After reading the article about the history of Batman, I was interested by the cultural twists and turns that the Batman series has taken. It is interesting to see how the Batman appears in the beginning of his career and how he looks now and to note all the little detours that have occurred in between. The amalgamation of figures used to conceptualize the first Batman, for instance, harkens to a time where crime fighters were about . . . well, fighting crime and crafting secret identities. Not much time seemed to be spent on the ethics of beating villains senselessly, it all seemed simple and tame (except for the BLAMS! to villain skulls).
Then there is the era of war propaganda, wherein Batman and Robin fight the forces of evil . . . who happen to be Japanese. It is hard to imagine a time when it was so easy to be so blatantly racist without adding that “just kidding” element.
And how can we forget the campiness of the Batman live-action TV series with Adam West, complete with trippy transitions and even trippier Robin catchphrases.
And now today’s Batman (meaning within the last few decades) is the opposite: less dancing, more stabbing. We go from a Batman who has to save Robin on a regular basis and to one who has to watch out for the cops because of child endangerment charges, among other things.
It would be hard to image a publication not change with the times, so it is interesting to see the implications of fashion, pop culture, and current events on the comic, shows, and movies. And yet one would have to wonder whether these changes make Batman who he is, a product of cultural change, or if it detracts from his origins and turns him into something other than Batman.
I agree that there definitely has been a good deal of change within the Batman continuity that is indicative of the time periods. It was mentioned in class that the characters of Batwoman and Batgirl were first introduced as potential love interests to Batman and Robin in response to accusations that the comics were encouraging homosexuality. Though there have been several retcons and retellings, the Batwoman character exists in today’s Batman continuity—and while she was originally conceptualized to heterosexualize Batman, she, ironically, has been revealed to be a lesbian. Though by no means do I say that social stigma against homosexuals no longer exists, I imagine it is far less taboo today than it was in the 60s.
I am unsure if Batman can be defined by the times. Like it was said in class, the Batman as portrayed after Miller wrote The Dark Knight Returns was a grim and dark figure. But there have also been some recent incarnations of Batman that, while modern, pay tribute to his campy phase. While a darker Batman is said to be the Batman of “today,” to this day a more lighthearted, campy Batman also persists.
There also seem to be many traits that I don’t think change with time—for example, the motivation behind his actions, his resulting distaste for guns (after that trait was established), and the use of the Bat-Signal regardless of how technologically obsolete or inefficient it is to shine a searchlight in the sky. His methods may change with time and technology, but I feel that stories of Batman have acquired somewhat of a timeless quality.