the July Phantasmagorical, 2012
Wherein ChillerPop presents a
short, unwordy lazy roundup of the month in phantasmagoric, creepy,
spooky, speculative, fantastical, wonderful, science-fictiony,
monstrous, psychotronic and strange...and stuff like that...
The Best of Bat-Times, The Worst of Bat-TimesFirst: needless to say I have a lot of sorrow over the events in Aurora, Colorado. My deep condolences to the victims and their families. I know I'm not feeling particularly understanding or forgiving of the shooter, no matter what sort of mental illness he has.
I also know that I'm thankful for everyone who is resisting a stupid and baseless pop culture moral panic (Beth Winegarner, I'm looking at you to lead this fight). We already have gasbag Rush Limbaugh eager to take the blame away from the Second Ammendment. But there's more to be found, just as surely as some people believed Heath Ledger's death was the cause of demonic possession.
Furthermore, wear your Bat with pride - do not let a disturbed psychopath hijack your pleasure in your favorite movies, your favorite characters, no matter how dark these may be. I wore my Batman t-shirt and hope you did too.
Now then....
SPOILERS
Would Anne Hathaway care for all of my mother's jewelry?
Anne Hathaway's Catwoman was a point of effervescent fun in the midst of the grim Wagnerian stew that was The Dark Knight Rises. I'll spare you the lovesick fan-gushing but know this: her Selina Kyle is pitch perfect, the right blend of sexy slinkiness, self absorbed master thievery and dubious moral complication. Comics, cartoons and movies seem invested in making her some sort of upright bat-lieutenant on the road to redemption and baby Huntresses with Bruce Wayne. Not so much here, despite the very end. This doesn't take away from the Burtonian iteration by Michelle Pfeiffer, which was just out of control repressed female anger writ large. Nor does it take from the aesthetic pleasures and Pop Art Purrs of Julie Newmar, Lee Merriwether and Eartha Kitt.
I also have to say I loved Bane, a nasty snuff-film nightmare brought to life by Tom Hardy, given a philosophical soul and a strong motivational reason for existing. I even liked the Sean Connery-like voice. I’m sure the non-comics geek shrugs their shoulders in confusion at “Bane” while easily recognizing Catwoman, Joker, Penguin and the dazzling rogues gallery of the ‘60’s TV show. Even I, steeped in superhero comics, have largely dismissed Bane. Bane was spawned from the cynical market-share grab ignited when the “death” of Superman proved wildly successful in 1994. All of a sudden, DC’s A-list superheroes had to die (never permanent of course), so that not only could you have panels and panels of grieving over these selfless legends (grief porn in superhero comics – a future topic!), but also so that their legacy could be continued by BIGGER! BADDER! BADASS! roid’-rage-with-an-attitude replacements. Bane looked like a dumb thug whose only point was to put Batman in traction, thereby allowing some lame vigilante named “Azreal” to be the SHOCKING NEW BATMAN! and generate sales. This image was not helped by his appearance in the much maligned Batman and Robin film.
As an aside I want to revisit Batman and Robin and figure out what makes me loathe it while I love the 60’s TV show – aren’t they the same campy creature?
Should Dark Knight Rises have been two films back-to-back? Perhaps. The second act, based on the DC Comics storyline “No Man’s Land” is an exciting framework for a standalone Bat-movie. The presence of Bat-lieutenants and heirs is intriguing (sad to say, my inner overweight nerdy virgin couldn’t help whining “why can’t that be an ex-circus brat named Richard or the red-head daughter of Commissioner Gordon??!”). Despite its aims at ‘realism’ you still need a strong suspension of disbelief, although it’ll involve knowledge of corporate law and securities regulations, not whether or not a man in a Bat-suit can glide over a city without dying.
The Dark Knight Rises was superb. While I thought my taste for serious, dark and pretentiously overwrought comic book adaptations was waning, at the end of this trilogy I am duly enthralled by Christopher Nolan’s weird fantasy of supervillainous social engineering. I don't need to get into the social aspects of the film, which some economic conservatives are lauding as a triumph of their views. Occupy Wall Street. The worst, most offensive nightmare of the 1%. The French Revolution with capes and ninja action sequences. Charles Dickens with a sexy cat-burglar. If you own this trilogy on DVD I doubt you’ll find it a breezy, casual re-watch on a rainy afternoon.
Soon to come will be a post about one of my favorite artists, the Mother of Punk, Nina Hagen! The touched, operatic punk diva's Facebook feed has been a source of continued awesomeness. For now let me mention her unceasing support for beleaguered Russian rebel Riot Grrrls Pussy Riot, and I leave you with this phrase:
GAGA IST EINE SATANISTISCHE SCHLAMPE!
Got that? Gaga is a Satanic strumpet!
Harsh words from someone who can effortlessly give Mercedes McCambridge a run for her money:
Comments
I tend to think that
the events in Aurora indicate just how deeply the subject matter of
Batman actually probes into the psyche...It is dark, and there are a lot
of people who attach to various aspects of darkness for darkness' sake.
But as a Horror writer I feel that this is the risk we creatively take
when there is honesty in the storytelling, and it has nothing to do with
"evil" or the "evil" we precipitate on others. I personally feel that
the movie deserves to stand on its own merits, separate from the
tragedy. I think you do it justice here, because no one who loves the
Batman franchise could ever feel anything but sympathy for the real
horrors that happened in one man's mental world and spilled out onto
innocents that night... Another excellent post.
I'm looking forward to
your eventual piece re: the B&M movie vs the TV series. I have some
ideas, but would like to hear yours -- not to mention a piece on Nina
Hagen (I am so there for that one! --- Free Pussy Riot!). As for
Catwoman, I'm partial to retro-modern Pop Art Purrs of
Kitt/Newmar/Merriwether.
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