edward and bruce = mark david chapman and john lennon?

[Catwoman]

with john's death anniversary passing a few days ago ( ) i got to thinking of something. everyone knows the story of mark david chapman, how he loved john and the beatles and then suddenly it turned into a hate that ultimately made his life's purpose killing john lennon. and he succeeded which is one of the most awful things in the world's history because john was such a wonderful man.

in batman forever, edward is so obsessed with bruce that he very well might have had gay fantasies about him. once bruce "rejected" him saying there were too many questions for his project to be approved immediately, ed was so devastated he was driven over the edge and it turned into this pure hate. unlike chapman though, he stalked bruce and tried to torment him with these riddles to show how much smarter he was and then built nygmatech to try to run wayne enterprises in the ground. he wanted to humiliate bruce first, then maybe kill him, idk. but does anybody else see a similarity? or do i need to quit drinking lol

[The Dark Knight]

Yes, both are the same. Their methods just differ.

"If you kill him, he won't learn nuthin!"

[johnnygobbs]

I think you make a great point Catwoman although I don't think 'Batman Forever' was anywhere near the first film to deal with the theme of celebrity stalkers.  Many films dealt with the theme even before Lennon's sad death and there were a glut of such films in the immediate wake of the assassination.

'The King of Comedy' one of my favourite films also features a wannabe who is effectively put in his place by his successful idol.  Instead of killing him he simply wants to emulate him and surpass his one-time idol's success and show him that he's 'better', much like how Ed wants to surpass Bruce and show him he was right about his invention all along.

Even though Ed is a murderer (killing poor Fred Stickley and leaving his family without a father or a husband, and worse, making them think he was a suicide), I do almost feel sorry for Ed, at least at the start.  He's just a lower-middle-class guy toiling away and trying to prove he's a somebody.  He has his heart set on impressing Bruce but when the time comes Bruce just brushes him aside and criticises his labour-of-love.

This version of Bruce is a good guy and he does try and break his 'rejection' to Ed gently but he doesn't really understand what it's like to struggle for recognition and be cast aside.  He's always been a celebrity and the centre of attention (the Michael Keaton version admittedly chose to hide away rather than revel in the celebrity).  He also doesn't know what it's like to be desperate and crave recognition for one's work.