Sometimes, it feels like my wife and I were raised on different planets.
Ramping up for the new Batman movie, I’ve been immersing myself in Batman stuff. Rewatching old Batman movies and TV shows. I’ve even gone back and watched the old Adam West version. Clancy, who was working on notes in the room, asked when the show was made.
“I didn’t realize Batman has been around that long,” Clancy said.
Since 1966? Batman’s been around since 1939. Okay, I wouldn’t expect her to know that, exactly. I thought that maybe she had seen the show but not known when it was from. I mean, back when I saw it, I didn’t think of it as an “old” show. It was on TV like all the time. She said that she had never seen it.
My wife has never seen the Adam West Batman show!!!
This rocked my world.
She wasn’t impressed. At all. Neither would I be, if it hadn’t been my first exposure to Batman. So now it’s mostly a nostalgia thing. Some people like the campiness of it, though I’m not really one of them. When I originally saw it, I was young enough that I didn’t think it was silly. Now, I can only watch it as though I am trying to see it through the same eyes I saw it back then. Except with a little more knowledge of who the villains were.
I’ve been also watching The Animated Series. It is, of course, better in every way imaginable. It holds up reasonably well. While Adam West introduced me to a lot of the characters, BTAS introduced me to many of the characters as they are supposed to be, more or less. It was about the time I started watching BTAS that I started collecting comic books, which of course also showed me how the characters were supposed to be. The Animated Series, though, reached farther faster, with quicker access to the origin stories (in some cases, inventing origin stories the comic books neglected. Beyond the big four (Joker, Catwoman, Riddler, Penguin) and into the lesser-knowns who both did (Clock King, Mad Hatter) and did not exist in the Adam West series.
I, of course, plan to introduce my kids to Batman. It’s kind of weird to consider that they will never see the Adam West series. There’s really no reason, with BTAS being available and all. Of course, there is a new Batman show every few years, and so one may displace it as the Ultimate Introduction. The two that have come since, The Batman and Batman: The Brave and the Bold don’t quite do it, though the latter has its charms.
Of course, the blessing and the curse is that DC Comics has revamped itself into complete unfamiliarity with me. So comic books in general is not something we are remarkably likely to do “together” as I had always thought would be neat. Maybe they will get their act together by then. Of course, it’s always possible that comics as we know them won’t exist by then.
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You may have a girl or a jock. Just saying.
To be fair, I have never “seen” the Adam West show either, but I have always been aware of it. It just looked stupid, so I never bothered to watch it.
Batman was parodied beauitfully in The Simpsons episode Radioactive Man.
Then again, the only comic books I have enjoyed were the Archies, so I’m the wrong guy to ask.
“Ramping up for the new Batman movie…”
The idea of ramping up to see a movie seems ridiculous to me. You’re seeing a movie, not visiting a foreign country. You don’t have to study anything to get the most out of the experience. It’s a great movie, and it stands on its own.
That said, if you can make any sense out of what Bain says about “The League of Shadows,” I guess I would appreciate it. That was the one part of the movie that went completely over my head.
You may have a girl or a jock. Just saying.
I will still do everything in my power to bring her on the Batwagon.
To be fair, I have never “seen†the Adam West show either, but I have always been aware of it. It just looked stupid, so I never bothered to watch it.
I was not the most discerning of TV watchers. If it catches you at a young enough age, you don’t even necessarily realize that it is 20 years old (or approaching 40, now).
The idea of ramping up to see a movie seems ridiculous to me. {…} That was the one part of the movie that went completely over my head.
You might have remembered the League of Shadows if you’d ramped up! It’s from the first movie (Batman Begins). In that movie, Bruce joined the League of Shadows under the tuteledge of Ra’s al Ghul. Bruce rejected the League and that’s why he and Ra’s ended up fighting at the end (and to save Gotham).
In this movie, it is revealed that Bane was also a member of the League of Shadows, but was tossed out because of his infirmity and how he got it and such. However, he ultimately took control of the League (or its remnants) and effectively leads it (along with Talia/Miranda). (Ramping up wouldn’t have helped you with this part.)
As for the ramping up, it’s not like studying for an exam. It’s just a part of “getting into it.” Putting bats on the brain, so to speak. Increasing the anticipation of seeing it. So on. I did the same thing for GI Joe, though in that case it didn’t help much.
“I will still do everything in my power to bring her on the Batwagon.”
As a father, you have final say over the raising of your offspring, and certainly your word takes precedence over anonymous people on the Internet. However, consider the following possibilities:
1. You have a geeky boy.
In this case, he is likely to benefit from being less geeky, and being higher in the social hierarchy than he otherwise would. So it wouldn’t be a good idea.
2. You have a jocky boy.
In this case, a little Batman might not hurt. The advantage of a closer relationship with his father would help, and might give him interests in common with disparate personality types, which might help.
3. Your boy is somewhere in between.
Depends on which end of the continuum he’s closer to.
4. You have a pretty girl.
She will ignore any of your attempts to interest her in Batman.
5. You have a plain girl.
Might be beneficial–geeks are less prone to self-destructive behavior than other lower-status cliques like druggies and slackers. Also, a female geek has her pick of the male geeks, and can easily get STEM scholarships.
What do you think?
I get where you’re coming from.
Well, with a geeky boy, it would help him find a cultural home. There are, of course, downsides to being a geek. But there are upsides, too.
A jocky boy is unlikely, at least unless we adopt.
I consider it a bonus for a girl regardless. If she’s not into it (which she might not be regardless of prettiness) then I won’t, of course, force it down her neck. But I’ll do what I can.