A detective in a bat suit can somehow cause a lot of heated debate. I know that doesn't make sense, but for some reason fans of this weird shadowy figure get angry if you disagree with them. Now I know that earlier I said a bunch of scientist ninjas in bird suits could kill The Batman. This of course was a joke and hopefully you understood that. However, before we go on, I am probably going to make someone mad at some point in this rant. Just remember that this is simply an opinion of The Batman from a person who has been a fan of the guy since as long as he can remember. That does not make me an expert on what Batman should be, but just hear me out.
When I was a kid, the hype for Tim Burton's Batman dominated the world. People paid for theater tickets just so they could watch the Batman trailer and then leave before the movie started. The movie even grossed $547,705,200 adjusted for inflation in the U.S. which is the second highest grossing film about Batman just $100 million under The Dark Knight. Just think about this for a second. It played in 2,000 less theaters and back then we really didn't see a lot of multiple screen theaters. Also this is before the big superhero movie boom happened that was like a snowball rolling down an endless hill. Back then people thought super hero movies meant this.
I was aware of Batman before this because I watched re-runs of the Batman TV show starring Adam West. I became obsessed with this Batman, eventually buying comics, toys, magazines, and reading about him. To me he is a rich guy in a bat suit and he runs around killing bad guys. But wait! Isn't the main thing about Batman that he doesn't kill people? Well, you are both right and wrong. If you were talking Silver Age Batman then yes... most of the time. But Golden Age? The dude constantly ran around with a gun hanging people from his batplane.
Yeah, I know that a character develops overtime and the Batman we are all used to today is not like this.
I am fine with that. One of the things that makes Batman cool now is that he is so crazy that he thinks not killing people is the right thing to do and instead beats them within an inch of their life and leaves them bleeding in the gutters with broken bones because he is crazy. All I can say is Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, hell even Green Arrow wouldn't have the issue of having to deal with Gotham's criminals for very long. They would have gone for the greater good a long time ago. That is what makes Batman special. He is a rich guy who is insane, and dresses as a bat to stop crime.
See what I mean here? There are quite a few versions of Batman around. Many of them are very different.
So it's fine if someone thinks Batman should be different. If someone enjoys that version then it should exist I suppose. The non-killing Batman is the accepted version however. To me I see him as a pulp hero detective guy in a silly costume. He is kind of like Lamont Cranston a.k.a. The Shadow. Batman has more in common with pulp heroes like Dick Tracy then he does Superman, or whatever other superhero. It is the costume that makes him different, and it looks cool. I do however hate the armored Batman. I just can't get into that, and Tim Burton started it. A couple movies away we would have blonde women fondling his "black rubber" and suits with nipples. All this in an era when Batman still looked like this in the comics.
The Dark Knight has always struggled with identity issues though. Sometimes he's a killer, sometimes he's warning Robin about the dangers of not buckling his seat belt, and all of that is fine. Batman with Adam West and Burt Ward is actually the most accurate depiction of Batman, surfing and all. That is what Batman was like back then. The Batman in The Dark Knight movie pretty much didn't exist until those movies came out. These movies attempted to take a serious look at Batman. What would he be like in real life? Let's make him be in a serious crime drama film. This is something I also don't understand. It is okay to have a serious take on something, but it also still needs to be fun. How serious can you take a guy who dresses in a bat suit to fight crime? The very idea is hilarious. More importantly, he is a superhero. Even Watchmen has is moments of light hearted fun and that's about as dark as comics get if you don't count the giant squid. The Dark Knight and it's sequel are just dull, long movies without much color and full of exposition. This by the way is coming from someone who likes Casablanca, a long, colorless movie full of exposition. But at least it's not dull.
I understand that people love that version of Batman. You know what? Good! The character has been around since 1939 and is worth discussing. No version of Batman is truly right or wrong though. Many interpretations of the character exist. The weird thing is that we all argue with such anger and frustration with each other about something we all love. That is precisely why we argue though. The Bat is a theatrical, tragic, and fascinating character. We all love him and that's why I am calling for peace here. Let's discuss why we like this guy in the loving way he deserves and enjoy him together. I don't need to have another conversation about why I don't like The Dark Knight Trilogy, and you don't have to yell at the top of your lungs about how you prefer a realistic approach instead of a guy who dances at clubs in his bat suit. It all starts here everyone. We are going to bring joy to the world with our Batman loving truce.
Let me get this out of the way first though. Batman can't defeat everyone, that is stupid.
Love,
Rodney Anderson
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