6 Principles On How To Live From Batman The Animated Series

It’s easy to get lost. Especially today. That’s why they invented bread crumbs, I suppose. So we’d have something when the sun isn’t shining and those bright stars are hidden behind clouds. Something that brings us back home.

For me, that’s Batman The Animated Series. Whenever I feel like I’ve strayed too far from camp, I turn on BTAS and it helps me find my way back. I’ve been watching since I was a kid and I’ll never stop. It takes me back to a time when all lies were bad lies, anything that wasn’t good was evil, and I didn’t make concessions that made me feel dirty.

Over the years I’ve picked up many ways to stay moving forward without becoming a sellout, but none quite as simple as BTAS, a cartoon born of a simpler time, with several lessons that never get old.

Remember the past, but never lose sight of your future

In “I Am The Night,” Batman and Leslie Thompkins are talking about the never-ending fight against crime. Batman is surprisingly exhausted. Until then, I’d never known Batman — or any hero — could actually get tired, let alone waver in their motivation. Yet here we are, Batman questioning to go on doing good.

Leslie, quoting Santayana, reminds Batman that “those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.” Batman, without pause, says “he also said ‘a fanatic is someone who redoubles his efforts while losing sight of his goal.”

Like Batman, I don’t have trouble remembering the past — it haunts me — but I do tend to get absorbed and overrun with the mission. And when I do, I remember that even Batman feels like he’s not making a difference sometimes.

Pay attention to the little things

The first time Batman meets Mr. Freeze in “Heart of Ice,” the villain gives him a chance to step aside. When Batman doesn’t, Freeze tries to make Batman understand why he wants revenge.

“Think of it, Batman. To never again walk on a summer’s day with a hot wind in your face, and a warm hand to hold. Oh, yes. I’d kill for that.”

To this day, whenever I catch myself complaining, I remember that line. There are literally millions who would kill for my worst day.

Money isn’t everything

Bruce Wayne is the mask Batman wears; diligent, civic-minded, and caring. And there isn’t an episode that shows that better than “Eternal Youth,” when Bruce is threatening an employee.

“I don’t care how much money we’ll lose! I won’t have Wayne Enterprises involved in an operation that destroys a rain forest! Shut it down, or you’re gone!”

It’s maybe the one and only time BTAS shows Bruce losing his cool (maybe Demon’s Quest). And it’s about doing the right thing, even if it costs you.

Sometimes leaving is all that’s left

In my all-time favorite episode, Tyger Tyger, we’re taken to a sort of Island Of Doctor Moreau where we meet Tygrus, a genetically altered beast that can speak.

After Tygrus learns how horrible his father truly is, he destroys his home and turns dear old dad over to Batman, fading into the vegetation, never to be seen again. But not before saying the saddest line the show ever delivered.

“There’s nothing for me anywhere.”

When everything you’ve ever known has fallen apart, sometimes it’s better to just move on.

Victory isn’t everything

In “Night of the Ninja,” we get a rare look at Batman’s Samurai upbringing. A Ninja blast from the past, one of the only opponents to beat the bat, has returned and Batman isn’t sure he can win. Luckily, Yoru Sensei, the man who taught the bat, has a few words of wisdom.

“Defeat can be more instructive than victory.”

It’s nice to know that the world’s greatest detective is hard on himself too.

Other people will never stop trying to define you

Dreams in Darkness opens with Batman sealed in a straight jacket, trapped in Arkham, and telling a story

“Some thought I’d gone mad. Others thought I always had been. And so they put me where they thought I belonged.”

There’s clearly been some kind of mistake, but the doctors won’t listen as Batman urges them to let him stop the Scarecrow’s evil plan. All they see is a madman. But this is Batman, for heaven sakes. Look at all the good he’s done. Of all people, we can at least trust Batman, right? Yup, right up until one person changes their mind and calls him crazy, and the rest simply fall in line.

But that’s life. When the opinion climate changes, people are going to put a label on you, like it or not. And it just might read “insane.” But that didn’t stop Batman, and that shouldn’t stop you. He held to his beliefs, caught up to Scarecrow, and proved everyone wrong.

When the lightning strikes, and I see Batman standing atop a building with that iconic theme song thudding in the background, everything else just melts away, and life becomes something I can understand again. One man on a mission, determined. Unstoppable.