What's charitable giving like in Gotham?
Feb. 22nd, 2010 10:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yendiI attended the wonderful V-Day performance last night (which featured ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shadesong in a small role), and as 'song, her LJ-less work colleague and I were getting ready to walk home, 'song was looking for her iPod. Her colleague commented about how much it would suck to have something stolen at a charity event.
Which got me to thinking about Gotham City. Because every villain in the town spends time robbing charity balls. It's pretty much the major MO of The Riddler, Scarecrow, The Joker (in his saner moments), Penguin, Two Face, and Poison Ivy, and it's a minor habit for Mr. Freeze and The Ventriloquist (the one who died; I haven't followed the more recent incarnation) as well as most of the folks who end up as muscle for the others (Killer Croc, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Harley Quinn, etc). Pretty much everyone but Ra's al Ghul does time robbing the rich at charity functions in Gotham.
So, why, exactly, does anyone in Gotham go to a charity ball? Are they unconcerned that they'll be one of the folks robbed? Are they so rich and jaded that they need the thrill of having The Joker threaten them? Do they secretly hope to meet Batman? Or is there some sort of Gotham tax break for being robbed by supervillains?
Me? If I were filthy rich in Gotham, I'd just write some checks. And move to Metropolis, where at least the primary villain is likely to hold the charity functions himself.
(And yes, I know that the "robbing a charity ball" gimmick is really a way to ensure that philanthropist Bruce Wayne is nearby. I'm not asking about the metafictional aspects, just the fictional ones.)
shadesong in a small role), and as 'song, her LJ-less work colleague and I were getting ready to walk home, 'song was looking for her iPod. Her colleague commented about how much it would suck to have something stolen at a charity event.Which got me to thinking about Gotham City. Because every villain in the town spends time robbing charity balls. It's pretty much the major MO of The Riddler, Scarecrow, The Joker (in his saner moments), Penguin, Two Face, and Poison Ivy, and it's a minor habit for Mr. Freeze and The Ventriloquist (the one who died; I haven't followed the more recent incarnation) as well as most of the folks who end up as muscle for the others (Killer Croc, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Harley Quinn, etc). Pretty much everyone but Ra's al Ghul does time robbing the rich at charity functions in Gotham.
So, why, exactly, does anyone in Gotham go to a charity ball? Are they unconcerned that they'll be one of the folks robbed? Are they so rich and jaded that they need the thrill of having The Joker threaten them? Do they secretly hope to meet Batman? Or is there some sort of Gotham tax break for being robbed by supervillains?
Me? If I were filthy rich in Gotham, I'd just write some checks. And move to Metropolis, where at least the primary villain is likely to hold the charity functions himself.
(And yes, I know that the "robbing a charity ball" gimmick is really a way to ensure that philanthropist Bruce Wayne is nearby. I'm not asking about the metafictional aspects, just the fictional ones.)