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The Boy Who Loved Batman

Posted by Soulskill on from the there-was-only-one dept.

theodp writes "As a young boy, Batman producer Michael Uslan — a self-described 'ultimate comic book geek' — was traumatized to see the Caped Crusader being 'murdered' in front of his very eyes by the camp 60's TV series. 'I was horrified,' Uslan told a Harper College audience last week. 'I was horrified because the whole world was laughing at Batman, and that just killed me.' At that point, the 13-year-old vowed to teach the world about the Batman he knew, about the crusader who lurked in the shadows, about a darker, grittier superhero. As told in his memoir The Boy Who Loved Batman, he made good on that vow: Uslan has served as the executive producer of all Batman major motion pictures, from 1989's Batman to the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises (trailer)."

9 of 157 comments (clear)

  1. Wait... by dohzer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So he made a few more movies where everyone laughed at Batman, and then he made Batman Begins? Why would he do that?

    1. Re:Wait... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That and they are very good. Is this "dark moody" Batman? No. This is "Heroic, if slightly awkward" Batman. The whole premise of a man having a ward was weird in the 60's - there was no other way to play it, if you wanted Batman in the 60's timeframe. So yes, they played it up and added humour. The show was thus enjoyed by adults and children on two very different levels. Personally I think this is clever.

      The thing about Batman is that it does stretch this far, and can accommodate very different interpretations. I think it very unfair to say Adam West's portrayal of Batman "killed it", instead it kept Batman relevant through the 60's. If it weren't for the Adam West Batman would the franchise still exist?

    2. Re:Wait... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      When we look back now, we don't see humor, we see homosexual.

      Sure, for the people who are preoccupied with homosexuality and predisposed to see it in everything.

    3. Re:Wait... by AngryDeuce · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yeah, if people actually go back and read the Batman comics that were being written then, they're just as campy and ridiculous as the show.

      Still, the post-Burton, pre-Nolan Batman's were fucking shit-tacular. I'm actually more insulted by those movies now that I know that someone that purported to actually give a shit about the characters was involved in the production. Before I could chalk it up to Hollywood humping another property to death because it has no soul or sense of when to quit while ahead, but now I wonder if we weren't just being trolled or something.

    4. Re:Wait... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Not as mad as I am about Batman Forever. That movie single-handedly destroyed all that is Batman in a far more damaging way than some campy 60s tv shows ever could -- because, unlike the tv show, the movie took itself seriously, and as a result, its savagery is all the less forgivable.

      There are no words for how low and despicable is a high-visibility, mass-market Batman story which destroys the core of the Batman mystique -- the idea of the schizophrenic, with one perfectly-adjusted, uber-successful personality and another personality which is a costumed, criminal vigilante, essentially indistinguishable from his villainous foes, created by the traumatic experience of witnessing his parents' murder.

      The movie commits the unforgivable act of destroying this perfect, successful hero image by having him come to terms with his parents' deaths, healing his riven psyche and merging the two halfs of his personality into a healthy, realized whole. And the catalyst for, the mechanism of, the reason for this romantic, girly, unforgivable healing event? The love of a woman! Ah, the ultimate betrayal of the Batman character to the mercenary sensibilities of the Hollywood marketing machine: the ultimate loner has a stereotypical Happy Ending due to True Love!

      All responsible parties should be held accountable, by means of either large fines or public torture.

    5. Re:Wait... by Artifakt · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It wasn't just the style, it was the COMICS CODE. When the code was adopted, it forbid showing realistic means to commit crimes - so there goes the detective aspect of Detective comics (featuring none other than Batman). Batman now had to solve unrealistic murders and thefts only. The code forbid making criminals look attractive, so you had to make all the villians scarred, disfigured, or warped in some obvious ways. (Hence not just the Joker and Two-face, but eventually the DiVito Penguin with flipper-hands, horrible teeth, and obesity). The code said police and officials had to be shown as upright and honest, so no cops on the take plotlines. The code tried to stop all sorts of graphic horror and violence, so what was left as a way to deal with a bunch of insane, strange looking people out committing crimes? Mockery and Humor, or go where TV was not about to go - into serious introspection. As people eventually realized, one of the things the code said, in effect, was "Hey kids, trust beautiful people, but the disabled are all criminals!". I don't particularly get riled up over the Adam West series - it's just part of the same screwed up society that wouldn't show some The Prisoner episodes because they were seen as critical of the Viet Nam war. As you point out, TV was just following the comics of the time. But the comics of the time were seriously screwed up because of the code.

      --
      Who is John Cabal?
    6. Re:Wait... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The Batman seen in Batman: The Animated Series is considered by many to be THE Batman, as he's a mix of all the best versions of Batman from the comics. It's as though he's the archetypal Batman, rather than just another variation himself. The voice cast they assembled is one of the best I've ever heard for a Batman show, with Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill knocking it out of the park with Bruce Wayne/Batman and The Joker, respectively. It also helped that, for the initial run, they got some really top notch animation for the show.

      That's not to mention the individual greatness of some of the episodes. Heart of Ice ranks up there as one of my all-time favorite episodes of anything, and was properly rewarded with an Emmy at the time. Feat of Clay and Robin's Reckoning are great two-parters, and I think Robin's Reckoning also won an Emmy.

  2. Know this! by kurt555gs · · Score: 5, Funny

    Adam West is the one true Batman!

    --
    * Carthago Delenda Est *
  3. Re: Robin is underrated... by flargleblarg · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Have you seen the fan-made trailer for a movie called "Grayson"? It's remarkably good. They never made it into a full movie, but when you watch the trailer, you can't help wishing they did:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQyfQ7RMOXs