Superheroes, Sexuality, and the Status Quo: Batman’s Ideological Function in American Cinema

This paper intends to explore the evolving mythology of Batman and how the malleability and, paradoxically, the inflexibility of his ideological function highlights the indispensability of superhero narratives within the American cultural ideological state apparatus. [...We] will examine Batman’s ideological influence on the American consciousness, ultimately exposing the hypocrisy of the superhero trope’s progressiveness within American cinema.