Herb Schiller rereads the Warner Brothers’ mega hit Batman as an unsettling representation of the global media empires of the 1980’s. Schiller’s critique brilliantly identifies the true neurosis of a society; that places the hope for its salvation in the hands of the impossibly benevolent billionaire figure of Batman. Whether it is Bruce Wayne in the film or the corporate conglomerate Time Warner behind the scenes, Schiller intones, social change and civic justice are portrayed as ideas changed through the machinations of the superrich rather than by the actions and desires of the people. Schiller is the perfect blend of level-headed professorial presentation of the facts and the irreverent media industry myth smashing, a balance that is the hallmark of Paper Tiger productions. Schiller was an American media critic, sociologist, author, and scholar. He warned of two major trends in his prolific writings and speeches: the private takeover of public space and public institutions at home, and U.S. corporate domination of cultural life abroad, especially in the developing nations. His eight books and hundreds of articles in both scholarly and popular journals made him a key figure both in communication research and in the public debate over the role of the media in modern society.