#TwistedTropes 15. Batman's tangled cape

Image from Wikimedia Commons

What is the point of wearing a cape? They were very popular during Victorian times, but now? Does anyone wear a cape these days? Do you? No, me neither. So that makes Batman something of a freak then. He's never without his cape. He wears it all of the time, probably even when he's on holiday, and probably in bed, and in the shower too (where does Batman go on holiday? Is it Cape Town? - Editor).

Well, I asked around, called a few friends who are DC Universe experts (geeks really - Editor), and apparently, Batman's cape allows him to 'glide smoothly through the air', and it also has some 'protective capabilities', although they wouldn't be drawn on what these were.

I'm not convinced.

I'll probably rattle a few cages by writing this, but the Caped Crusader isn't really a superhero - at least not in the same way as Superman or Superwoman. He has no natural superpowers. He relies heavily on his technology, and I suppose his cape is a part of that gadget arsenal. So what would happen if his gadgets failed? What if his cape got all tangled up when he was flying around? Wouldn't that be a disaster? Would he crash to the ground and get all busted up?

How often do teachers rely on technology or gadgets, only for those tools to let them down at the critical moment? Isn't that one of a teacher's worst nightmares? Victim of your own device. The power cut cuts your power. You don't want to look like an idiot in front of your class of students, but you persevere because using technology does seem to add a frisson of je ne sais qoi to a lesson (French? You looked that up on Google translate didn't you? - Editor).

Teachers are not like Batman, no matter how much they yearn to emulate the Dark Knight. They don't need technology and gadgets to be great teachers. Their true superpowers are found in their ability to inspire, and to engage students and to motivate them to learn. Good teachers can connect with students, enliven their subject with enthusiasm and passion, and I'm damned sure they don't need to fly around the room to impress. All they have to do is boldly fight ignorance with knowledge. With or without a cape.

Next time: 18. Arkham's improbable razor

Previous posts in the #TwistedTropes series
1. Pavlov's drooling dog
2. Chekhov's smoking gun
3. Occam's bloody razor
4. Schrödinger’s undead cat
5. Pandora's closed box
6. Frankenstein's well-meaning monster
7. Thor's lost hammer
8. Noah's character ark
9. Hobson's multiple choice
10. Fibonacci's annoying sequence
11. Sod's unlucky law
12. Dante's lukewarm inferno
13. Plato's empty cave
14. Aladdin's miserly lamp


Batman's tangled cape by Steve Wheeler was written in Plymouth, England and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Posted by Steve Wheeler from Learning with e's