My fiancé is a HUGE Batman fan, so we’ve been anxiously waiting for this movie for a long time! I finally got to see it with him last week (he had already seen it on opening night and another time before we were able to go together!). Woo!

I believe we can learn so much from STORY, whether it be within a book, a movie, or witnessing a real life story unfold. There are common elements and common themes woven from our very hearts as human beings into the heart of a story. That’s why we can so easily relate. That’s why stories make us FEEL something. And it’s also why we can learn from them.

WARNING: This post contains spoilers!

This post originally appeared on Anna’s 1st blog, Annamotion.

1. No matter our past, we still have a CHOICE.

In this movie we see 3 great examples of this.

1st is Batman.

In the beginning dream scene, we see the young Bruce Wayne. He is in the lowest moment of his life as the scene changes back and forth between the murder scene of his parents and the scene of their funeral. He falls into a well and is 1st frightened by bats. But at this darkest point of his life, he lets himself be carried into the light. This is the moment that he decided to not let fear or the darkness of his past cripple him or control him, but he chose to do something about it. He became Batman. He dedicated his life to justice.

However, even through this noble choice, this version of Batman seems to be one who still is driven by anger and tends to take justice a little too far. But we see his character develop. This man, who even calls himself a criminal in the beginning, brands some of the evil-doers with his emblem (which we come to find out will get a criminal killed by the other criminals in prison). But at the very end we see Batman make a choice for a more gracious justice as he threatens Lex with his brand, but burns it into the wall instead. This moment embodied the change within him. Despite his past, despite even the evil acts of Lex, Batman still had a choice.

2nd is Lex.

In the scene with Superman and Lex on the roof, Lex talks about how he was abused by his father. He was even mad at God for letting his dad abuse him (though it was his dad’s choice). He let it drive him insane and choose to be a villain. He was controlled and abused, so he wanted to have that same “power”, even to control the world’s most powerful person, Superman.

Contrasted with Batman and Superman: though both had horrible events in their past, 2 chose good while the other chose evil, proving that they each had a choice.

3rd is Superman.

Do I even need to talk about all the pain Superman went through to this point? If anyone had reason to be overwhelmed with darkness, it was Superman. Furthermore, it shows a lot of his character that even when the world hated him, he still chose to put them 1st…even to the point of death.

It may be tough, but we still always have a choice.

So which one will you be? Lex?–hurting others because of your hurt? Or will you be Batman or Superman?–choosing to use your bad circumstances for good?

Let me point out that both Batman and Superman are good examples. One may have made the right choice sooner, while the other had a journey he had to take to reach that same conclusion, but both made the right choice in the end. Whether your life story has been more like Batman or Superman, don’t feel bad if your story looks different than someone else’s. Are you jealous of the goody goody Supermans in your life? Your right choices matter just as much as theirs. The importance is that you made the right choice.

2. Everyone needs accountability.

From the most powerful in this world, to those who have hardly anything at all–we ALL need to be kept in check.

Batman cared so much about keeping Superman in check, but who was keeping Batman in check? Perhaps Alfred, but from what we see of him, it seems he’s tired of trying to question Bruce, so he doesn’t fight very hard.

AND, we need to let people hold us accountable. When someone questions you, especially someone who you’ve asked to hold you accountable, you need to be humble enough to listen. At the very least, stop and evaluate what you are doing and why they said what they said.

3. When we focus on self, we can miss big things right in front of us.

Was anyone else perturbed that the 2 biggest known heroes didn’t even notice the huge electrical surges coming from the crash site of the Kryptonian ship, causing the whole city to lose power? They were distracted. They were so busy fighting each other (though 1 believed he was doing what was best for the greater good and the other was pressured to save his dear mother), they didn’t even notice what was happening around them! Perhaps they could’ve even stopped Doomsday more easily had they paid attention and gotten there sooner.

Have you been there? I know I have. There have been times I’ve been so wrapped up in myself and my own mission that I miss out on what’s right in front of me. I miss a greater opportunity to help or make a difference than what I currently was trying to do to help. We must constantly keep our eyes open.

4. Everything changes when we humanize our enemy.

I talk about a similar lesson on the difference it makes when we know someone’s story in my post 22 Things I Learned by 22.

When you don’t like someone (and especially when you don’t know them well), it’s easy to start seeing them as an antagonist rather than a fellow human being. Batman did this. He began to only see Superman as too powerful of a threat–an object of power–an enemy–and never stopped to look at him like a person.  He didn’t even try talking to him to evaluate his heart, nor did he try to find another solution than killing him (I mean, c’mon! Couldn’t he have just put him into a prison lined with kryptonite?). But instead, he went straight to the thought that if there’s even a 1% chance of him going bad, he has too much power to let him live.

But then….Martha.

Batman hesitates when Superman says that name of Batman’s dead mother. When he learns it is also the name of Superman’s mother, he finally sees Superman as a person capable of having and loving a mother–not just an enemy or object of power.

You see, it is so much easier to empathize for someone when we can put a story to a man. A mom. A common struggle. We realize we aren’t so different after all. These people you hate, they have lives. They have family. They have a mom and a dad. They face everyday struggles just like you. They wake up in the morning and have to choose each day who they will be and what kind of choices they will make. And in the case of Superman, he constantly has to make weighty decisions that no person should ever have to make: who lives or who dies? Who do I save and who do I let suffer? He may be Superman, but he can’t do it all. Sometimes there are sacrifices for the greater good. Sometimes even wrong decisions can be made.

We must always remember to look past the surface. Get to know people. Learn their stories. Imagine what it’s like in their shoes.

5. We need to decide what’s worth fighting for.

Wonder Woman disappeared for a hundred years, but when the world faced an imminent threat, she had to decide if it was worth fighting for.

We, likewise, need to know when we need to lay low and when we need to stand up and stand out to fight.

6. When we die, the difference we’ve made is all that will remain.

When Superman “died” and was buried, they wrote “If you seek his monument, look around you.” Those who lived a good and selfless life need no construction of stone to be remembered; they are remembered through the lives they’ve touched and the difference they’ve made in the world.

What are you doing to leave a legacy? Are you here to build a life for yourself out of things that won’t last? Or are you helping others and trying to leave people and the world in better condition than you found it?

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What other lessons did you take from this movie?

 

Want to check out my other lessons from film posts?

• Lessons from Spider-Man: Far From Home
• Lessons from Avengers: Endgame
• 3 Life Lessons from Shazam!
• 3 Life Lessons from Captain Marvel
• 9 Life Lessons from Wonder Woman
• Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life Lesson
• 4 Life Lessons from Doctor Strange
• A Lesson on Strength from Star Trek Beyond
• 6 Life Lessons We Can Learn from Captain America: Civil War