Why Is There So Much Crime In Gotham? | Criminologist Reviews

[@ToyInsanity]

When i was a kid, i always thought Gotham was NYC, Metropolis was Chicago, and Jump City was LA. Apparently this is all wrong.

[@greggingell5786]

Yea nah nyc = Gotham + metropolis Chicago = central city + star city then for la it gets messy. Also you gotta know dc has a bigger earth than our earth and the geography isn’t 1:1 and neither is the vibe of each city. Then on top of that dc has a messy history and the character of a lot of cities has changed over time and with the writers.

[@seeleunit2000]

Same here. Considering that another name for New York is Gotham it just works

[@EvanHBogle]

Gotham is like the 70s Bronx mixed with Chicago O-Block.

[@ChondroMan]

​@@greggingell5786why would the earth be bigger? That seems kinda dumb. That'd definitely effect the ppl that live their if the earth is bigger with a stronger gravity. Do they account for that?

[@greggingell5786]

@@ChondroMan oh don’t overthink it. The first panel citation in my head is JLA/Avengers and superman is flying around the marvel earth which is 1:1 to our earth and he says it’s considerably smaller. Dc also has not like 2 fake countries like marvel but quite a few and they have to have land to exist. This is a don’t think about it too hard question tho because obviously gravity and weather would be totally different.

[@LadyDeirdre]

Concerning the Joker, the question is not why Batman has not killed him; he has good and sufficient reasons to refrain from doing so. The question is why nobody else has killed him.

[@isgamer-8732]

Yeah, not batman's fault it's the judicial systems fault

[@coltonwilliams4153]

Officer Bellamy: I just don’t get! Why hasn’t the bat killed this clown yet?! Joker: I ask myself that every day! Bellamy: *slams the grate in the cruiser* Shut up, already! Officer Jerinco: Why should it be the bat’s job? He gift wraps Joker for us with all the evidence we could ever dream of to put Joker in the ground. It’s the city’s fault for not taking care of him properly! Bellamy: Are you kidding? Have you seen the state’s death row list? Most of those people will die of old age before they actually get strapped to the table! That’s not even mentioning the fact that people get all up in arms about killing the mentally ill, even if they’re nothing more than rabid dogs! Joker: Truly, the greatest crime here is governmental bureaucracy. Bellamy and Jerinco: SHUT UP!!! Jerinco: So the only answer is for Batman, arguably the best thing to happen to this city, to kill Joker? We both know that would force the entire police force to hunt him down. Hell, what’s stopping us from doing it?! Bellamy: What? Jerinco: Yeah. If the city’s legal types are too much of a bunch of putzes to do it, and Batman is too valuable to do it, why not us? Joker: … Bellamy: Jerry, you have any idea what that would do to your career? Jerinco: Listen, I joined the force because of the bat. Far as I see it, he’s a lot more important than me. But nobody who matters is going to care. We’ll just tell them that the clown snuck in a weapon and tried to escape. Wouldn’t be the first time. Or even the fifth. If I lose my badge, that’s life. At least I’ll go down in history as the no-name rookie cop who put down the Joker. Joker: Now hold on a second! Jerinco: I think that alley over there should be good enough. Let me pull over and we can drag him down it. Bellamy: Nah… it’d give him too many chances to get away. Keep the wheel steady, I’ll do it. Jerinco: What? But… Bellamy: I’m a year from retirement, and there’s nobody to give my pension to thanks to all the nonsense that happens in this city. I also don’t agree with your assessment on your own value. Besides, I’ve been waiting to do something like this for years. I’ve seen far too many of ours die to this guy. *BANG*

[@heavenlyderpfowl1180]

Fr like am I seriously supposed to believe that nobody has used their second amendment rights on him?

[@weenusschmartington]

Realistically once Joker kills one GCPD officer I can see one rogue cop going after him, or literally a relative of a victim of his crimes

[@demonmysterykid3343]

​@@coltonwilliams4153 and then he got a million dollars lol

[@thereverend6114]

This should be mandatory viewing for every Batman writer

[@MadSmylex]

Hahah thank you so much

[@DegenerateJay]

Another very interesting spin on this I'd love to hear your thoughts on - What makes Metropolis so much less crime-driven compared to Gotham? I know they have Superman, but Superman is also dealing with JL and alien threats quite often, so it's not like he's there 24/7 nowadays, especially compared to his earlier days.

[@MadSmylex]

Thank you :D I have a video coming up about their differences. I think Metropolis is already different at its core. The government seems less corrupt so people can trust others more. Superman is also very patriotic. He seems to embody the "truth, justice and American way" which gives people hope. Batman on the other hand, embodies fear and vengeance. It creates more deterrence. Another thing is that a lot of the crime in Gotham is committed by the people of Gotham themselves. It's like crime is an issue of the city. Metropolis has more outside threats like aliens. It helps the citizens feel better about themselves because "they are not the problem". If they were to commit crimes, they would be an outsider as well. People don't tend to want to be outsiders, they want to belong to a group which means having to conform to their values.

[@Thed538dhsk]

​@@MadSmylexAlso Gotham has a power vacuum. Criminals, executives and CEO's, corrupt politicians, etc. All try to claw their way to power over Gotham. Only a few like Bruce Wayne appear less power hungey or viscous. Metropolis is ruled by Lex Luther almost like a monopoly. He AND Superman have a parasitic relationship where they stop Metropolis from having different factions try to gain power.

[@nickkk420]

​@@Thed538dhskexactly, Lex keeps everyone in check

[@mikeval1525]

@@nickkk420and when lex was thought to have been in the 90s, metropolis was disarray because multiple people lost their and businesses he managed were falling apart. And Superman couldn’t do anything.

[@professorwizard8916]

there was actually a comic recently that put the cities in perspective from loser villain perspectives or regular criminals. the reason less crime happens in metropolis is because of what DOES happen in Metropolis. Superman, aliens invading every week, evil gods attacking, giant robots... it scared most criminals out. and fun fact the worst city for criminals to be in is Central City. Not because The Flash will beat you with no issue but because he will lecture criminals. and nobody wants that.

[@thestarkknightreturns]

Actually, there is another, more recent supernatural reason which has been retconned into why Gotham is crime-ridden. Long story short, Gotham City is founded upon a portal to a hell dimension ruled by a Bat-Demon called Barbatos. Batman, being the reverse proxy for the Demon upon whom the rules of Earth must apply, is doomed to be punished in his stead by engaging in a never-ending war on crime against the most probable servants of Barbatos: criminals and overall evil people.

[@ronanodonovan3673]

*And*, that comes with another practical reason - the cult that worships Barbatos is a gang of landlords and millionaires, who underfund amenities and keep killing anyone who presents themselves as a reformer, and only failed in the case if Bruce Wayne for secret, he-was-Batman, reasons

[@rodrigofigueiroa9184]

That is excellent. Because although Gotham is a fictional city and has crime because it needs to have it, inevitably, writers and artists will depict the city as resembling real cities where crime occurs, and therefore your analysis is entirely valid. Major capitals here in my country, Brazil, have exactly the problems you described, for these reasons. We may not have supervillains in costumes yet, but the other issues of infrastructure and organization are exactly those.

[@AstraFulminous]

Gotham is cursed in like 3 different ways. 2 of which involve Batman & The Waynes themselves. It doesn't need a Bat Family. No not alone. It needs an Exorcist.

[@MadSmylex]

True haha

[@King-mg7vy]

Stop saying Gotham is cursed, it's not cursed.

[@johnathanhenderson256]

@@King-mg7vywhat about it being built on top of barbatos

[@thomaskilroy4573]

@@King-mg7vyUh…YES IT IS. It’s literally possessed by a fragment of Darkseid disguised as Barbatos.

[@connorharnage6697]

@@King-mg7vyIt literally is though

[@SalazarKnight]

I love how you uploaded this video on Batman Day!!! Also, another important detail is the GCPD was a cesspool of corruption before Batman appeared and that's also why more cops in Gotham doesn't fix the problem. Great video and Happy Batman Day to you Mad!!! :)

[@MadSmylex]

Thank you so much 😊 happy Batman day

[@hazykrug4092]

yooooo salazarKnight spotted, love your videos

[@Ghostfish34]

Because if Wile E Coyote caught the Road Runner the story would end.

[@gayanudugampola8973]

Though it does reinforce the idea Batman hasn't fixed anything or made gotham better.

[@demianoff]

How smart

[@xaayer]

@@gayanudugampola8973 Actually many comics hold that things HAVE gotten better in Gotham. Pretty much things have always been bad but were getting better when Thomas and Martha Wayne were alive, and when they were killed, crime shot way up. Batman comes to Gotham and petty crime starts to drop as organized crime also gets busted up. Supervillains do rise, but there are hints that some of them would have always come up anyway (Joker was already a criminal before his Batman encounter in many interpretations and villains such as Jervis Tetch and Clayface who have their origins completely independent of Batman would also likely have risen with no one to oppose them). We often hear characters say that crime has dropped during the night because of fear of the Bat, i.e. in the Dark Knight movie Joker brings up the mob bosses' fears in his scene with them and in the graphic novel the Dark Knight Rises, Bartholemew Wolper tries to discredit the drop in crime Batman's return brings. We also get ample evidence of Bruce helping prevent crime with various initiatives via Wayne Enterprises. So all in all, on average Batman has made Gotham better and has fixed things. Corrupt cops have been weeded out into a minority (or nonexistent), corrupt politicians and public servants are not as plentiful as the were before him, petty crime has dropped as has organized crime, and the list goes on. That being said, what Ghostfish34 said is true: if Gotham ever fully heals, there'd cease to be stories to entertain us (you can check out The Imaginary Axis' video on the Empty Hand in DC to understand that the real problem with Gotham is the reader). The Empty Hand aside, what we read in comics are the extreme cases of what happens in Gotham, not the average day to day life of Joe Schmo going to work. We only get Joe Schmo going to work if Joe is pertinent to a story of crime. There are often hundreds of extras in the background going about rather mundane daily lives in Gotham similar to our own who never get their story told because their story would just not be interesting. People still live in NY, people still live in Detroit, people still live in Chicago, and people still live in Gotham.

[@VinluvAntonHandesbukia]

@@gayanudugampola8973technically they did weed out small crime and most mafiosos the problem is the metahumans with way too much money

[@connorharnage6697]

@@gayanudugampola8973Nah he 100% has. Look in literally any story that's either pre-Batman or Batman has been absent for any long period of time and the city only gets worse. It's just that a handful of people can only do so much

[@sebswede9005]

"It's a city of dreams, and i'm a big dreamer".

[@IrfanMalik27]

Another awesome, detailed breakdown looking at the crimes in Gotham, the minutes flew by thanks to your soothing voice. Also cool costume change too! 😊

[@MadSmylex]

Thank you :)

[@DoctorFatman]

Aw yiss, this channel is about to blow up.

[@MadSmylex]

Thanks haha I hope so 😅

[@armorbearer9702]

Great video! I never thought about it before, but there are a lot of people in power(crime bosses, politicians, etc.) that want to keep the city the way it is. They want the opportunity to be king.

[@MadSmylex]

Yeah, they want status and dominance over altruism I guess

[@thomaskilroy4573]

*Answer* - In the 1700s, a cult trapped a demonic fragment of Darkseid’s essence in the village that would one day become Gotham. Darkseid is the DC God of all Evil and the true main antagonist of the entire canon. His essence draws evil towards Gotham which is why it’s such a hive for cruelty, malice, terrorism and psychopathy. The entire city is literally possessed by a portion of the concept of evil itself.

[@dorememe8548]

12:09 THANK YOU! 👏👏 Bruce is a vigilante. He’s already going beyond the norms of societal structures and laws by involving himself with the capture of dangerous criminal when he’s a civilian. Expecting him to kill is just overboard. 13:06 It’s interesting you mention the issues plaguing Arkham Asylum and their effect on crime. In Batman the Telltale Series, the series starts off with Bruce collaborating with Harvey Dent (pre-Two Face) to invest their money into taking down Arkham Asylum and replacing it with a more modern mental health facility, presumably with the funding needed for hiring more qualified staff.

[@coltonwilliams4153]

If I remember correctly, Hugo Strange first appeared as the director of Arkham Asylum… which explains a lot.

[@justapiolapenguin3963]

Loved this video. Hope you get the attention you deserve

[@MadSmylex]

Ooh thank you so much

[@dylantrinder1571]

Love listening to your analysis ❤

[@MadSmylex]

Thank you 😊

[@15braincellsremaining]

3:52 that’s some… interesting b-roll

[@15braincellsremaining]

Stock footage getting crazy these days

[@G55544]

If the jonkler dies a power vacuum opens up

[@jean-francoislebroch9171]

The infographies are great where did you get it? Cool video thanks a lot

[@MadSmylex]

I made the one about the defensible space myself

[@jean-francoislebroch9171]

@@MadSmylex the ones about cargo?

[@JacobNintendoNerd99]

It was probably worth citing that we know for a fact Arkham doesn't have proper mental health services because numerous villains tend to be portrayed as abusing Arkham inmates. Lockup originated as someone who physically abused inmates far in excess of anything warranted, while Dr. Hugo Strange tends to be depicted as someone who abuses inmates psychologically and uses them as subjects for his unethical experiments. I feel this couldve been a good point to punctuate the video. Also as an aside, while there is a psychological aspect of Penguin in particular, he is usually depicted as one of Batman's rogues who are largely of sound mind, along with Ra's Al Ghul, or Bane

[@MadSmylex]

I have a full video coming up about the workings of Arkham Asylum :)

[@JacobNintendoNerd99]

@@MadSmylex Excellent. Would love to see your coverage of aforementioned villains Lockup and Dr. Strange as part of that or potentially characters like Lady Arkham from the Telltale game or even the oft villainous Arkham family themselves

[@DannyPhantomBeast]

Could we talk about the crime in Suicide Slum in Metropolis?

[@MadSmylex]

I hace a video about that coming up :p

[@yepisyeniturkiye]

Nice! Good job

[@MadSmylex]

Thank you :)

[@lucyferos205]

NYC was also notoriously corrupt until they completely overhauled their police staff, which is where the crime started going down

[@theman9048]

That's BS.

[@sahilhossain8204]

Lore of Why Is There So Much Crime In Gotham? | Criminologist Reviews momentum 100

[@EnderGradRPC]

Love that soft and soothing voice

[@MadSmylex]

Thank you ☺️

[@jeniskindof]

Extreme corruption, a seemly supernatural clown who will kill you in horrific ways, extreme poverty, bad writing, good writing, a actual fucking curse is placed on Gotham.... police are as effective as an ice cube in a volcano take your pick

[@bruhgang6862]

love the video

[@MadSmylex]

thank you :)

[@lobachevscki]

Subscribed!

[@MadSmylex]

Thank you so much

[@cryingpsycho]

Damn... I learned a lot! Thank you!

[@MadSmylex]

Haha thank you for watching 😁

[@victorjimenez7738]

Yes very true I do see many crimes in Gotham city

[@oAndreGabs]

Well, we can say that Rio de Janeiro is the real life Gothan, a city sunk in criminality, traffic, militia,(and that the supreme court punishes punishes police forces for combat that), where you are oriented to walk in the streets with two cellphones, one to be robbed. A city with a corrupt government, when the same mayors are elected and nothing change

[@hirok1126]

Yeah, I have heard quite a few different solutions people have proposed, but I do not believe any of them were quite as in depth as this one. Most of them at the farthest include the detail of either New York or Gotham not having a death penalty. This is not to say Bruce should immediately start getting people into the idea of sending the Penguin to the chopper, but it is very well relevant for whole topic about who has the authority to take a life based on a person's crimes. The other common detail, of course you already mentioned, that most of the villains keep busting out of Arkham Asylum (sorry if spelled incorrectly). Backstepping a bit, but the question of who's authority to take a life is not new to me relative to the Batman series. But it was best described by another video where the issue becomes if he takes out Joker, then people would call for him to take out the other villians, if he does, he may not stop and then we have to ask where the line for him to stop is. Which would basically be breaking both of his own legs in the sense that he would be causing mobbing/chaotic activity to breakout on the citizens ends, as well as him killing people may lead to others having a similar loss-of-parent experience as he had as a chiod except they plan to just commit crimes or take revenge. Anyways, very well written video and a nice watch, hope to see more 👍

[@nathenewendzel7806]

Gotham probably has multiple banks too even if they aren't all mentioned.

[@nathenewendzel7806]

It's debatable whether or not Penguin is mentally ill. In many versions he's very much sane or whatever you call it. I guess that's one thing the writers can't agree on. Either that or he was sane when he started, but developed mental illness as time went on.

[@space3828]

Ive never thought about crime in gotham but this shines a new light.

[@aisforapple2494]

Gotham has less crime than Metropolis!

[@remcorutten4270]

Wauw supper goed ❤💯💪

[@MadSmylex]

Thanks

[@nellidivina5280]

I would like to visit live in gotham

[@glenmcinnes4824]

Blame the Wanes and the Failed US Social Services system, all their Charity and the Good Jobs they offered to the less fortunate attracted people looking for a better life, as much as they tried there where only so many jobs they could create and their philanthropy was overwhelmed, those who missed out started to pray on those who had got their new start, then there where those who didn't want a new start and where just predators who victimised just anyone

[@simongray3430]

Gotham is based on the worst aspects of New York...so New Jersey

[@MadSmylex]

Yes, The Batman and The Penguin made it clear their Gotham is in New Jersey. Tbh, I'm not American. Never been there. I don't know what it's like there in all these cities

[@shadowsrants6663]

Theres so much crime because batman material sells

[@icecream3281]

Oh belgian. Me too

[@gamervox1707]

Environmental factors.

[@greenskull3384]

Asking why people live in Gotham is like asking why people live in detroit. It's such a privileged, out-of-touch liberal thing to say.

[@Casshio]

Wdym with liberal? That doesn't even make sense.

[@greenskull3384]

@@Casshio Yes it does. The people saying stuff like that are always arts students, coastal types or British writers. Everyone else knows from just experiencing life/common sense that people can't always "just move away". We also know that there's more to crime than Bruce Wayne not donating money to charity when he actually does.

[@michiel6528]

Ohh wist niet dat je ook een Belg bent

[@icecream3281]

Oh but thats where you are wrong. The joker is not mentally ill. He is one of the only villains that should be in blackgate instead of arkham. He knows exactally what he is doing and he knows right from wrong. He just doesnt care

[@coltonwilliams4153]

Which is how he’s playing the system. Legally, they can’t do anything too extreme to a criminally insane person, so Joker plays the part of a madman to make it easier to do what he wants.

[@entitledindustries9135]

well the term “mentally ill” itself is subjective, i think generally most official institutions would consider joker’s ideological beliefs, those of it being fine to kill anyone you want, are illness. even if as you rightly point out, he had a solid grasp on reality and is in no way disabled. perhaps in norway joker would not be labeled insane, but in america he definitely would.

[@paprika4206]

Your opinion on this is far from being canon, tho. It’s not right to say she’s wrong when he has in fact been known for the large majority of his time as clinically insane. The comics where he’s portrayed as ‘super sane’ or just pretending are few and far in between. It’s fine to have differing opinions or viewpoints that you like better but it doesn’t make other people wrong for not agreeing with you.

[@SlugSage]

Italians

[@spookrockcity]

blks

[@user-vt3vo1yd3v]

so tired of the “it’s not batman’s job to kill” bs. ITS NOT HIS JOB TO INJURE AND MAIM AND IMPRISON EITHER. His job is to occasionally show up at wayne tech stockholder meetings. His hobby is nearly killing people but not going the extra step that will actually cut down crime.

[@lucyferos205]

When he's well written, he's essentially an outside investigator for the commissioner. He investigates and solves mysteries that the police won't due to corruption or can't due to their restricted resources. This is often done lawfully in real life, and pseudo-lawfully by real vigilantes.

[@Gamebuilder2000]

His job is usually to stop the supercriminals that the GPD can't do shit about, they're not exactly trained to handle Poison Ivy Of course there's the minor crimes, but the beating up is oft over exaggerated

[@Casshio]

Nah, depends on the Batman and how well he is written.