I was so excited to see this podcast in my feed. I had all my gear ready. My tent. My Bug Repellant Bat Spray. My pile of plastic logs that light up to simulate a campfire. And, of course, the weiners.
Everything was set up and plugged in. And then Paul comes along with this rainshower of a comment: "The period of camp has passed..." "[the newer movies] are different than camp. This is more postmodernist than camp."
I want to be upset. But deep down, I know that Paul is right. The standout joke of the film, the "Holey Rusted Metal, Batman!" - is not camp. Or even camping. It's holy rusted meta, bromandude.
The same might even be said of the heroes costumes. I'll argue that the Schumacher suits are the what the Burton costume always secretly wanted to be. To go a step further with the suits in Batman Forever - with fake nipples and sculpted gluteus maximuses - is perhaps Schumacher's way of poking fun at the sexualization that is implied (or directly expressed?) with the sculpted, rubber, muscular body that is covering Michael Keaton's 5'7 frame. I can see Burton and Schumacher sitting around a poker table. "I
SEE your overly muscular rubber suit and I
RAISE you one Bat bulge!"
Lack of true camp aside, I do enjoy the movie. Because it's a unique take on the Batman character that probably won't be repeated in a live-action film again. It's tough to imagine Warner Bros allowing Batman to be so openly made fun of this way today.
Can't wait for you to review 'Batman and Robin!'
I believe Schumacher was quoted during production as shouting, "Remember! You're a CARTOON!"
Just one more thing. I got a very kind message from Tim via Patreon asking where I've been and I just want to say how much I appreciate it. I was in the hospital a few months ago after another pulmonary embolism. I'm OK now. Don't take a single day for granted my friends!
