scans_daily: Batman: Year One trailer, and news on the Catwoman short that'll be on on the DVD as well

espanolbot (

espanolbot) wrote in

scans_daily,
@ 2011-07-08 03:49 pm UTC

Entry tags:

char: batman/bruce wayne, char: catwoman/selina kyle, title: batman: streets of gotham, title: batman: year one

Batman: Year One trailer, and news on the Catwoman short that'll be on on the DVD as well

Get More: Movie Trailers, Movies Blog

While in other news, joining ranks along with the Spectre, Jonah Hex, and Green Arrow, Catwoman'll be getting a 15 minute cartoon to accompany the main movie on the DVD.

The synopsis,

"In Catwoman, the femme fatale tangles with crime boss Rough Cut (a brand-new character created for this short, voiced by Futurama‘s John DiMaggio) in a breathless and brutal 15-minute chase through Gotham City tracking down a mysterious cargo shipment."

Selina'll be the first female character to star in a DC Showcase short, and will be the second female character to headline in a DCUniverse movie after Wonder Woman back in her solo movie.

On another note, here is a brief essay thing I've written in defense of the current origin and backstory of Selina. If people are interested and stuff.
http://espanolbot.blogspot.com/2011/07/why-catwomans-current-originstory-is.html

For legality, Selina being silly, from Streets of Gotham 19 or so,

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	no subject aeka 2011-07-08 03:52 pm UTC (link)
	This looks promising, but it got me wishing for a Catwoman: Year One film adaptation. (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 2 comments) (Show 2 comments)

	no subject kenwyn89 2011-07-08 03:58 pm UTC (link)
	Well, if it's well done and well received, even a short can spawn something greater :) (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

no subject

thehefner
2011-07-08 04:12 pm UTC (link)

I'd love to see that, but only if they drew from as much of her canon history as possible. At least with Batman: Year One already being out, they'd be able to gloss over that particular prostitute stuff, but I wouldn't want them to ignore that part of her past entirely, especially because that also means getting stuff like her training with Ted Grant.

Shit, just give me a Darwyn Cooke style adaptation of Selina's Big Score and we'd be solid.

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	no subject brushed_velvet 2011-07-08 04:18 pm UTC (link)
	Is there a confirmed release date yet? And where the hell is Gordon in the trailer? :( (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 2 comments) (Show 2 comments)

	no subject filthysize 2011-07-08 06:06 pm UTC (link)
	october 18th. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject brushed_velvet 2011-07-08 06:10 pm UTC (link)
	Thanks! So much for a summer release then. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

no subject

aaron_bourque
2011-07-08 05:11 pm UTC (link)

here is a brief essay thing I've written in defense of the current origin and backstory of Selina.

I just don't even see the need for Selina to be "inspired" by Batman. I prefer how it was presented in her first appearance, that she was already a world-class cat-burglar before ever meeting Batman.

Her being a prostitute just feels like Miller's incapability to feature a strong woman who isn't also hyper-sexualized, and her being a dominatrix just feels like Miller further confusing the issues of strength and sexuality.

Aaron "The Mad Whitaker" Bourque; if it really must be reconciled, and I don't think it does, why not have her be a high-class call girl, who transitioned from that into a con artist and cat burglar? Her training as a high-end escort gives her access into the world of those whose wealth she'd be interested in stealing. A little time as a con artist diversifies her criminal portfolio. And it might even explain where she got the taste for having big cats hanging around. A typical literary shorthand for decadent wealth has typically been to have rare animals on the premises, like big cats . . .

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	no subject harbringer 2011-07-08 11:14 pm UTC (link)
	I agree with the prostitute backstory being needless and insulting. Do we really need to keep propping up Miller's horrible writing choices when it comes to women? (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 5 comments) (Show 5 comments)

	no subject rordulum 2011-07-09 12:00 am UTC (link)
	I don't think anyone needs to prop up Miller's writing. Ever. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 3 comments) (Show 3 comments)

	no subject espanolbot 2011-07-09 11:49 am UTC (link)
	You know it's weird, despite Frank Miller's hooker fixation in some of his writing, Alan Moore's treatment of women in his work is way, WAY worse but doesn't draw as much comment. I wonder why. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 2 comments) (Show 2 comments)

	no subject rordulum 2011-07-09 03:18 pm UTC (link)
	Well, I can't stand Alan Moore, either. The pair of them have written stuff that is somehow seen as vital to the continuing existence of comics, yet I wouldn't waste my time even opening the front cover of most of it. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

no subject

wizardru
2011-07-11 02:35 pm UTC (link)

More likely because Moore's treatment of women is not a constant the way it is in Miller's. I don't recall Miller having any characters in his work that work as well as Abigail Cable, Promethea or Tesla Strong. Martha Washington, perhaps.

His most recent 'pay the tax bill' work: Neonomicon...that, I really, REALLY HATED. If that were the sum total of his work, I'd agree with you.

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espanolbot
2011-07-09 11:46 am UTC (link)

Needless, yes. Insulting, yes. But it can be done in a way that can make it work. See Mia Dearsden, for example.

I have a longer response to this below, but mostly it comes down to the quality of the person writing and the personal bias of the people reading.

The person writing can go Mia's direction, and have it be something that happened to her in the past, and she's now been able to move past it... Or they can go the direct of Frank Miller when he's in exaggerated Noir/Pulp mode and essentially have the character go "Teehee, I have sex for money! Look at how awesome my hookering outfit shows off my boobs and butt!".

Similarly, the bias of the people reading can either except that it's something that happened to the character, accept it and the fact that she's not entirely defined by the experience... Or they can go "She was a prostitute, ew!" and start projecting a lot of things at them. Prostitutes are dirty. Prostitutes are bad people. Being a prostitute stains the character and tarnishes their soul. I can't look at her without imagining the things she did! They're not people, they're human toilets!

...Which pretty much leads to the state of mind that was demonstrated by some cops in Ed Brubaker's Catwoman series, in which they find a callgirl murdered in a car. Her body is offpanel, but her bones have crushed and there is blood all over the place.

Immediately one of the cops starts helping himself to the money in the victim's pursue, causing his partner to voice his disapproval.

"What's the problem?" said the first cop as he pockets the woman's last twenty dollars, "It's only a whore."

(Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

Huge Response Time!

espanolbot
2011-07-09 11:32 am UTC (link)

I did say that her being a prostitute wasn't necessary to the character, but her coming from a working class background and working her way up to Bruce's social level through hard work and grit is what makes her interesting.

As I said, the fact that she learnt how to steal to survive acts as a balance to Bruce learning how to fight crime as part of a personal crusade.

Selina starting at the bottom and working her way up, through learning how to organise heists from the character Stark from 'Selina's Big Score' and that pickpocket ring lady from 'Relentless', kind of makes more sense to me than her being a high class callgirl who decided on a whim to become a catburgular.

I believe that it's possible to portray a character as or having been a prostitute WITHOUT the situation becoming sexualised. I'm not saying that it's necessary to the role, it's entirely possible to portray the character as a woman who grew up on the streets, got involved with gangs and con artists (as you said) and worked her way up that way. But there are characters who were involved in the sex industry who AREN'T protrayed in a way that was sexual.

For example, the other example I used as Mia Dearsden, aka Speedy.

Yes, it is victimising. Yes, her being forced into the situation is unpleasant and sexist. But the point is that she was able to escape it and make her life better. She doesn't HAVE to be defined by her past.

Mia doesn't/didn't (she seems to have evaporated post-Rise of Arsenal) get a metaphorical sign hung around her neck saying "I used to have sex for money! LOL!", so by rights Selina shouldn't EITHER.

I'm not saying that Selina's time as a prostitute was right. I'm not saying that it was fair, or sexy. But it can be shown in a way that makes more real world sense than the women from Sin City.

Selina being stuck in the situation where she had to steal or sleep with people simply to live, is shoorthand for how bad the situation in Gotham was before Bruce came back as Batman.

You can say that "Oh, Selina shouldn't have been inspired by Batman! She's her own person!", but a lot of things were caused by his debut in Gotham. Some where good, like Jim being able to clean up the GCPD and the rise of other superheroes in the city, like Stephanie Brown for example. And some were bad for the city, like the sudden and massive growth in the city's supervillain population, like the Joker.

Before Bruce showed up, the last people to wear a costume in public in Gotham effectively were either the Green Lantern/Sentinel back in the 1940s/50s or the New Justice Experience (I think that was their name) for a few years in the Seventies, but they were a blip more than anything. Selina seeing a guy in a costume beating up corrupt cops and demonstrating that the guys keeping her, Holly and the rest of the people of Gotham down weren't as tough as they protrayed themselves to be, certainly makes more sense to me storytellingwise than her independantly deciding to rob people in a Halloween cat outfit all of a sudden.

The fact of the matter is, really, considering the impact that Batman had on the lives of so many people, Selina being (really) the first or second person to see him and decide to change her life isn't that much of a leap really. If it's sexist or not for her to be defined by she a man do something... it's subjective, but it's no more subjective than a girl listening to the Beatles on the radio or see them in a concert and wanting to start her own band as a result.

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	no subject biod 2011-07-08 06:30 pm UTC (link)
	That was cool and all, but all I got from that was: I am Bruce Wayne, I PUNCH THROUGH BRICKS. (Reply to this)

	no subject silverzeo 2011-07-09 01:33 am UTC (link)
	"Original Animated Movie"? No offense, but that's BS. "Mask of the Phantasm" was an original animated movie because it was NOT based on a comic... though come to think of it, did she every got into comics like Harley? (Reply to this)

	no subject eyz 2011-07-11 10:03 am UTC (link)
	DC Showcases/shorts are back! Yay! I want a JLI movie with a Gold & Blue short! And a Deadman short! And the Demon! And...and...and.. (Reply to this)

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