COMIC THEORY: BATMAN Doesn't Remember His Parents' MURDER?? || NerdSync

If Batman has a photographic memory, then he must be able to look back on the night his parents were murdered in extreme detail and use that as motivation for bringing justice to Gotham. But what if he trained to acquire an eidetic memory after the death of his parents? Would his memory of that night actually be accurate, or completely warped and changed as he continues to reflect on it? Does Bruce Wayne truly remember the night that his parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne, were killed? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Tie-Ins are quick and snappy videos that take a look at some fun facts and concepts surrounding comics!

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SOURCES:
Batman's Parents Dying: The Supercut
Batman #12
Anthony's tweet
How reliable is your memory? - Elizabeth Loftus TED talk
Memory and Forgetting - Radiolab
Cracked Podcast #3: Flashbulb Memories
Flashbulb Memories Are Special After All; in Phenomenology, Not Accuracy
Confidence, Not Consistency, Characterizes Flashbulb Memories

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[KingofBeasts]

That would explain why Joker, twoface, Joe chill, etc have all killed his parents.

[wesleywiggins]

Actually, fear and trauma can cause an identical memory to be created. However, what you said about the memory becoming less accurate every time is correct.

[Psychesrose]

The main thing I wonder about is if batman remembers his *parents* correctly or if he's just idealizing them in his mind. Every time there's a flashback, they seem just a little too freaking perfect. Always the right advice, never swayed by petty problems, it's more like someone's idea of the prefect couple rather than real people. In psychology, there's this thing called "rosy retrospection" where it's sorry of like when old people only remember the "good times" and they remember things as being more positive than what they actually felt at the time.

[walterluffman]

I can accept the idea that Batman's memory of his parents' deaths isn't entirely exact, but it's probably very close -- and he has clues to help him. First, sensory cues such as the smell of gunpowder and the visual reminders that occur with every visit to to Crime Alley -- even the dark of night and certain weather conditions, perhaps. Second, his parents' graves, there on the grounds of Wayne Manor. Third, newspaper clippings that I'm sure Alfred kept so young Bruce would never forget his parents -- not in death so much as in life, but certainly including coverage of their deaths.

For that matter Alfred himself, Wayne Manor (filled with his parents' things) and in some versions Jim Gordon all serve to remind him of that night. His memory of the event may be slightly colored over time, but the most important details are probably burned in deep. Even today he could no doubt testify accurately in court, if the occasion somehow arose.

[Rseyo]

Maybe it isn't in the accurateness of the memory that drives the Batman, but the emotions that stirs inside him at that exact moment, a split second of shock, fear, despair, panic, anger, loss, guilt, misery and powerlessness, that awakens his young consciousness, he did have a "brush with death" in that alley, if not Joe Chill deciding to spare his life. I think that moment is the key that opens his eyes to see that there is something wrong, in the city, in its society and in himself, and he uses that thought and emotion as a motivation to drive himself to be better, and to at least improve Gotham by doing what he can do as a Wayne and as Batman. He isn't caught in the past, but rather he is trapped in that state of being flooded by those intense emotion, that the only way for him to cope is by sheer self control and intense discipline, dedicating his life to this crusade. I guess this is the reason why, no one in the Bat-family would ever truly understand him, and that every Robin, and partner (whether romantic or not) leaves, because they can never duplicate the same exact emotional condition/state that Batman is in, that puts him in the edge of madness and sanity every night. ^_^ 

[andrewrperkins]

And this is why in my opinion this is the best Comic book channel on YouTube.

[TheStroy]

“Remembering's dangerous. I find the past such a worrying, anxious place. "The Past Tense, " I suppose you'd call it. Memory's so treacherous. One moment you're lost in a carnival of delights, with poignant childhood aromas, the flashing neon of puberty, all that sentimental candy-floss... the next, it leads you somewhere you don't want to go. Somewhere dark and cold, filled with the damp ambiguous shapes of things you'd hoped were forgotten. Memories can be vile, repulsive little brutes. Like children I suppose. But can we live without them? Memories are what our reason is based upon. If we can't face them, we deny reason itself! Although, why not? We aren't contractually tied down to rationality! There is no sanity clause! So when you find yourself locked onto an unpleasant train of thought, heading for the places in your past where the screaming is unbearable, remember there's always madness. Madness is the emergency exit… you can just step outside, and close the door on all those dreadful things that happened. You can lock them away… forever.” - Joker in "Killing Joke"

[Xehanort]

And in most versions of Batman's parent's murder he remembers the voice of their murderer whether it be depending on the continuity Joe Chill or in the 1989 Batman film Jack Napier the future Joker being low and demonic because back then in Bruce's child mind he saw his parent's killer as a monster who came out of the darkness to take the lives of his parents instead of a simple thug with a gun.

[mohammadalichavoshi]

There are also studies that show that every time you remember something you are actually remembering the last time you remembered it, not the actual event.

[Boydgado]

Fear and trauma, it makes you recollect almost every little detail as to why hed probably remember it

[fununclenerfs]

Batman totally killed his parents, his 'rogues gallery' is just his multiple personalities, and he's the only patient in Arkham.

[AHeroAlmost]

I think someone said it in the comments already, but I agree with him..maybe the emotions drive him not the actual memory itself, he wants to avenge his parents, do his parents proud and of course not let his city down...

[Axomite]

Videos like these are the reason that insure that NerdSync keeps growing. So few times have i seen videos as broad and as oddly imagined as these that are so interesting and yet still based on fact. They are truly amazing

[tonygonzalez]

If Magneto can control metal, can he lift Mjïolnir?

[BingeWatchers]

This was both kind of obvious and mind-blowing at the same time. I mean it makes perfect sense, but I've never thought about it. There's a lot about Batman that suggests he might be a bit hypocritical about deciding what's good and what bad according to his past experience, so there should be no reason why we wouldn't expect him to alter this defining memory to best suit his needs. Scott, you are awesome.  

[legofreedom]

New GIF I love making these things on your videos #Starfoxinavengers3  

[carlosmoran]

Awesome video. You deserve more subscribers.

[llcoolray]

Any misrememberance likely wouldn't be intentional. He may not remember every detail, but I'm sure the major points are accurate, and that's all that really matters.

Unrelated: Check out the Elseworlds where Kal El's pod lands in Gotham, he's adopted by the Waynes, and becomes Batman. It's pretty sweet.

[oliverernsthenderson]

Interesting topic. Scott, I like it how u ask questions about comics that nobody else asks and question facts that others just take for granted. Like for example the time u asked why Lex Luthor is bald. I just took that fact for granted. Keep up the good work and never get rid of this channel!

[nakiarobinson]

Batman may not have a 100% accurate memory of the night his parents were murdered, or maybe he does and he is forcing not to forget. For example, when we're creating a memory, certain things remain definites. Sometimes it is a sound or smell or image of someone. When we recreate a memory in our mind, we may not remember EVERYTHING, say a smell but may remember that there was a particular flower in the area, so your mind's recreation would then include the smell of that flower, whether or not you smelled that flower when the actual event happened.

I mention this because that's what Batman is training to do. He is training to remember every detail vividly. He may walk in a room and see flowers on a desk but note to his memory that the room smelled of gas, not that flower. That is how he develops his fine tuned detective skills, why he can note a single thing out of place or that a sound or smell is missing from a scene.

Maybe that experience shook him so hard, at that scene he swore never to forget and took in every detail his young mind could from that moment on.

Just saying...but I'm not a batman expert.