The importance of Grief, Empathy and so many other things no one thinks about in the story of Jason Todd.
I think when people talk about Jason’s death, and subsequent return, there are a lot of things people get wrong. Or not necessarily wrong but misconstrue.
Often times when people talk about Jason’s actions upon his return, especially regarding the story of UTRH, it’s always taken as a debate between ideals. That’s what people always want to focus on: is Bruce right to have a no kill rule, or is Jason right for taking more extreme solutions. But I don’t think that’s what the story is about and I think there’s so many more layers to it when you think about it differently.
I want to talk about what I think are some of the keys moments from the UTRH story, as well as covering the events of Titans Tower and anything else that I think is relevant. Plus I figured I might as well put this degree in getting to use 🤷
Under the Red Hood (and other related stories)
We know why Jason wants to kill the Joker (well not necessarily him doing it, but also Bruce). He says so himself. The Joker causes too many people to suffer. He killed him, shot Barbara (and depending on what you’re reading, may have even done more), and that’s not even including any other random Gothamite who has been hurt by the Joker. I don’t have a lot to say regarding his motivation if I’m completely honest. It’s pretty obvious, and it makes a lot of sense why he’d want Bruce to do it. But Bruce can’t. I feel like a lot of people use this as points in either characters favour, and that just shouldn’t be the case. It’s not wrong that Bruce won’t kill the Joker, and it’s not like he won’t do it specifically because of Jason. He just can’t. But to Jason, he would do that for someone he loves. It doesn’t compute that Bruce wouldn’t do it.
To me, and I’m sort of extrapolating here so bear with me, it makes sense that Jason would see this as something you do for someone you love. This is the same Jason who was genuinely deeply offended on behalf of Gloria in Batman #424. Gloria, who he didn’t even know at the time.
Jason is deeply empathetic. He expects or believes that Bruce, his father, would be the same. That’s not wrong of either of them to see things differently. We as readers know that Bruce mourned Jason. But Jason, who was dead at the time, doesn’t know that. Not only that, but he comes back to see that nothing has changed. Bruce has a Robin. The world is still turning. By the time he gets back Bruce isn’t in the trenches of grief anymore. Nothing changed to Jason. He died and everyone moved on. I think Jason just wanted to be remembered and loved.
I’ve always thought of UTRH as a story about grief. Obviously there’s Bruce’s grief. The son he lost, too late to save. And then, when his son comes back he’s… different. He’s changed. Jason isn’t the same as he was before he died. And yet I actually think he’s far more similar than he’s given credit for. He’s still deeply empathetic, but his experiences have changed things. He had experiences that made him feel that he had to take a different approach to the one he had tried.
Essentially, I think when people only consider the story as a battle of ideals or a ‘who’s right and who’s wrong’, I think a lot is missed. I think this is partially due to the movie. There are some great moments but I feel as though it loses focus on some of the family elements. Not just that but Jason’s supposed to be 19ish upon his return and he doesn’t exactly seem it. Though you can feel free to debate that, since it’s just a personal gripe.
I think that fundamentally, UTRH is a story about grief, love, loss and family. Jason’s moral debate doesn’t make a lot of sense. People have been arguing that for a long time. It’s a stupid debate to have because it doesn’t matter. *
I think there’s a lot of sprinkles that it’s not about ideals at all. Like in this instance;
If it were just about who’s in the right or wrong, Jason wouldn’t be upset about this. He’s upset because he wants his Dad to choose him. Wants to see that his death means something. (Which is another thing I’m going to get back to.) There are so many moments after Jason comes back to life where it just seems like he wanted someone to care. He grew up with a criminal father who didn’t care enough to stop and step up, a mother who didn’t care enough to stop doing drugs. Then he’s taken in by someone who does care. Bruce finds him and takes him in because this kid in front of him needs someone. Regardless of all the ‘Jason was doomed from the start’ propaganda and the ‘teaching Jason to overcome his anger’, Bruce took Jason in because Jason needed it. And he loved him. Jason was Bruce’s son, through and through. And then Garzonas happens.
The issue with Garzonas is that, at the end of the day, the problem isn’t if Jason pushed him, or if Garzonas was spooked or if he fell and Jason did nothing to help. Sure that’s a problem, but i think story wise there’s a bigger issue. Bruce makes an accusation before Jason can say anything. Sure he asks a question, but it reads like an accusation. And Bruce believes that Jason did it. He doesn’t investigate it. And then at that point Jason has been failed by another adult in his life. It doesn’t matter that Bruce still loved and cared about him, because he betrayed him. So Jason goes to find his birth mother who also betrays him.
When Jason comes back he just wants someone to prove they loved him all along. And Bruce doesn’t.
Titans Tower
Now, what I want to mention about Titans Tower is pretty brief comparative to everyone else, but I feel like it’s worth mentioning.
I always found this to be pretty interesting. Not because I thought anything deep of it but because initially I kind of thought of it as a bit. Like Jason had a sick sense of humour (sick depending on who you ask, I thought it was funny.) But then something occurred to me. Jason wrote this in the like memorial room in Titans Tower. Where they display and remember previous Titans who had died. Jason, also a Titan, is no where to be seen. He didn’t have a memorial. Again, extrapolating a little, but it’s almost like making his own memorial. Like a reminder that he was there as well. Imagine being the only one of your friends, or at the very least allies, who isn’t memorialised like everyone else.
Also I do think that is Jason’s sense of humour. Which is just funny.
There are definitely things I forgot to mention, or things I didn’t explain very well so feel free to add anything. Only really stopped adding to this because it was eating into my time to write actual essays for school. And I haven’t even gotten started on the classism in the way people regard Jason, from both fans and writers.
* Not stupid as in don’t have it, just stupid in that I don’t think that’s the point of the story. We all have different opinions, but ultimately regardless of what you believe, Jason can never be right because DC can’t allow it. Batman with his no kill rule and one of the most famous superheroes of all time could never be ‘proven wrong’ in his methods.
