Many people consider movie-watching a waste of time, but I defy that supposition! There are many good, and valuable, principles we can learn from movies. To prove my case, I want to discuss five life lessons we can learn from watching Batman. Specifically I will refer to the two newest Batman movies, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.
Traumatic experiences can work for our good. If Bruce Wayne, using his real name for a moment, hadn’t had that overwhelming fear of bats at a young age, his alter ego would have never been created. After the horrifying death of his parents, he was even more traumatized which caused him to later want to work toward making Gotham City the kind of place his father had always hoped it would be.
Climbing mountains teaches us endurance. In Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne climbs to the top of the highest Himalayan mountain in order to bring a flower to the monks who lived in a monastery at the top. After he suffers freezing cold conditions, fatigue, and near starvation, he finally arrives at the top. Because he pushed himself and proved that he could handle whatever struggles he would be faced with, the League of Shadows agreed to train him. In everyone’s life we have to suffer many such climbs, but once we reach the top, a whole new world of knowledge and opportunity is opened up to us.
We all have our niche. Batman went to school and studied . . . well, I don’t remember what he studied, but in the end it obviously had nothing to do with what his profession turned out to be. However, what we do learn is that we all have special talents and skills—Batman’s was at seeking revenge against evil villains and lawbreakers. Perhaps your skill is in making someone laugh or making people feel comfortable. All of these are things that are necessary for life.
You can’t do it alone. Batman would not have been batman without Alfred, the faithful and devoted butler. We all need an Alfred in our lives to help us get through the tough times. Having someone to act as a backup can give us the boldness that we need to continue onwards. Also, in non-Christian Bale-based movies, Batman has sidekicks in Robin and Batgirl to help him in the actual battles, although neither were ever so faithful as Alfred.
Set worthy goals. Batman had the goal of making Gotham city the safest place it could be. This worthy goal was the aim and focus of everything he did in his life. While most of us don’t have the opportunity to focus our entire lives on one specific thing like this, we can focus on smaller goals and positive effects that that we can bring about in our own families, societies, and cultures.
About the Author
Tiffani Azani is a freelance writer for MyCollegesandCareers.com. My Colleges and Careers provides assistance to students, helps them understand how they can find the best online colleges, and which ones they can choose from to reach their goals.