Bat Meets Girl: Adapting the Dark Knight’s Love Life to the Big Screen

Authors

Brandon Bosch, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

4-3-2019

Citation

Brandon Bosch (2019). Bat Meets Girl: Adapting the Dark Knight’s Love Life to the Big Screen, Quarterly Review of Film and Video,

DOI: 10.1080/10509208.2019.1587341

Comments

Copyright © 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Used by permission.

Abstract

It is no secret that Hollywood loves a good romance. What is perhaps sometimes overlooked however is how important romance and female characters are to male-dominated action films. Esma Kartal argues women and romance are deliberately placed into action films to create “romantic relief” and attract female viewers for greater crossover appeal.¹ In addition to romance, Yvonne Tasker observes how women in action films serve as a witness for “the hero’s suffering” and humanity in action films.² Finally, a classic use of women and romance in action films is that of the damsel-indistress, which continues to this day in many superhero films.³

However, the standard script of romance and damsels-in-distress is largely absent in Batman comic books. Batman has been many things over the years in comic books,⁴ but he has never been in a committed relationship with a woman for very long. While Batman did often have to save girlfriend Julie Madison, Batman’s young male sidekick Robin was typically used for the “damsel-in-distress” role after he was added to the comic book in 1943.⁵ Julie Madison, Linda Page, and Vicki Vale were the main “normal” girlfriends that were romantically paired with Bruce Wayne.⁶ However, as Mike Madrid (2009) notes, “Bruce and Batman might have had romances with girls like debutante Julie Madison or reporter Vicki Vale, but showed neither any true affection.”⁷ The lack of women in Bruce Wayne’s life—coupled with his live-in adolescent crime-fighting partner Robin—led to accusations of homoerotism.⁸ In response, Batwoman (Kathy Kane) was added to the comics for romantic intrigue, but romance was still presented as a “trap for Batman to avoid.⁹ Summing up Batman’s philosophy about romance, Robin says that Batman “can’t risk a big romance now—not until he’s ready to retire”.¹⁰ However, even when Wayne did take such a “risk” and began dating Silver St. Cloud, he was abruptly dumped when she discovered his superhero career, telling him that she refuses to worry “when your luck will run out!”¹¹ Batman’s poor love life is no coincidence, as DC co-publisher Dan DiDio argues that Batman-affiliated superheroes “shouldn’t be happy in their private lives.”¹² Interestingly, the greatest source of romance and sexual tension in the Batman comics arguably stems from female antiheroes and villains.