I think the point is to humanize the character by showing that they are capable of "weakness" or not using his/her intelligence, and by putting them in circumstances in which they are more susceptible to bad things around them, or making bad decisions.
Yes, I agree, but if you have a character who has been consistently characterized as a superhero up until this point, I shouldn't be looking at his situation and thinking, "This is bullshit - *I* could get myself out of this shit with a PHONE CALL." Seriously, all he had to do, at any point, was DROP A LINE to ANY ONE of his friends. I mean, it's not even like Dick has ever been a hero hindered by his PRIDE. If you're going to make things bad for a character by preying upon their weaknesses, then you need to play upon the weaknesses which THEY ACTUALLY HAVE. Otherwise, if I just wanted to see things turn to shit for shit's sake, I might as well be watching Todd Solondz's Happiness or Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark.