How Edwin Nazario is Batman (Option Four)

The central message in Hasan Minhaj's Patriot Act episode "why billionaires won't save us" reminds me a lot of the lawyer Edwin Nazario from the book Bodega Dreams. To summarize, the episode discusses how billionaires shirk responsibilities (such as taxes), cover up their own wrongdoings, and manipulate society all under the guise of charity. On top of that, society often overlooks the aforementioned list of wrongdoings because the guise works to raise the image of the donor in the public eye. The one example in the episode that most clearly conveyed the message to me is that of Bruce Wayne, a.k.a. Batman. The show likens the actions of many billionaires to those of Wayne, specifically in the way that Wayne Enterprises causes destruction to society by day, but that same society hails Batman as a hero by night for helping fix issues in the very society that suffers because of him. This part reminds me of the actions of the lawyer Edwin Nazario in my book Bodega Dreams. The residents of East Harlem view and treat Nazario as a celebrity, as their savior. When Chino's apartment building is set on fire, its residents are devastated until Nazario comes along, at which point their devastation turns into the willingness to do anything Nazario requests of them. At the end of the book, however, it is revealed that this fire was set by none other than Nazario himself. Similar to Bruce Wayne and the other billionaires discussed in the episode, Nazario covers up the injustices he does to society- receives praise for helping fix them even- by providing pretty words and favors. The only difference between Nazario and the billionaires is that the billionaires use their own money, while Nazario takes advantage of Bodega's.