ones and those who look up to you.

Forgive the past. Embrace the present and make a better future.

Be a source of hope. Step out from the darkness. Become a beacon of light.

“Vengeance, won’t change the past. Mine… or anyone else’s. I have to become more. People need hope. To know someone’s out there for them. This city's angry, scarred. Like me. Our scars can destroy us. even after the physical wounds have healed. But if we can survive them... They can transform us. They can give us the power. To Endure... And the strength to fight.” - The Batman