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No matter how many criminals Batman puts away, there seems to be a never-ending supply of them, and one iconic Batman villain actually did manage to find out the reason for why the crime rate never levels off. Research conducted by Harley Quinn might finally explain why Gotham has so many criminals.
Many people often forget, but Harley Quinn used to be an accomplished psychiatrist. She spent a long time studying the mind and how various events can affect someone psychologically. While these skills aren’t usually given the respect they deserve, they are important to her character, as showcased in Harleen #1 by Stjepan Šejić.
In this fantastic issue, Harleen spends two years talking to people who served in war, and she comes up with a pretty convincing theory about Gotham that perfectly explains why there are so many criminals in the city.
Harleen #1 by Stjepan Šejić and Gabriela Downie
One of the major things that Harleen learns about the war criminals she talks to is that their brains have effectively shut down their ability to process empathy. As Harleen explains, when someone is in the middle of a war, seeing the enemy combatant as a human might make a soldier hesitate to fire on them. This hesitation might not be reciprocated by the enemy. It’s easier to fight in war and stay alive by not viewing the enemy as a human being. It’s a stronger version of the fight-or-flight response, and Harleen believes it’s been affecting Gotham City and its citizens, who only want to survive in a terrible place.
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It’s not an understatement to say that Gotham City is a war zone., especially when there are Batman events like Joker War. It seems that every single day Gotham is under assault by some new super-villain with plans to either level the city or take it over. Harleen believes that this constant assault has resulted in the citizens of Gotham City being in a perpetual state of fight-or-flight. They have to do everything they can to survive. It’s not easy living in a city where a 7.6 earthquake can hit one week and Bane can take over the entire city the next.
Batman Can Never Actually Save Gotham City
And Harley Quinn Knows Why
Because of this constant state of fight-or-flight, the citizens of Gotham no longer see each other as people. All they can think about is keeping themselves alive, which makes robbing and killing each other significantly easier. It’s a brutal way to live life, but there’s no denying that Harleen’s theory has merit. Gotham is constantly under attack for one reason or another, which was also a plot point during the Fear State story arc.
Batman has been fighting crime in Gotham City for decades, and it never seems like anything gets better.
Batman has been fighting crime in Gotham City for decades, and it never seems like anything gets better. He has put hundreds of criminals behind bars and there always seem to be more. It’s not that criminals are constantly traveling to Gotham City – it’s that every citizen of Gotham has the potential to be a criminal because they’ve lost the ability to empathize with one another. Because of this sad state of affairs, it’s unlikely that Batman will ever win his war on crime, and Harley Quinn knows it.
Harleen is on sale now from DC Comics!
“}]] This one villain knows the secret of Gotham. Read More