If you’re in group 6, you’re responsible for this week’s weekly roundup. Each student in the group will highlight one key moment from the previous week’s online and in-class discussions. To recall the syllabus:
Follow this formula for the highlights: describe the moment (provide the context and the facts about what you saw, read, or heard), interpret the meaning of the moment (what does it mean?), and evaluate its significance (in other words, why was the moment important?).
You can post your highlight in the comments below.
This week, I was particularly intrigued by Katie’s Pecha Kucha presentation on gender narratives in The Dark Knight Returns. I was impressed with how she demonstrated the importance of looking at the female characters in Frank Miller’s Gotham City, and how they are presented and interact with the male characters. After all, it would be naïve of us to assume that, with all the social statements and philosophical weight running through The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller doesn’t have something to say about the roles of women in his visions of society.
That being said, I was surprised when reading Miller’s interview, that the issues of gender weren’t really discussed. They touched briefly on some portrayals of sexuality (i.e. the void sexual nature of Batman vs. his nemesis the Joker, and the sexual ambiguity of Bruno), but didn’t elaborate much on sex as pertaining to gender. Expanding on this, I think that if graphic novels are supposed to be considered the “last bastion of great art,” it’s critical to keep their portrayals of gender in the conversation (since we do this with most other art forms, especially visual art and literature). Katie touched on how female characters in comic books (at least the superhero comics) are notorious for being overly sexualized. For example, when we think of Catwoman, EVERYONE thinks of Halle Barry, but not because her portrayal of Catwoman was particularly riveting, but because she was just so damn sexy in that cat suit. I find this slightly problematic.
Looking at our reading list for this semester, I’m excited to get to Fun Home, which will clearly have some statements to make about gender, although it’s arguably in a totally different sector of literature than The Dark Knight and other superhero stories. I guess my main point is that I was really happy this week when Katie drew attention to gender narratives within these superhero comic books—specifically the character of Robin, who is one of the main characters in the story—and I think that as readers of graphic novels, we should pay careful attention to how gender roles are presented in this critically important art form.
I also was very impressed with Katie’s Pecha Kucha presentation on gender roles in The Dark Knight Returns. During her presentation I had a moment where I realized that the way Robin was characterized was a huge sign of how permeating the woman’s right movement had become and how it was still evolving. I looked at the androgynous features of Robin and saw them as a step forward for woman’s rights in both a positive and negative light.
The portrayal of having a woman who could possibly fulfill the roles of both man and woman, who could be just as powerful, if not more powerful, then a superhero such as Batman, is a testament to how far the woman’s right movement had come and how the cry for full equality between genders had risen during this time. It reminded me of the plight of many women who had to face bigotry in the workplace and tried to break through the “glass ceiling”.
I feel as if most cultures covet the idea of having a fertile society and the symbol for fertility is often the exaggerated sexual features of both men and women. By having a main character such as Robin in this novel be a woman who has a masculine look contrasted by an older, almost worn out Batman who’s image is emasculated says to me that in 1980’s society there was a conscious or subconscious threat of women becoming too powerful and dominant.
I feel as if the androgynous look might have a negative influence on women by giving the social commentary that women have to act more like men in order to be taken seriously. The image of a woman masquerading around as a man could be taken as a jab that women cannot be in a position of power unless she is playing down her feminine features.
In a different light I think that the image of an overly sexualized woman demeans her but paradoxically gives her power over men. The hypersexuality of such characters such as Catwoman serves as a deadly trap to men foolish enough to underestimate her intelligence and get drawn in by her sexuality. Since Robin in this novel is portrayed as both a member in the mutant gang and Robin she is the perfect portrayal of this duality.
The introduction of the Pecha Kucha presentations were definitely the highlight of the week for me… I guess they don’t really count as “one key moment,” being that there were two, but I just had to come out and commend both presenters for acting as guinea pigs for future PowerPoints.
What I found most interesting about the presentations is that both of them touched on subjects I was already dwelling upon as I read The Dark Knight Returns. Through the first section, all I could think about was, “holy crap, Robin’s a girl!” while the second and third parts of the graphic novel shifted my focus towards the psychological make up of the characters, in particular that of the villains. It was like the presenters were reading my mind.
The Pecha Kuchas allowed for deeper interpretations of the graphic novel because they based their claims on specific panels rather than the over-all text. Wether by zooming in on graphics to take a closer look or making side-by-side comparisons, we were provided with evidence. In a way, it was the visually equivalent of citing sources on a paper; a scholarly manner of dealing with comics, if you will, which is appropriate considering this is a college classroom.
I hate PowerPoint presentations but I managed not only to sit through these, but enjoy them. They did something to the way our class was structured: The pace changed. The tone changed. The class became more student-driven. I am looking forward to see what everyone else will do through the course of the semester.
On Thursday we took a look at several Batman covers from the ’40s to the present and their different representations of Batman. The covers range from light and comical to dark and cynical. His physique changes, his costume changes, even his symbol changes. Some covers were really dark, others lighter and more comical. For instance, in the last two decades Batman has gotten significantly darker and more gruesome. This change over time kind of took me by surprise, in that I had never really considered variation of an actual character over time (I don’t know why I’ve never thought about it). When I initially looked over the syllabus for this course I immediately noticed the range of dates we were going to be looking at and have been considering major changes over time in graphic novels themselves. For example there are a million differences between God’s Man and Batman: Dark Knight Returns. So I’ve been thinking a lot since Thursday about the evolution of individual characters over time. If I hear someone say Batman, I instantly get an image in my head of what Batman is. But if it were the ’70s and someone said Batman I would have a totally different image in my head. So, it’s interesting to me to think that this character has existed for so long and changed in hundreds of ways but at the same time stayed Batman. I think that it gives the character of Batman/Bruce Wayne a deeper complexity as he gets rewritten so many times.
On Tuesday we each found pages we thought were interesting within the Dark Knight Returns. On Thursday we continued with that a discussed not only what interesting things were happening on that page or in that panel but also how it reflects/affects the novel as a whole. This concept wasn’t a new one, but the step by step close “reading” of the panels helped me to understand how an artist can convey things within the work. For me this was a huge aid in reminding me that the artwork is as important (or more so) that the text withing graphic novels. That isn’t rocket science, but I never read graphic novels or comics as a kid so I tend to be a bit text oriented when reading them.
The exercise to find pages also was interesting since we all chose different pages. The page that struck me the most (in class discussion; I forget who brought it up.) was page 25, and how the window bars could also be seen as jail bars. The fact that a single frame can capture all of the bottled up and trapped energy of Bruce Wayne is fascinating.
These panels that reflect the overall feel of the novel, helped me to understand that the Dark Knight Returns was more that the average comic. A distinction made more difficult because Batman and comics do go hand and hand. This novel however, is exactly that: a novel. The overarching themes and detailed art work solidify that fact in my mind.
I absolutely agree and disagree with Ms. Walker. Catwoman is a totally sexualized character, but Halle Nerry is reprising the Ertha Kitt Catwoman. To me it is a same difference situation.
Let’s take a trip back in time with this stuff here are two links to “the Jokes on Catwoman”
Pt.1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpsKkHVUlgk&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Pt.2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VMn4ens6jA&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Ok I randomly ran into this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks8PZ8X6Yo8&feature=youtube_gdata_player