Put on a happy face: Batman as schizophrenic savior

This essay uses the psychological framework of Carl G. Jung as an interpretive lens to view Batman, the 1989 movie. Gotham City is suggested to represent a contemporary, collective dream; the psyche is scene. To be an effective crime fighter in this city, Bruce Wayne must actively cultivate schizophrenia. The integration of the psychic elements represented by the Joker is necessary for the psychological health of both Gotham and Wayne/Batman, but paradoxically the Joker must be destroyed to preserve both the city and savior. Gotham City represents a contemporary psyche unwilling to do the hard work of psychological maturation. Therefore, it can maintain order only through the efforts of a madman.