I've seen some people upset about Bruce Wayne's portrayal in Harley Quinn Animated Series, specifically about S3 ep8 where Harley goes inside Bruce's mind and I just wanted to give my thoughts on it.
I actually really liked the idea about Batman just having to relive his parent's death every moment of his life, and that kind of being why the way he is. It does really paint kind of this awful picture though when it comes to him as a dad and the idea that like, none of the moments he had with his children were important enough to stand out or be his happiest moments. It also kind of seems like all of his love for his children didn't really matter because he just cares about his own parents. While I agree to some extent (like the fact that he didn't even think about resurrecting Jason?? tf is up with that) I also think it's a bit more complicated than that.
In the show he has shown obvious care for at least one son (arguably two since he did make effort for dick to get along with the batfam), as he has a bonding moment with damian after harley accidentally puts him in danger.
As we all know, Bruce's love language is mainly Acts of Service, protecting those he loves, providing for them, training and teaching them. But after this scene Damian is still upset and Bruce goes out of his way to comfort him.
[Because the captioning is awkward I've also put in the scipt here:
Bruce: Damian, I made your favorite.
Damian: You didn't make that. Alfred made that.
B: I made him make it. Are you mad because I had to save you from Joker?
D: No. I'm livid because everyone in Teen Titans is getting a nemesis, except me.
B: I'm gonna say something embarrassing here. I didn't have a nemesis until my late 20s.
D: Don't patronize me, Father. It's unbecoming.
B: It's true. I wasn't ready for one. You want your first nemesis to be special. Someone who you could see being your nemesis for the rest of your life.
D: I suppose you're right, Father.]
I think it isn't that he doesn't love his children or care about them, it's that his memories and his emotions are corrupted by that singular memory, and that when he tries to be happy, to run away, to move on there's that older Bruce who believes he doesn't deserve to be happy, he doesn't deserve to not look.
Like it's quite literally written out for us right there, he can't ever escape his parent's death. Also on top of that I also wanted to point out what Harley says here:
When I first saw this panel my immediate conclusion was that it was because Harley was there, but earlier in the episode it shows that she actually really can't change his memories that much, she can only change one small thing, which was that he didn't have to look.
In this I think that Harley being there has nothing to do with the shooter being there and tainting his memories and everything to do with the fact that bruce is inside another memory, where he isn't constantly rewatching his parents murder.
I believe this is why Bruce's happiest memory can't be with his children or any time after his parents died, because in his mind he is just a scared child rewatching his parent's death over and over. When he tries to live in a world without them the guilt pulls him back to that memory.
I just believe that he does love his children a lot but his own personal happiness with them is hard to think about without feeling guilty about his own parents. Hopefully, Harley will be able to knock some sense into him now that she's his official therapist :)
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On the topic of the whole...Inukawa thing from the latest episode; there’s this fic (Inukawa/Takenaka btw) that touched on the you-know-what and I really like it tbh. It’s been a while since I last read it, but I remember staying up just to finish it ^_^
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Bortus is the ultimate girl dad™️
Bortus and Kelly???
I feel like trusting a young girl with relying secret messages isn’t the best idea
Oh FUCK THESE GUYS
I’m swinging on all these fuckers
Y’all I can’t believe they got Dolly Parton
Dolly’s music playing over the scene is *chefs kiss*
Jesus Christ who is this dude? I’m swinging
Are we about to kiss right now?
I mean it: fuck these guys
Bortus back at it clotheslining people
Fuck. These. Guys
Bortus is going to cut a bitch
Not the other eye
No I am Spartacus
About fucking time
What are you doing here?
Is he actually showing growth??
Wow. Damn
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HOLY FUCK THIS IS LIKE THE FUNNIEST EPISODE EVER.
Like, I would be live tweeting this if twitter was still a thing.
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