It seems that comparing Batman with reality is easier than comparing the graphic novel (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller, 1989) to the film (“Batman,” Tim Burton, 1989).
In both cases, disguising yourself as the president is the best trick robbers got. Thieves masked as Nixon held up a convenience store in The Dark Knight. And just last week, the term “Obama Robber” was coined when a gunman donning a President Barack Obama mask entered a bank in Austria and stole $10,000 Euros.
(Bad quality photo on left courtesy of my webcam; photo on right from BBC News)
Weapons of mass destruction are a threat. The Soviets launched nuclear missiles, stopping all electronics in Miller’s US. The dust from the attacks blocked the sun and Gothamites went wild in the streets and in the jails. In comparison to our world, former (thankfully) president George Bush invaded the Middle-East in an unsuccessful search for nuclear weapons, but it was still enough to scare us all. And keep the war going, I guess.
(Steve Bell, The Guardian)
And on a more serious note, Pink has another stupid smash hit with the line, “Why so serious?” (watch "Raise Your Glass" at 0:35).
But when comparing the graphic novel, The Dark Knight Returns, with Burton's "Batman" film, the level of maturity between the two is the biggest contrast. The novel introduces its readers to a world of politics and sex that they wouldn't see much of three years later when "Batman" hit the big screens.
The political and social discourse is most expressed in the novel through the television news. It begins with the reporters' eagerness to get the President's comments on the Batman issue. With no luck on that, the reporter goes on to speak with "Batman's most vocal supporter." The reporter suggests that this supporter is condoning behaviour that goes against civil rights. This statement reminds us of the social issues in the '50s and '60s and seems to date the novel a bit, but the interviewee's response brings us back to the 1980s, when the novel was set and written. "We live in the shadow of crime, Ted, with the unspoken understanding that we are victims - of fear, of violence, of social impotence." These are issues that are present in the real world - outside the world of superheroes - and therefore give the novel more maturity and relevance.
"Batman" offers a more family-friendly experience. It leaves out the political tones that would put kids to sleep, and leaves out sexy scenes that would either make the kids ask their parents too many questions, or would make them squirm uncomfortably in their seats. The most intimacy we seem to get in the film is a seductive shot of Vicki Vales' legs, of her sleeping over at Bruce Waynes (without sex scenes though - maybe it was just an innocent sleepover...), or the final dance between Vicki and The Joker.
But in the novel, why is Batman the way he is? Well sexual repression, of course! That's the answer The Joker gives, right before he forcefully makes out with a woman on air. He then shows up at Kyle Escort Service and gives another big, forceful smackeroo to Selina. He tells her that a congressman hired an escort for the evening. We see the escort's and congressman's silhouettes while she moves closer to him as he tells her he didn't pay for this and he's happily married. But then their bodies turn into one big silhouette and that kinky suggestiveness is something we don't see in the PG-13 flick.
This contrasting level of maturity between the novel and the film is notable because it allows us to see that adaptations of similar stories don't necessarily have to target the same audience.
(Courtesy of Logo and Logo Wallpaper Collection)
The political and social discourse is most expressed in the novel through the television news. It begins with the reporters' eagerness to get the President's comments on the Batman issue. With no luck on that, the reporter goes on to speak with "Batman's most vocal supporter." The reporter suggests that this supporter is condoning behaviour that goes against civil rights. This statement reminds us of the social issues in the '50s and '60s and seems to date the novel a bit, but the interviewee's response brings us back to the 1980s, when the novel was set and written. "We live in the shadow of crime, Ted, with the unspoken understanding that we are victims - of fear, of violence, of social impotence." These are issues that are present in the real world - outside the world of superheroes - and therefore give the novel more maturity and relevance.
"Batman" offers a more family-friendly experience. It leaves out the political tones that would put kids to sleep, and leaves out sexy scenes that would either make the kids ask their parents too many questions, or would make them squirm uncomfortably in their seats. The most intimacy we seem to get in the film is a seductive shot of Vicki Vales' legs, of her sleeping over at Bruce Waynes (without sex scenes though - maybe it was just an innocent sleepover...), or the final dance between Vicki and The Joker.
But in the novel, why is Batman the way he is? Well sexual repression, of course! That's the answer The Joker gives, right before he forcefully makes out with a woman on air. He then shows up at Kyle Escort Service and gives another big, forceful smackeroo to Selina. He tells her that a congressman hired an escort for the evening. We see the escort's and congressman's silhouettes while she moves closer to him as he tells her he didn't pay for this and he's happily married. But then their bodies turn into one big silhouette and that kinky suggestiveness is something we don't see in the PG-13 flick.
This contrasting level of maturity between the novel and the film is notable because it allows us to see that adaptations of similar stories don't necessarily have to target the same audience.
Works Cited
"BBC News - Austria Hunts 'bank Robber with Barack Obama Mask'" BBC. 21 Jan. 2011. Web. 29 Jan. 2011.
"BBC News - Austria Hunts 'bank Robber with Barack Obama Mask'" BBC. 21 Jan. 2011. Web. 29 Jan. 2011.
"The Dark Knight: Storylines: The Dark Knight Returns." Batman: The Dark Knight. 9 June 2006. Web. 29 Jan. 2011 <http://www.darkknight.ca/storylines/tdkr.html>.
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