Batman (Bruce Wayne) and Robin (all three of them, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake) a.k.a the Dynamic Duo, are the most well known superhero-sidekick pair in comic books and other media. Writers love to focus on their bond, which has been interpreted as a father-son relationship over the year. Yet, a recurring joke that comic book fans and literary analysts sometimes focus on is a bond deeper than father and son. In fact, the two have been accused of homosexuality over the years.
It all started with a psychiatrist named Dr. Fredric Wertham who criticized the "harmful" effects of comic books in a book called Seduction of the Innocent (1954). In this book he accused Wonder Woman as being a sexist symbol, horror comics inspiring "juvenile delinquency" and Batman and Robin of being a homosexual pair after interpreting this scene. Ever since his interpretation of the Dynamic Duo as a homosexual couple, readers and the public began to consider the possibility. This drastically affected the comic book in the 50's and 60s because DC (Batman's publishers) forced changes to make the characters "appear straight." They introduced Batgirl to give Batman a new love interest (even though it never worked between them) and made Dick Grayson (the first Robin) move to college. The writers even brought Ace the Bat Hound and introduced the Bat-Mite (a trickster from the 5th Dimension like Superman villain Mister Mxyzplk) to create a "Batman Family."
These changes turned a previously gritty comic book and the gritty character Batman into a situational comedy and main punchline respectively. Because of an unfounded accusation that Batman and Robin were gay, the comic book franchise was almost ruined because of the campy "Batman Family." It was saved when the darker roots of Batman were reintroduced in the 70's and 80's. To put things in a larger perspective, our culture of over-analysis tends to place things out of context. Homosexuality was not linked with Batman until Dr. Wertham introduced the concept between specifically those two. He did not accuse Captain America and his former sidekick Bucky or Aquaman and Aqualad of homosexuality, thus their sexuality has never been questioned whereas a humorous scene involving Batman will be taken out of context and interpreted as gay.
The recurring drama of the possibility that Batman and Robin are homosexual lovers has almost ruined the franchise twice, once in the 50's and 60's, and again in the 90's when Batman and Robin hit the silver screen in 1997. Film director Joel Schumacher, who is gay, introduced campy and homoerotic concepts in the film (such as including uncharacteristic nipples on Batman and Robins' costumes) which undermined the seriousness of the characters. Since that film, no media has depicted Batman and Robin as homosexuals or in campy way, although these elements remain a recurring yet harmless joke.
The depiction of cartoons and/or other fictional figures in homosexual settings has a long and storied history in the LGBT community, precisely in response to the depictions of LGBT people outlined in The Celluloid Closet.
ReplyDeleteFor example, there is something called "slash fiction" where fans write alternative stories about characters (Mr. Spock and Kirk from Star Trek are popular protagonists) that molds those characters in a different direction, often in an LGBT direction, from the original creators.
This creative is work is to try and fill the void of positive portrayals of LGBT people, LGBT sexuality and same-sex relationships or affection that are often absent from mainstream cultural production(s).
What a cool/funny backstory!I've never been that into comics or anything, but after reading this post, I was curious and ran a little search of gay superheros(http://bit.ly/vmHjN). I also found out there are quite a few lesbian superhero characters, which seem to be pretty well known and popular (like Mystique from X-Men and Batwoman DC) (http://bit.ly/cwmu8L). Is it because superheros are supposed to be strong, powerful, and independent that lesbians are prominent? Is this just another form of stereotyping, albeit an awesome one?
ReplyDelete@arobbins1014: There are quite a few gay heros and villains. In fact, I wrote a blog concerning the sexuality of Wolverine's Son Daken a while ago. (http://csp19.blogspot.com/2010/09/villains-sexuality.html)
ReplyDeleteLesbian heroes are portrayed as tormented figures because their alter egos are ostracized from the real world. Lesbian and gay villains are usually hyper-sexualized and use their sexuality as a source of pleasure and as a weapon against the hero. But there are many Gay and Lesbian heroes and villains that have been slowly introduced since Northstar's outing the 1990's.
@MadProfessah: Slash fiction is something I always hear about. One of the most prevalent types of slash fiction today is something known as "Wincest," which is the depiction of a homosexual incest relationship between TV show Supernatural's Sam and Dean Winchester. This has even been referred to and even joked by the main characters on the show. It is definitely interesting however that fans want to portray fictional characters as homosexual.
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting how one fact like this can cause you to totally rethink something. My mind is already going back to the comic and thinking "oh, I guess I could see that.... where else is it?"
ReplyDeleteSo ridiculous.
This is extremely prevalent in our culture of over-analysis. People love to see non-existent aspects within a subject.
ReplyDelete