Would Bruce Wayne be Jealous of Batman?

Here’s a weird question, suitably random for a Friday:

If you were a superhero with a secret identity, and you were in a relationship with someone who did not know about your alter ego, would you be jealous if you found out that they were attracted to/hitting on your superhero persona?

(I know, it’s weird, I have superheroes on the brain this week)

As an example, say you’re Bruce Wayne (who happens to be Batman) and you’re in a committed relationship with a woman. Let’s call her Jill. Over time, you notice that Jill seems pretty interested in Batman news stories. Then, one day, when you are out fighting crime as Batman, you rescue Jill from a mugger. After you save her, you notice that she is pretty clearly hitting on you. Batting the eyelashes. Touching your manly Bat-Arms. Complaining about the importance of “getting you out of your wet Bat-Suit” before you catch cold. That sort of thing.

How would you respond? Would you:

1. Be jealous? Maybe you say, “hey! You’re dating Bruce Wayne. Why are you hitting on Batman?” Then you wonder what she does on the cold lonely nights when it’s just her and Dick Grayson (a.k.a “Robin, the Bot Wonder”) hanging around stately Wayne manor…
2. Be flattered? You may think, “Wow, I am such a stud that no matter how I dress myself up, she wants me.” Or maybe you believe on some subconscious or spiritual level that you are soul mates and no matter what happens to you, you will connect with each other.

It is quite a query…

I think it would come down to whether your thoughts are “self-directed” or “other-directed.”

If you’re self-directed, you would probably not care and be flattered, because frankly, if she hooks up with you she’s not cheating. If you are other-directed, you will be more outraged that she would consider straying at all.

I’m not advocating either approach. I just think it’s good for us to step back from time to time and figure out where our emotions and outrage come from.

Besides, unless you are a superhero or secret agent a la Schwarzenneger in True Lies, I don’t foresee you encountering this situation any time soon…

P.S. Interestingly, this scenario is kind of the premise for “The Pina Colada Song.” I guess it worked out ok for them, though I find the entire situation a tad unbelievable. Yes, more unbelievable than my Batman scenario…