Film Fest Sneak Peek
Noted . Notable . Noteworthy . LGBT News & Views
Volume 23 . Number 07 August 9.2008 Printed on Recycled Paper FREE
In the ^50sy Batman was condemned
for promoting homosexuality
E veryone is pretty whipped up about the
release of “The Dark Knight,” which shat
tered the record for largest first-weekend
box-office haul in its debut. Unlike previous
champ “Spiderman 3,” “The Dark Knight” is
actually a very entertaining film.
Christopher Nolan’s Batman franchise is
darker, more serious, and consequently more
frightening. It also captures the psychological
complexity of the titular character in a way
that the more stylized vision of Tim Burton
— not to mention the dreck produced by Joel
Schumacher — never could.
Nolan’s vision is inspired by the Golden
Age Batman, who was a different breed alto
gether. Batman of the early 1940s, for exam
ple, shot people, tossed them off rooftops and
had few reservations about killing criminals.
Special to Q-Notes
He menaced murderers, gangsters and thugs,
not overgrown graffiti artists.
Early Gotham was a dark and scary place,
the sort of place that might inspire people to,
you know, dress up hke a giant bat. So what
happened? Why did the dark and menacing
Batman of the 1940s become the lame and
tame Batman of the 1960s?
Much of it has to do with changing nation
al mores and an evolving economic and social
landscape. In this sense. Batman’s story is a
microcosm for what happened throughout the
entire comic book industry during that period
and, to a lesser extent, some of the changes
that swept across the nation.
One of the most important episodes in the
hero’s metamorphosis centered around the
startling accusation that Batman (Bruce
Wayne) and Robin (Dick Grayson) were gay
and might seed impressionable youths with
homosexual fantasies. Silver Age Batman was
indelibly shaped by the gender expectations of
the era and his failure to adhere to those
expectations incited criticism that predictably
called into question his sexual identity.
I always preferred Batman to Superman,
largely because Batman, the central implausi-
bility of his character aside, was psychologi
cally interesting in a way that the bland
Superman never was. Of course, my introduc
tion to Batman was Frank Miller’s “The Dark
Knight Returns,” a crucial revision of the
Batman myth which imagined Batman as a
psychologically scarred character inhabiting
an increasingly savage world.
In contrast, baby boomers might be more
q-notes.com
likely to associate Batman with the campy,
absurdist version of the late-1950s and ’60s
best captured in the long-running television
series. Similarly, in the pages of DC Comics’
“Detective” magazine in that era, Batman trav
eled through time, verbally sparred with
“Batmite,” and foiled countless plots to deface
many of Gotham City’s iconic landmarks.
In other words. Silver Age Batman was a
glorified boy scout, patrolling against vandal
ism — just like Superman without the awe
some powers.
Outing the Caped Crusader
The
accusation
that
Batman was
a homo, as
strange as it
might
sound to
our ears,
was taken
quite seri
ously by
both the
government
and public.
It wasn’t
leveled by a
marginal nut or crank, but by a world-
renowned psychiatrist. Dr. Frederic Wertham.
see Woyne Manor on 15
Gay people are good parents, teachers, soldiers, employers, and friends.
Gay people are good pcrents, teachers, soWtws, employers, and friends.
Good people.
Mass appeal
GREENSBORO — For the past few years,
the Triad Equality Alliance has raised funds to
place LGBT-friendly messages on billboards
around the Winston-Salem, Greensboro and
High Point metropolitan area. This year,
they’ve taken up the task again.
Organizers hope their “Good People” cam
paign, which highlights LGBT citizens as
“good parents, teachers, soldiers, employers,
and friends,” will help community members
see just how much gay folks contribute to the
worth and value of their local communities.
“The ‘Good People’ campaign was a com
bination of multiple people’s brainstorm
ing,” Triad Equality Alliance organizer
Triad Equality Alliance hopes to keep these billboards up for Greensboro, N.C. motorists for a total of four months.
Q-Note^ editor. Matt Comer, a native of the Triad area, appears in one billboard for the organization.
Judith Kobler told Q-Nofes. “Our past cam
paigns really were a natural segway into this
year’s campaign.”
In the past the organization has funded
campaigns highlighting equality between gays'
and straights and a 2006 “We are your nei^-
bors and we are gay” campaign.
“Our themes throughout the years have
always been about getting people to know us,”
Kobler said. “When they do they found out that
we’re really ordinary people like everyone else.”
The group hopes to have the billboards up
for a total of four months. They’ve applied for
grant funds from the Guilford Green
Foundation to cover some of the cost.
Donations to help fund the campaign can be
made online at ^vww.triadequality.org. ►
— by Malt Comer. Q-Notes staff
A continuing
saga
S.C. state ojficials’
email released
page 22
At a session’s
end
Bullying bill dies in
N.C. Senate
page 12
The love of
gays
Q-Notes’ annual auto
and pet issue
page 27