(no subject)

[seriousfic]

Hey, I'm looking to write a book with a character who was abused as a child and I wondering if there are any books or movies y'all know of that are particularly realistic about the aftereffects of that sort of thing. Because I don't want to be "Well, here's a random character, how can I add pathos? I know, CHILD ABUSE! La la, MAN-PAIN!"

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[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Three comics stories come to mind, and they're all related, each with varying degrees of success and failure in realistically depicting the after-effects of child abuse. At least, within the parameters of superhero fantasy. So realistic to a point, although maybe not as realistic as you'd prefer. And not to be totally predictable, but yes, two of them are Two-Face stories. But this very topic helps touch upon just why he's such a personally relevant character to me.

First up: Eye of the Beholder, by Andrew Helfer and Chris Sprouce, from Batman Annual #14. This is the story from which Jeph Loeb took many aspects for The Long Halloween, and thus which led directly into The Dark Knight, but it's by far the best take on Harvey's origin. The big reason for its superiority is its original idea that Harvey was physically and psychologically abused by his alcoholic father.

Full disclosure: my own father was an abusive alcoholic. I can't speak to all kinds of abuse and its effects (I was never physically abused, for one thing), so my views on this or any other story being accurate representations of the after-effects of abuse are far from universal. That said, abuse at the hands of alcoholic parents is a widespread but specific kind of abuse that--like all abuse, I imagine--cannot be understood by those who didn't live through it. It simply can't be understood. That's why we have support groups right alongside the AA meetings.

As such, speaking personally, I find the handling of abuse in Eye of the Beholder to be a chillingly accurate. It's rooted in psychological manipulation from how the father uses "the game" to dole out beatings under the guise as punishment for Harvey's "wrongs," and what's more, the "game" is never actually fair. What creates the divide between Harvey and his dark side is that his one side loves and trusts his father, while the other always knew the game was rigged and festered with resentment and rage. The irreconcilability of these sides are what lead to Two-Face, and why he has to use the (now scarred and, thus, fair) coin.

That said, this is a very specific take on abuse, not necessarily anything that would help you for what you're looking for. It also dubiously tries to tie a mismatching kind of schizophrenia into the mix, and it just doesn't work. However, it's the very best and most powerfully-accurate take on the "supervillain who was abused as a child" cliche, and it makes me frustrated that nobody references it when writing Harvey. But then again, I shudder to imagine what a lesser writer would do with it. Actually, wait, we already saw someone try: Paul Jenkins in Batman: Jekyll & Hyde. The less said about that, the better.

Continued...

[mcity.livejournal.com]

>the other always knew the game was rigged and festered with resentment and rage. The irreconcilability of these sides are what lead to Two-Face, and why he has to use the (now scarred and, thus, fair) coin.

Someone worked out that such a coin would be a bit off balance, and as such it would come up scarred more often. This was not intended by the writers, but it kinda works in the Nolanverse context, where Dent will "cheat" if he doesn't get what he wants the first time. ("Your driver.")

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I believe the first person to come up with the off-balance idea was Alan Grant in a silly Shadow of the Bat story from the late 90's. It's an interesting idea, but one that went entirely unexplored, and is thus meaningless. Considering how Harvey is fixated on duality and fairness, I'd really like to know how he's react to discovering that his own coin isn't fair. Depending on which version of Two-Face is being written, he can either see it as a perfect excuse to keep being evil, or it'll send him into a complete psychological and existential crisis.


And ugh, I can't begin to describe how much I hate a cheating Two-Face. Especially in TDK. It renders his newfound, inexplicable obsession with fairness moot, making him an instant hypocrite, and turning the coin into even more of a meaningless gimmick. I hate that Anton Chigurh's coin-flipping in No Country for Old Men was more fair and chilling than Harvey frickin' Dent's.

[mcity.livejournal.com]

>It renders his newfound, inexplicable obsession with fairness moot, making him an instant hypocrite, and turning the coin into even more of a meaningless gimmick.

Remember, the Joker claims to represent chaos, but has no problem setting up complex plots to achieve that goal (which is one heck of a subtle joke). Dent probably honestly thinks he' still being "fair"; and he's just rationalizing it. After all, even if he shot Sal's driver, that doesn't necessarily mean Sal is going to die, right? He'll take his chances, just like everyone else.