Reasons to Heal Oracle: Part 2

In part one (scroll down), we said the first reason to heal Oracle is simply that Barbara Gordon's place in pop culture makes her a great potential gateway character for girls to read comics. Here are two more reasons.
-Barbara Gordon should be the most visible non-powered female in the DCU. Before being disabled, she did in fact serve this role. You know that quote about how people like Batman better than Superman because Batman can't fly? A lot of people feel the same way about Barbara Batgirl vs. Wonder Woman or Supergirl. This is why Batgirl has a larger place in pop culture than does Wonder Woman: readers usually identify more with non-powered characters. In recent years, Batman has become the most dominant character at DC, but he no longer has a female equivalent. It's hard not to see sexism in the concept that a non-powered male can do so much, but no non-powered females compare to him. Readers deserve a top level, well-developed, non-powered female character. Barbara Gordon's history makes her the only character who can effectively fill that role. Currently, she plays an important supporting role, but that secondary status means she gets pushed off the cover of Birds of Prey in favor of the active characters. A healed Oracle would have the intellect, fighting skills, and gravitas to equal Batman. Her image and the Oracle symbol would become standard in all the major pieces of DC art. Girls would be wearing Oracle t-shirts. And it would restore Barbara Gordon of the comics to her place in general pop culture as one of the most visible female superheroes. (Added bonus: Base the new costume on her old one, and we will also have a big name female hero who wears pants!)
-Barbara Gordon and fans deserve to see some justice. Yes, justice. As a word, it is used in DC a lot, but as an idea we rarely see it. Readers are sick of the bad guys destroying characters, cities, and planets while the world's greatest heroes sit around unable to stop it. Making the villains more powerful than the heroes glamorizes evil over hope or justice. And in the process, many of our heroes have turned into angst-ridden jerks. That's more true in Gotham than almost anywhere else. Joker shoots Barbara, kills Sarah Gordon and hundreds of other people, and what does he get? The ability to continue to break out of custody and kill more people seemingly on a weekly basis. Jim Gordon gave him a non-critical wound and Barbara knocked his teeth out, but that's it. Joker always wins, and The (Constantly Referenced) Killing Joke remains on the bestseller list. Healing Oracle would be one major step in turning that around. (And can't the Gordon family have something good happen to them for once?) Imagine a restored Barbara coming face to face with Joker again, but this time she is not helpless. This time she beats him in a fight, giving him some kind of permanent injury, then stands over him in triumph wearing her own symbol on her chest. This moment, instead of The Killing Joke, would become the defining moment for Barbara Gordon. And that would be a moment when justice and hope would start to make a comeback at DC. Add this to the return and growing role of Supergirl and it would officially end DC's 1980s war on female characters. This character and her loyal fans deserve a story of hope and triumph over evil. (And Warner Brothers/DC Entertainment? This story would also make a great movie.)