The Evolution of Batman

Last weekend I went and saw The Dark Knight with Whitney and her niece and nephew, Tommy & Maddie, and I was blown away by it.  Yes, it had a couple of flaws here and there, but I hadn't been that engrossed in a film in a long time.  For one of the first times, it was a superhero movie that didn't feel like a superhero movie.  What I mean by that is that the story is structured in such a way that it's not the citizens of Gotham you are watching running away from the Joker, it's citizens of the U.S. running away from the Joker.  As you've probably heard, this a dark movie, which I think makes it a bit more relatable to its themes... hence people enjoying it so much.

It just made me think about how far Batman has come.  I never read the comics, but as a kid I loved the old T.V. show and movie with Adam West.  It was so cartoon-like and cheesy with its over-the-top Bangs and Booms, but this was something that was on prime time T.V.!  Can you imagine it being on prime time T.V. today?

Then came Tim Burton's adaptations which brought a lot of new elements to not just the superhero genre, but to films with its cinematography and look.  I thought it was funny when I was talking to Tommy about it because he said that when he watched it he thought it was, "Boring and the special effects weren't that good."  That made me laugh... think about the type of movies this younger generation is watching and compare it to "special effect" movies of my generation... Yeah a huge gap.

After Burton departed, we then were introduced to Batman Forever and Batman & Robin which were more about which celebrity was in it versus a good story.  It was funny how the cartoon feel of the old series came around full circle, but this time the public didn't react too well.

Now we have the genius of Christopher Nolan who has brought a more realistic Batman to the screen with Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, who dumped the spectacle side of the previous movies for a more sinister take.

I know you are probably wondering why I went through all of that, but I think the life of these films really correlate to how America was reacting to certain issues at that specific time.  You can't deny a certain hippie feel to the Batman series of old and now to this apprehensive, post 9/11 attitude Americans are embracing.

I enjoyed The Dark Knight  because it made me think, but I'm also always for a good "popcorn" film.  Do you think that everybody has flocked to this film because it's just good, or do you think that America is more ready for this type of dark film?  I think we are at a certain point with both our government and entertainment that we are tired of being spoon fed and people telling us what is good or not.  We were supposed to like Batman & Robin because it had George Clooney in a nipple suit, but now we like The Dark Knight because it has a story that makes us question our own heroic/villainous nature.

I know I'm probably reading too much into this, but I'm interested to see where both America and the movies go in the coming years.  Will we relapse again in a comfortable state like we did after Batman Forever?  There have been some really big films to come out that have had independent like themes to them and I hope that trend continues, but I'm fearful that like anything, America's taste will change in one way or another, and we'll come full circle once again to the "Holy flippin' dolphins, Batman!"

Thoughts?