LLSS 528 - Studies in Reading and Literature for Teachers

Conclusions

Afterword by Jeff Rovin

               This brief, two page, conclusion attempts to wrap up the major points made in the collection of essays about the Batman TV show.  I feel as if I must bring some closure, albeit brief, to this blog.  Looking back through my previous posts, I find one common theme jumping out at me, the influence that we allow digital media to have over us.  It is neither a positive, nor a negative issue, but when we sit down in front of the television, or log on to our favorite websites, we are looking to escape in some way the everyday hustle and bustle.  Though we submit to media repeatedly throughout the day, we have the choice to not let it consume or control us.  Our students who were born and raised in this era need direct instruction and modeling on how to separate the fantasy from reality while maintaining fluency in all aspects of their lives.

Jumping the Bat-Shark: The Demise of Batman and "Some Days You Just Can't Get Rid of a Bomb ": The Legacy of Batman

Jumping the Bat-Shark: The Demise of Batman by Will Murray

               At the completion of this essay I must inevitably file it under, ‘interesting for a Batman fan, irrelevant for the digital culture of today’.  The entire essay focuses on the last season of the TV show and how due to budget cuts, suffered a slow and painful descent into ridiculous obscurity.  At the writing of this blog post, I am having difficulties drawing parallels or similarities with digital texts that are available today.  As an outsider looking in on the digital natives culture, I have a difficult time seeing an end to the culture that has been created around digital texts and media.

"Some Days You Just Can’t Get Rid of a Bomb”: The Legacy of Batman by Paul Kupperberg

               In this final full essay, Kupperberg revisits a lot of the points stressed throughout the other 13 essays.  Batman, in all its forms, still manages to influence pop culture today just as much as it did almost 50 years ago.  While POW! WHAM! SMASH! has slowly been removed from our lexicon, some of the issues that the creators and producers of the show had to overcome are still around today.

               The greatest example was the debate over the influence of comic books on the youth of the time.  In the 1940s Senate hearings were held to determine whether the violence depicted in comic books were damaging to the youth of America, creating a generation of violent children who lack empathy and compassion for others.  Today, we are hearing a similar argument about violence in video games.

               The purpose of the campiness and slapstick in Batman was twofold.  It was to wow the children watching and to humor their parents.  No one ever complained that the Batman TV show was creating a generation of violent children.  Perhaps, and this is an argument I regularly stick behind, it is due to the fact that viewing the television show was a family event where certain situations and dialogues could be put into their proper contexts.  This is an issue that has been strangely absent throughout the entire book.  I feel the need to pursue this theory further in my ‘free time’.

Gotham City R & D: Gadgetry in Batman and Theatre of the Absurd: The 1966 Batman Movie

Gotham City R&D: Gadgetry in Batman by Michael Johnson

               All in all, this was a fun essay to read.  Michael Johnson explores the various bat-gadgets and how, surprisingly, they have become realities today.

               Johnson points out that the 1960s were a time of technological revolution with the Cold War an ongoing concern and the space race at the forefront of everyone’s minds; the TV show took this idea and ran with it.  Batman and Robin had a gadget that could serve any purpose depending upon their situation.  At the time, these seemed to be out of science fiction novels with the prefix bat- added to the beginning.  But over time, many of these devices became common place in modern society.  In one episode, the Dynamic Duo used a device that sent an electrical charge to escape the Black Widow’s web.  Today we call this a stun gun.  To escape a man-eating shark, they sprayed bat-shark repellant.  Such things do exist today, much to my surprise.  But instead of an aerosol concoction, it employs chemicals or electricity.

               The TV show made the utility belt famous which at times seems a little odd that Batman would carry so many things around in his belt.  But as Johnson points out, when we leave the house we grab our phones, wallets, keys, mp3 players and any other sundry items we may need.

               The main message that I was able to gather from this essay was that no matter how far-fetched something may be, we need to keep dreaming.  Someday, it may be a common household item.

Theatre of the Absurd: The 1966 Batman Movie by Robert G. Weiner

               Had I not watched the movie repeatedly as a child, I would have been quite upset with Robert Weiner’s essay.  Without so much as a warning, the first half is a spoiler filled synopsis of the movie with the second half being a critical view of the movie and its importance in pop culture today.

               As has been stated throughout this blog, the film, like the tv show, is still in the conscious and referenced throughout tv, movies and cartoons.  What was fascinating to me was how this movie was a reflection of society at the time.  In 1966 the United States was formally acknowledging their involvement in Vietnam and the Cold War began escalating to greater heights.  To combat the fear that most viewers lived with day in and day out, Batman became a symbol of a true American; thwarting evil and contributing to society at every turn.  This was also a time when James Bond’s popularity began to spread and like the rest of America, Batman was interested in gadgets, action, and beautiful women.

               Though intriguing and academically appealing to learn about the layers and intentions behind some of my favorite childhood TV shows and characters, sometimes ignorance is bliss.  Sometimes Batman should just be Batman.

“Holy Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor!”: Youth Culture in Batman by Michael D. Hamersky

               When I first opened this book on my Kindle Fire I began reading through the titles in the table of contents.  As a teacher, this essay caught my eye.  Robin had always been a favorite series to read and in working with children day in and day out, l can look back and see an accurate representation of how youth try to make sense of the world around them.  Though not many students, probably none at all, don a costume and fight crime, every student has aspects of their lives that contradict other parts and each day they struggle to make sense of it all.  The comics captured this perfectly with Jason Todd attempting to fill Dick Grayson’s shoes.  The TV show fell flat however.

               According to Hamersky, the dialogue and action was written by members of an older generation that portrayed the Boy Wonder in the image of what youth should be, not the counter-culture activists that so many youth were at the time.  Dick Grayson, when not fighting the likes of the Joker, was nose deep in a text book or another educational activity that Bruce Wayne has assigned to him.  In the show, successful people finished school and the villains were drop-outs.  Dick was the prime example of what a student should be: obedient, attentive, essentially a ‘square’.  Hamersky alludes to the fact that this was a ploy by the show’s creators to try to keep America’s youth in check and to keep sanity at home.

               Thankfully, many of the digital texts that our students are engaging in are self-created.  With guidance, hopefully, they are gaining a sense of what it is to carve a niche out for themselves in this great big world.  As parents and teachers, it is our job to ensure that this is done in a safe environment that promotes success and appropriate self-sufficiency that does not place the students’ futures in jeopardy.

The Best-Dressed Women in Gotham City by Jennifer K. Stuller

               As a young child enthralled with the bright colors, the ‘POW’s ‘WHAM’s and daring escapes of Batman, I never really look it to be more than just half an hour of fun about the Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder.  I took it at face value and enjoyed the show.  Jennifer Stuller, the author of this essay, shed light onto a different purpose for the show, a way for social messages to be broadcasted.

               As can be inferred by the title of the essay, and following blog post, this essay addressed the issue of the role of women in Gotham City.  In the first two seasons, the only real female influence on the show was that of Catwoman.  Rather than falling into the normal role of arm candy for the male villain, Julie Newmar’s Catwoman turned perceptions of women’s roles in comics on their head.  Instead of being the trophy that stood idly by, Catwoman was able to accomplish what many male villains were not able to do, and ensnare Batman and achieve her goals independent of anyone else, though she sometimes employed henchmen.

               Later, in season 3, the creators of the show introduced Batgirl who at almost every turn saved Batman and Robin from yet another trap.  The Dynamic Duo were so often embarrassed, though not explicitly stated in the show, that they would often ‘thank’ her by saying, “We were just about to get out of that jam”.

               Though initially just an attempt to stay true to the comics and draw viewers back to a show that was hemorrhaging viewers, by bringing these two female characters in the fold, the creators were making a powerful societal statement.  When Catwoman would escape and Batgirl would ride in on her motorcycle and save the day, they were exhibiting that women could do exactly what men were doing, and often times better.  The show inadvertently used media to broadcast an important message to the viewing public.

               We find ourselves in a time when another form of media, the internet, is being used to inform the public of important issues.  From tweets, blogs, Skypes, TED talks and YouTube clips, information is being transmitted to millions of people around the world bringing issues to the consciousness of the people to inform anyone willing to listen.

Villainy in Batman and May I have this Batdance?

“Known Super-Criminals Still at Large”: Villainy in Batman by Chuck Dixon

               Chuck Dixon’s essay touched on a personal note that I will elaborate upon later.  His theory on Batman’s revolving door of villains goes well beyond just the costumed foes, and the personal attachment he had to the comics growing up.

               He begins the essay with an anecdote about punching a classmate because they were wearing a t-shirt based off of the tv show, which he himself despised.  To him, that wasn’t Batman.  Batman was the brooding dark figure that used his powers of deduction to solve the mysteries that his foes had created to throw him off the case.

               Dixon reveals that as he grew older, he began to appreciate the show for its two layers.  One that was colorful and campy intended to appeal to the younger viewers, and the more satirical level created for the adults who may be watching.  However, as an adolescent, he could not see the subtleties that the show presented. It was the way that he perceived things.

               In a similar way, that is how many of our digital native students go about their own online lives.  The world that they create in social media with their friends, photos, apps and taggings, they have a perception of the world that is unique to them.  When they arrive in school, their perception of the world and the reality do not match, thus creating a conflict for that student.  I feel that it is the role of parents and educators to help bridge a gap and to clearly define the discourses students participate in on a daily basis.  By creating ways of performing in different social areas of life, students can make the transition from digital life to real life more easily.

               Nostalgia plays a huge role in our perceptions of the world around us.  Students will look back on their time online with either elation or regret, depending upon their choices.  Incorporating the online discourse into classroom routines will help our digital natives see that their perception and reality can be the same thing.

               As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, nostalgia had a personal effect on me.  At the start of the essay, I was not all that interested in what Dixon had to say.  It is laundry day, I am feeling a little under the weather, and I’m just not interested in what another fanboy has to say.  Then Dixon mentioned that he wrote a short story arc for Robin in the early nineties.  I proceeded to my comic book-bookcase, yes I have a bookcase dedicated entirely to comic books, and pulled out one of my favorite storylines of all time, and there was Dixon’s name on the cover.  I returned to the essay with renewed purpose and enthusiasm.  Perception is not everything, but it sure influences a lot of our decisions.

May I Have this Batdance? By Michael S. Miller

               This brief essay discussed the influence that the now famous theme song had on popular culture.  Countless recordings of this song came out in 1966.  Some of the acts were Jan and Dean, The Who as well as other pop artists of the era.  Its influence did not end with the show’s cancellation  in 1992 R.E.M. recorded a version for their album, Automatic for the People.

               The overall theme of this essay is one that I have covered before.  Batman’s influence went well beyond just that of the tv show.  It spread to all mediums available at the time.  Genres and mediums blend and there is rarely any internet content, or tv content that sticks primarily to the form that it is created for.  In an effort to reach as many participants as possible, a creator of art, tv, movies and music must be willing to adapt their product to meet the demands of our digitally literate society.