Batman – Spidey Librarian

Between the hectic hum-drum that tends to run most of our lives, people are often very careful about what they decide to check out on a friend’s recommendation. The time we get is, at least to our own viewpoints, sparse, and therefore precious. I’ve had books, shows, video games, and all manner of other consumables recommended to me by my friends that I’d ignored at the time–sometimes for years–before finally giving them a try. Sometimes, they were worth the time investment, and other times, not so much.

Then there are those things that I finally got around to watching, reading, playing, and so forth, and came away going, “Oh my god! This is awesome! WHY the hell did I wait so long to get into this?!” The following list represents a small sampling of media that I:

had recommended to me by a friend;
put off actually checking out for a significant chunk of time (at least a few months); and
was wowed by it, to the point of kicking myself for not checking it out when my friends made their recommendations.

For extra fun, I’m listing the names of my friends (first names only) who made these recommendations in the first place, so they can say, “Told you so!” if and when they read this.

Here goes:

Doctor Who (Colin) — I was not prepared for how much I loved this show. I came on board right as Matt Smith became the Eleventh Doctor, and I was hooked from the get-go! I not only watched everything I could of Eleven’s adventures, but also Nine, Ten, and some of the older movies (I believe The Three Doctors was the first I watched). Admittedly, it gets a bit too wacky and inconsistent for me sometimes, and while I’m not currently following it, I’m sure I’ll love it when I come back around to the Time Lord’s adventures.

Firefly (Rebecca) — In a way, Firefly was one of the saddest things I ever watched, as it showed me firsthand that just because a show is good–and I mean, really good–that doesn’t mean it’ll get to run as long as it deserves. Still, the episodes in that one season were amazing, as was the follow-up movie Serenity. I count myself as a Browncoat, and still live in perpetual, irrational hope that the series will get continued on screen.

Harry Potter (Shaun) — Oh, Harry Potter. How I misjudged you. I was working retail at a bookstore when I first encountered these books, and their sheer popularity irked me. I even accompanied my friend Shaun to a midnight release of Goblet of Fire (the book, not the movie), and couldn’t understand what the big deal was. I finally decided to give the first book a try. It had ONE CHAPTER to capture my interest, or I would put it down and denigrate the series all I wanted. Needless to say, it won me over hard, and I can’t imagine my fandom card without it.

Batman: Arkham Asylum (Alex) — Talk about an experience I denied myself for far too long! This game, as well as its sequels Arkham City, Arkham Origins, and Arkham Knight, were as close as I’ve ever experienced to actually BEING Batman in a video game. The stories were well told and dazzlingly produced, and the voice casting was top-notch. I finally finished Arkham Asylum just before Arkham City came out, and you can bet I’ve been at the midnight releases of all the other games since.

Heroes (Ed) — I was told by more than one person that they couldn’t believe I, of all people, wasn’t watching Heroes when it first came out a decade or so ago. It did seem right up my alley, as I am massively into comic books and superheroes, but at the time I just wasn’t watching television much. When I finally was exposed to the first few episodes by my girlfriend at the time, I was instantly hooked! Of course, we broke up before I could get more than a few episodes in, and I haven’t watched since, but you can bet I’ll come back around to it eventually.

The Dresden Files (Krystal) — Mr. Potter is not the only magic-user named Harry that makes this list. This one’s got a special place in my heart, because technically, I didn’t “put this one off” at all. I was told how good they were, and then put a hold on an audiobook version through my library. And I checked it out when the hold came through–A YEAR LATER. But I loved it, and now I’m eagerly awaiting the other books on audio so I can see what I’ve been missing for the last 15 years!

What are some surprise recommendations that you put off for far too long? I know I can’t be the only one who’s eating crow for not taking my friends seriously…

Batman enthusiasts may have recently noticed a controversial headline or two about the highly anticipated home video release of Batman: the Killing Joke. Starring the beloved voice talents of Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, this classic story was hailed as one of the seminal tales of the Batman mythos in the 1980s, and is credited with moving the Dark Knight into dark territory with its violent plot and surprisingly tragic (possible) backstory given to the Joker. One of the most impactful developments in the story involves the crippling of Barbara Gordon, who up until this story had been Batgirl, and whose horrific treatment at the hands of the Joker lays the groundwork for her eventual rebirth as the wheelchair-bound superhero, Oracle.

Right before the film’s release, news websites began posting about a significant change to the character of Barbara Gordon in the animated film, particularly involving her relationship with Batman. Cast as a problematic and unwelcome development, the news centered around the introduction of Barbara, as Batgirl, having a sexual relationship with Batman during the course of the film. Taken as is, these headlines could easily leave Batfans in a state of acute pique, especially any source material purists who don’t recall any cannon relationship between the two of them.

At first, I jumped on the bandwagon that mocked and rolled its collective eyes at this news. Many of my friends reacted, making statements to the effect that Barbara couldn’t possibly have any worth in this story unless she was a damsel in distress to give Batman some man pain to motivate him to fight the Joker. And, at first, I joined them.

After having seen The Killing Joke in theaters this week, I’m of the opinion that the first third of the film, which is told from Barbara’s perspective, is a problematic but ultimately necessary subversion of the original story by Alan Moore. After it moves into the conflict between Batman and the Joker, Barbara is essentially abandoned after the Joker shoots, cripples, and sexually violates her. She is effectively a prop, an easy example of Women in Refrigerators whose sole function is to raise the stakes for the men in the story.

Isn’t that a biting indictment of a story? Barbara gets mutilated, and the story is not even about her.

In hindsight, Alan Moore holds no love for this event, if his interviews are to be believed. Of the contrarian opinion that The Killing Joke isn’t a very good story of his, he also mentions that DC editorial’s decision to let him cripple Barbara was a mistake, one where they should have “reined [him] in,” but failed to do so.

The Killing Joke, as Alan Moore wrote it, is essentially about Batman and the Joker, and to a lesser degree, about Jim Gordon. It’s not about Barbara, her struggles as Batgirl, or even her triumphant attainment of the Oracle mantle. Yet it’s absolutely integral to her evolution as a character, because of what is done to her. For that reason alone, I don’t take issue with the film creators’ decision to inject her perspective into the beginning of the narrative. Given the enormity and tragedy of what is inflicted on her in the course of this story, this deserves to be her story, too.

With all of that said, however…

I think the decision to make Barbara infatuated with Batman didn’t do the character any favors. It’s the sole, stark issue I have with this part of the story, for a number of reasons. Comic book continuity aside, Barbara has never struck me as a person who needed Bruce or Batman to complete her identity as a person; she had always been an independent, resourceful woman whose inexperience was often counterbalanced by her cleverness and intelligence. The idea that she would pine after her mentor in crimefighting—her “yoga instructor,” as she codes to her gay best friend when dishing about guys—is also more than a little disturbing.

However, with that said, I like a lot of the other issues raised by this part of the story. Barbara’s exploration of her role as a crimefighter takes a compelling turn when the nephew of one of the mob bosses becomes obsessed with her. She scoffs, like I would guess any young vigilante would, when Batman tells her she’s not taking a dangerous situation seriously enough. Her enthusiasm balances her uncertainty, with which she does struggle in a believable fashion. What her mentor thinks of her, what lengths criminals will go to in order to get what they want, how she handles stress and surprises in their line of work—these are all issues she encounters, and deals with in ultimately relatable ways. It’s only when the romantic/sexual/infatuation elements come into play that things come off as contrived or off-putting.

In short, I think the headlines many websites and publications used to sensationalize this development were misleading and manipulated to generate clicks. Surprise, surprise, I know. But I think anyone who was excited about this movie and then put off of it because of the headlines owes it to themselves to see it for themselves. I myself was guilty of judging the film based on those headlines, and while I won’t rate The Killing Joke as one of the best animated Batman films I’ve seen, it’s certainly nowhere near as bad as the naysayers would have you believe.

There is, of course, more to this film than the changes that were made to the story, and I’m giving them such short shrift because, for the most part, they’re fine, and we all know what to expect from them. The script is nearly line for line accurate to the comic, and the animation and voice acting is all top-notch. I even didn’t realize in the original comic that Joker actually sings during one phase of his tormenting the elder Gordon. It’s certainly not a bad adaptation. I just happen to think the changes surrounding Barbara’s character are the most significant part of the story, and that they bring both positive and negative elements to bare upon the narrative.

It’s definitely worth a watch, if for no other reason than as a lesson that you can’t always trust the headlines you see on the internet.

Tag: Batman

Batman: the Killing Joke – Don’t Believe Everything the Naysayers Write