Is Mitt Romney…Batman?

He does have that super hero jaw line…

(Thanks to my sister Rachel for making the header.)

UPDATE (07/19/2012): My appearance on Demetri Ravanos’ show Morning Drive will be broadcast tomorrow morning on Talk Radio 850 WPTF in Raleigh, North Carolina. Listen online here: http://www.wptf.com/show850AMdj.asp?DJID=60973

If you’ve read and listened between the lines these days, you’ll find out that I’m the girl to blame for comparing Mitt Romney to Batman. Here’s the link to the transcript of the segment in which Rush Limbaugh read an excerpt of my article on the air: http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2012/07/17/the_batman_campaign

I also got to talk about this a little bit on The Perdie Patriotic hangout. I called in from a dorm room at Samford University, where I am staying this week for the America’s First Principles of Freedom Seminar by the Alabama Policy Institute and the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (I come on at about 11:08 minutes in):

I have not yet seen the film The Dark Knight Rises (its release date is July 20th in fact), but I just came across an article by Nathaniel Botwinick in National Review that adds more detail to the initial analogy I portrayed:

…In The Dark Knight Rises, Bane appears to have much more in common with the violent anarchists associated with Occupy Wall Street than with Governor Romney. He leads a major assault on Gotham’s financial district and stock exchange — in scenes that were filmed in their analogous Manhattan locations to further emphasize the theme of class warfare. Bane then announces that he is handing the city over to the 99 percent. Do these appear to be the actions of a former hedge-fund CEO?

Bruce Wayne is a more plausible stand-in for Mitt Romney. Both men succeeded in the private sector. Bruce Wayne is supported in his endeavors by his controlling stake in Wayne Enterprises, a multinational conglomerate, while Mitt Romney’s success at Bain Capital helped him achieve financial independence. The death of Bruce Wayne’s parents drives him to become Batman, while some speculate that the untimely end of George Romney’s political career propels Mitt Romney. Furthermore, the biggest supporters of both Bruce Wayne and Mitt Romney often say that no one knows who these men truly are. (There are even small echoes: In Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies, the Batmobile is based on the “Tumbler,” a military-prototype vehicle. Mitt Romney’s father, George Romney, achieved his greatest success in the automotive industry with the sturdy, compact “Rambler.”)…

There is nothing wrong with using creative cultural references to communicate a message. As I was taught in speech class, orators of the past could connect with audiences through references to the classics, but more frequently now we find ourselves having to make references to things a bit closer to home, like popular culture.

The point in all of this is that opponents of Mitt Romney who tried to use the “Bane” villain as propaganda against him were shallow and made a mistake. Anybody who thinks beyond the sound of the name “Bane” can see that their analogy backfires. Furthermore, wealth is not inherently evil, and as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Mitt Romney demonstrate, it can be and often is used to create and provide positive things.

What I appreciate about the Is-Mitt-Romney-Batman discussion is that it is a creative opportunity to open up dialog on why and how voters have been led to judge Mitt Romney differently from Barack Obama, and what that means for American society. This will in turn bring us back to the important issues of this year’s election, and help voters be more prepared to determine which candidate is best equipped to run the executive branch of the United States government.

I plan to expand on this theme at my column “Not Your Average Read” at The Washington Times Communities in the weeks to come.

SO STAY TUNED…