>>104202223Superman, for Batman, was less than a man, was a thing without humanity, which deserved to be hunted like a wild animal. “The followers must feel humiliated by the ostentatious wealth and force of their enemies. When I was a boy I was taught to think of Englishmen as the five-meal people. They ate more frequently than the poor but sober Italians. Jews are rich and help each other through a secret web of mutual assistance. However, the followers must be convinced that they can overwhelm the enemies. Thus, by a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus, the enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak.”
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1995/06/22/ur-fascism. Superman was powerful, but he was not human. This contradiction in the fascist’s mind between the simultaneous superiority and inferiority of the enemy is solved by the dehumanization of the adversary, which is treated as nonhuman. And how to kill a nonhuman? With indignity. Treading on his throat, crossing his chest with a hunting spear.
In the movie, Lex Luthor tells us that he just spurred Batman’s rage over Superman, and he speaks the truth. He only stimulated something that was already there. It is one of the characteristics of the fascist to blindly accept only what justifies his hatred. When Alfred tries to argue with his boss about the insanity of taking his fight forward, Bruce Wayne does not listen. When Superman tries the dialogue, the same thing happens. The fascist is not interested in dialogue, is not interested in what can show him how wrong he is. He accepts only what provides reasons for his belief about the enemy. Even more so if deterrence comes from an employee like Alfred or from a foreigner considered less than a human like Superman. “A man like that, words don’t stop him. Do you know what stops him? A fist.”. You can´t argue with a fascist, this is the message of the woman whose husband was killed in prison because of Batman.
