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Zac Puckett

Professor Goosey

ENG 200

27 April 2015

Daredevil and Marx

Daredevil, a Marvel Television series that aired exclusively on Netflix, centers on a pair

of lawyers living in the town of “Hell’s Kitchen”. When Matt Murdock, one of the two lawyers,

was a child, he was blinded by a chemical spill. His blindness caused him to develop amazing

superpowers because of the extra brainpower not being used by sight. Once Matt realizes that he

is now able to “see” by hearing better than he was able to see before he was blinded, he decides

to use his power for good; he assumes the name Daredevil and proceeds to overthrow the

oppressive ruler of Hell’s Kitchen (“Into the Ring”). Likewise, Marx’s The Communist

Manifesto describes a society in which there are the proletariat, the working-class oppressed, and

the bourgeoisie, the oppressive ruling-class. Marx also calls for a revolution led by the proletariat

to overthrow the bourgeois class (373-82). There are many similarities between Daredevil’s

Hell’s Kitchen and the capitalist society that Marx describes in The Communist Manifesto: the

bourgeoisie, the proletariat, and the societal bias towards the ruling class in Daredevil cause

exploitation of the proletariat by the bourgeoisie, and a revolution between the classes occurs.

Wilson Fisk, an extremely wealthy businessman, is a member of bourgeoisie. He owns

most of the businesses and factories in Hell’s Kitchen. In The Communist Manifesto, Marx

describes the bourgeoisie as “the leaders of modern industrial army”; put simply, the bourgeoisie

is the class that, like Wilson Fisk, owns the means of production in a modern capitalist society

(364). Not only does Wilson Fisk own most of the businesses and factories that operate in Hell’s
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Kitchen, but he is also a crime lord (“World on Fire”). He is in cooperation with many different

drug lords whom he protects and helps to make deals, and the viewers are led to assume that he

claims large amounts of money by helping the drug lords (“World on Fire”). In the season finale,

when he gets arrested, viewers learn that he has also been participating in fraudulent business

deals and insurance fraud as a way to claim more capital (“Daredevil”). It is evident that

acquiring wealth motivates Frisk more than anything else does; this is evident when he attempts

to kicks out all of his tenants, including an elderly lady with nowhere to go, in one of the

apartment buildings he owns so that he can sell it to make more money (“World on Fire”).

Similarly, Marx argues that everything the bourgeoisie does is to acquire more wealth (377).

Wilson Fisk is comparable to Marx’s bourgeois class because, like the bourgeois, he owns most

of the businesses, and also, like the bourgeois, he is completely extrinsically motivated by the

prospect of acquiring more wealth.

Daredevil’s father Jack Murdock those who package drugs for the crime leaders represent

the working class proletarians that Marx discusses. Jack Murdock made a living by being a boxer

while Daredevil was growing up; he would make his money by either winning or losing a match

based on what the leaders of the clubs he fought for told him to do (“Into the Ring”). He often

came home almost dead due to how dangerous his work was (“Into the Ring”). This is because

the ruling class teaches people that they are socially obliged to do work even if it is extremely

dangerous (Graebner 31). Also, Jack Murdock was paid a small wage with no chance of escaping

the poverty in which he was forced to live (“Into the Ring”). This is similar to the proletariat in

the capitalist society described by Marx; one characteristic of the proletariat, Marx says, is that

they are paid the bare minimum that will keep them alive, but only alive enough to still work for

the bourgeoisie (375). Also comparable to the proletariat are those whom Wilson Fisk pays to
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help him obtain more money. Those people work for him because they have no other option. For

example, there is a scene in Daredevil that depicts a group of people with their eyes completely

cut out working robotically to package a drug for Fisk; their work is almost trancelike and when

Daredevil attempts to free them from the supposed trance, their overseer commands them to

attack Daredevil and they do, even though he is trying to help (“The Ones we Leave Behind”). It

is as if that group of workers is enslaved by the bourgeois leader, and more importantly to their

machines. This is similar to the proletarians in The Communist Manifesto that Marx says

“[become] an appendage of the machine[s]” that they work with. The working people in

Daredevil are proletarians who are given little wages with which they are expected to live, and

they are basically enslaved to the bourgeoisie ruling class.

By using his wealth, Wilson Frisk manipulates society in Hell’s Kitchen similarly to how

the bourgeoisie manipulates the proletariat in The Communist Manifesto. In Hell’s kitchen, Frisk

has many different people working for him; even the police and the government are filled with

men whom he pays. The police take part in many different illegal activities in order to help Frisk,

and it is also revealed that he pays a senator to do his biddings in the government (“Daredevil”).

In an address to the University of Nairobi, Obama states that he believes that corruption and

bribery is a huge problem (“Barack Obama’s”). He said, “the struggle against corruption is one

of the great struggles of our time” (“Barack Obama’s”). Similar to this influence in Hell’s

Kitchen, Marx says that the bourgeoisie has “exclusive political sway” that the proletariat

doesn’t have (364). Also by using his wealth, Frisk is able to manipulate situations so greatly that

he even has the media wrapped around his finger; even while he is committing murder and other

various crimes, the media portrays him as a hero (“Speak of the Devil”). Marx would say that

this is because the bourgeois has substituted interaction with cash payment meaning even the
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media can be paid to do as the bourgeoisie wants (364). In Daredevil, as well as The Communist

Manifesto, the bourgeoisie is able to manipulate the capitalist societies in which they live.

In Daredevil, there are many forms of exploitation comparable to the exploitation of the

proletariat by the bourgeois described in The Communist Manifesto. As stated before, Jack

Murdock often manipulates the way that he boxes in order to either purposefully win or lose so

that he can acquire money for the bourgeois owners of the clubs where he boxes (“Into the

Ring”). At one point, the club owners pay Jack to lose a boxing match that he could easily win so

that they could profit greatly off of all the lost bets due to the huge upset (“Into the Ring”). This

is very similar to the exploitation described in The Communist Manifesto because Marx shows

that the bourgeoisie constantly exploits the proletariat to get what they want; he says there is

“exploitation of the many by the few” as a way to acquire more capital and property at any cost,

no matter how it affects the proletarians (374). The fight that Jack is supposed to lose is going to

be broadcast on T.V. where his son will be able to watch, or rather hear, him fight; therefore,

Jack decides that having his son be proud of him is more important than keeping his job, so he

wins the match instead of losing it and the club owners then murder him because he is no longer

able to fulfill his purpose of making money for the bourgeois owners (“Into the Ring”). Matt’s

father’s body is also commodified as a way to make money. Marx explains that the bourgeoisie

causes that commodification; he says that “[the bourgeoisie] has resolved personal worth into

exchange value,” which means that the body is now just a way to make more money (Cite). Jack

Murdock commodifies, or sells, his body by boxing and making money from it. Also, Jack’s

family life is exploited by using the fact that he has a son against him to make him work; the

bourgeoisie in Hell’s Kitchen has made it so that Jack cannot both work and be involved with his

son while also keeping them alive. Marx recognizes that the bourgeoisie has changed the
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relationship of families into “mere money relation” like what has happened to the Murdock

family. Some people may disagree that Jack is exploited; they may assert that he has free will

and that it is completely his choice. However, Anthony Ilegbinosa says that just because

someone has a choice doesn’t mean they can’t be exploited. He states that “exploitation occurs

even if the exploited consents, since the definition of exploitation is independent of consent”

(Ilegbinosa 4) Therefore, Jack Murdock is exploited as Marx says the proletarians are exploited

in The Communist Manifesto. That is until he is no longer exploitable.

Due to Hell’s Kitchen being a capitalistic society, a revolution occurs in Daredevil with

the same goals as Marx’s ideal communist revolution. Marx describes a way for the proletariat to

be equal to the bourgeoisie in every way; they would have the same wealth, the same health, the

same work hours, and the same property; he explains that it is possible for all children to be born

without any advantages over one another resulting in an even playing field for everyone; all that

it would take is revolution (Marx 373-82). Daredevil thinks that he is capable of a revolution. His

first move is to attack a man who beats his daughter every night before bed; he makes sure that

that family will never have that problem again (“Nelson v. Murdock”). This is a reform of

family; something that Marx says must happen in order to have equality (377). After this first

occurrence, Daredevil begins to focus on overthrowing bourgeois Fisk. He fights his way up the

chain of command until he eventually finds him. Daredevil then fights him and attempts to

overthrow him by means of revolution; he is successful and even though the bourgeoisie is not

overthrown, the proletarians in Hell’s Kitchen are now more equal to the bourgeoisie and safe

from Fisk (“Daredevil”). Marx talks about how the bourgeoisie turns the proletariat against them,

like how Daredevil was affected by his father’s death due to the bourgeoisie, and that by doing

this, the bourgeoisie is turning the proletarians into “grave diggers” by giving them the shovels
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and motivation to overthrow their oppressive rulers (373). Daredevil also realizes that he is not

able to complete his revolution by himself, so he gets other proletarians to assist him. Marx also

recognizes that it is impossible for just himself or any other one person to successfully complete

a communist revolution and overthrow the bourgeoisie by his or herself; he states in The

Communist Manifesto that it is imperative that the proletarians come together to accomplish their

revolution (382). Daredevil and his proletarian friends had an important job to complete:

overthrow the bourgeois Fisk. He was pushed to do it by the oppressiveness of the bourgeoisie

and he created greater equality, which is what Marx describes would happen.

The society and the revolution that happen in Daredevil’s Hell’s Kitchen are extremely

similar to the capitalist society and communist revolution that described in The Communist

Manifesto. Marx describes how terrible the class separation of the proletariat and bourgeoisie is

and says that something must change in order for everyone to be able to enjoy his or her life

equally. Daredevil knows and responds to this by completing a revolution that resulted in safety,

greater equality, and less exploitation. Marx said that “[t]he proletarians have nothing to lose but

their chains. They have a world to win” (382). Daredevil and his friends came out on top and

escaped their shackles.

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Works Cited

“Barack Obama’s Address to the University of Nairobi.” nairobi.usembassy.gov. Embassy of the

United States. 28 Aug. 2006. Web. 26 April 2015.

“Daredevil.” Daredevil. Writ. Steven s. DeKnight. Dir. Steven S. DeKnight. Marvel, 2015.

Netflix.

Graebner, William. Doing the World’s Unhealthy Work: The Fiction of Free Choice.” The

Hastings Center Report 14.4 (1984): 28-37. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 April

2015.

Ilegbinosa, Anthony I. “An Analysis of Karl Marx’s Theory of Value on the Contemporary

Capitalist Economy.” Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development 3.5 (2012): 1-

6. EBSCO Host. Web. 26 April 2015.

“Into The Ring.” Daredevil. Writ. Drew Goddard. Dir. Phil Abraham. Marvel, 2015. Netflix.

Marx, Karl. “The Communist Manifesto.” A World of Ideas: Essential Readings for College

Writers. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2013. 362-82. Print.

“Nelson v. Murdock.” Daredevil. Writ. Luke Kalteux. Dir. Farren Blackburn. Marvel, 2015.

Netflix.

“Speak of the Devil.” Daredevil. Writ. Christos Gage and Ruth Fletcher Gage. Dir. Nelson

McCormick. Marvel, 2015. Netflix.

“The Ones We Leave Behind.” Daredevil. Writ. Douglas Petrie. Dir. Euros Lyn. Marvel, 2015.

Netflix.

“World on Fire.” Daredevil. Writ. Luke Kalteux. Dir. Farren Blackburn. Marvel, 2015. Netflix.