#SUGAR AND SPICE BATMAN FOREVER MOVIE MOVIE#

BATMAN FOREVER never contradicts the established cinematic saga: there’s a throwaway reference to Catwoman, and both Pat Hingle and Michael Gough are on hand to remind viewers that this is indeed the second sequel to that movie they’d seen six years prior. Taking over from Tim Burton allowed Joel Schumacher to retain what elements he liked, and redesign the rest. These things, taken as a whole, were likely the impetus to redefine the character for BATMAN FOREVER, a film that likewise established what constitutes a “soft reboot” two decades before the term entered the popular lexicon. Even with the addition of a bo staff – which might have had more to do with the global popularity of the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES – Robin was still hopelessly square.

#SUGAR AND SPICE BATMAN FOREVER MOVIE SERIES#

Tim Drake, the latest in the series of identical wards,*** had been granted a newly-designed outfit specifically intended to 1) make Robin look more like the bird from which he derived his name, and 2) appeal to the skateboard set, by virtue of the overall consensus that Batman worked better alone. By the time Joel Schumacher had supplanted Tim Burton as guardian of the filmic franchise, there had been three on-page Robins in the canon proper, as well as a female iteration in Frank Miller’s future-based final adventure. There was the occasional lip service to high school, but it was little more than a mechanism by which to define the character’s supposed relationship with his older Chum. Burt Ward’s portrayal in BATMAN ’66 was both asexual and ageless he was simply an adult in miniature, both in terms of the writing and casting. Removing the element of physical penetration, it’s still a relationship predicated on the irresponsible notion of taking a child into a dangerous situation, which explains the decision to age Dick Grayson in all but his earliest screen appearance.** It’s a wise decision, albeit a far less interesting one.īut there are consequences of making Robin an older, less innocent kind of hero. The difference with Robin had as much to do with his bare legs as scenes depicting Bruce and Dick lounging in bed together it’s the same behavior that would land Michael Jackson in hot water a few decades later, and the overall scenario – involving a mansion filled with toys, make-believe costumes, and little to no parental supervision beyond a butler who was happy to look the other way – is virtually identical. Captain America would acquire Bucky the Human Torch had Toro on and on, down the line.

The notion of a Kid Sidekick was fashionable during WWII publications, and every heroic big brother had a tagalong for whom the comics’ key audience could identify. Robin’s age is an obvious component in the side-eye Batman has received from his harshest critics, both on and off the page. After all, recruiting a child to dodge bullets after he finishes homework sounds like the same solid parenting that Abraham demonstrated to Isaac.* We’re answering a quasi-religious call to arms, and if you die, it’s because Tough Shit, boy-o. While it’s tempting to entertain prurient possibilities, and equally possible to brush them aside with the claim that molestation was never part of Bob Kane’s agenda, the scenario remains homoerotic at best, and irresponsible at worst. The uncomfortable pairing of a rich crime fighter with a pre-teen in panties is almost begging for scornful commentary. When notorious fogey Frederic Wertham imposed a Queer reading on the relationship between Bruce Wayne and his orphaned circus acrobat ward, Dick Grayson, he was mining the printed source material for elements that were never intended, but easy to identify. The Guy with the Gay Name to the Other Guy with the Gay Name

Ekm’s BAT-MANUAL: CHAPTER 5 – BATMAN FOREVER (1995)

Sugar and spice batman forever movie