Barbara Gordon Christmas Day Suprise.

[superfangirl1]

Batgirl #4

Comments

[mrosa]

Wow, Alysis has a crazy, dangerous, serial-killer-y look on her face when she sees that knife. If I were Babs, I'd watch out. At least lock the bedroom door when you go to sleep.

[kenn_el]

Considering how stupid it is for Barbara to have moved in with a stranger to begin with, I'm assuming Ms. Simone is writing her as suicidal.

[icon_uk]

Why is it particularly stupid? I get the feeling she's testing herself, her ability to share her life as Barbara Gordon, rather than be Oracle.

She was usually fairly insular as Oracle, defined by her connections with superheroes and her cop father, this is perhaps her testing herself with the general public. She may not know this person that well, but that doesn't mean she's going to turn out to be bad/evil/serial killer.

[jlbarnett]

Because Batman Inc is still in continuity that means Babs still has some function as superhero info guru. Having a civilian living around is dangerous considering her home she be like Spiderman's form Spiderman and his Amazing Friends with it's awesome hidden crime lab

[icon_uk]

I don't think we have any particular idea what info guru role Barbara currently fills since the relaunch.

And Batman Inc is only in general continuity (given that we're not even sure if Steph has now ever been Batgirl, and both Babs and Dick have had years shaved off their ages)

[kenn_el]

She was shot answering the door! You might not have gone through this sort of thing, but it makes one skittish about repeating the action. We're not talking getting to know a co-worker, or meeting someone at Starbuck's and chatting. We're talking moving in with a stranger, which should be out of the question for a costumed crimefighter in general, but even moreso for Barbara in particular, considering the roommate's access not just to secrets, but to the front door!
Barbara obviously recalls what happened as evidenced by the dream sequence, so in order for her living situation to make any sense, we have to infer that she's not too bright or possibly suicidal. (It's like Helena exposing her stomach after having been shot there. Doesn't make any sense.)

[icon_uk]

You might not have gone through this sort of thing, but it makes one skittish about repeating the action.

Skittish perhaps, but not necessarily phobic for the rest of their lives. She's choosing to go out actively fighting crime, overcoming natural or acquired fears is sort of what she does.

We're talking moving in with a stranger, which should be out of the question for a costumed crimefighter in general, but even moreso for Barbara in particular, considering the roommate's access not just to secrets, but to the front door!

Aside from several examples I can think of, of having room-mates (including Tim and Dick just in the Batfamily), as has been noted, there is such a thing as a peep-hole in front doors.

[kenn_el]

Going out and fighting crime is something one can prepare for. Besides, she wasn't shot being Batgirl.
Tim and did not go through what Barbara went through. If TKJ is to be a defining event in her life, as the writer is making it, then her reactions to it should be somewhat consistent.
If there's such a thing as a peep-hole, why not show that she uses it. It would disrupt the flow of the surprise ending, but it would establish that Babs is a cautious woman who is hesitant to make the same exact mistake again.
I can only imagine next issue's splash page where 'Mom' whips off the mask to reveal teh clown face of the JOKER!

[icon_uk]

Tim and did not go through what Barbara went through

Umm... I never said they did. I mentioned Tim and Dick having both had room-mates (Tim in his private school days, and Dick in college in BTAS) in reference to your comments about Alysis being Barbara's room mate, not the part of the discussion about whether Barbara would be phobic about opening the door after TKJ.

I can only imagine next issue's splash page where 'Mom' whips off the mask to reveal teh clown face of the JOKER!

In which case using the peep-hole would have made no difference whatsoever.

[sadoeuphemist]

I don't see how those two things are related? It's not as if the Joker posed as someone friendly in order to get close to her, he was a known danger who just showed up at her house and shot her immediately when she opened the door. Unless you are saying someone might show up at Barbara Gordon's house and kill her roommate by accident, so she should just live alone forever?

Mod Note

[salinea]

kenn_el, you keep making those sort of comments about Babs that seem to frame her behaviours in victim blaming ways. As if the way she acts when answering doors, etc. was what was to blame for her being victimised in The Killing Joke, and as if were she to be attacked in a s similar manner again it would be her own fault. Please, stop it.

Re: Mod Note

[kenn_el]

I am NOT blaming Barbara. I am blaming the writer for inconsistency in the character's portrayal.

Re: Mod Note

[salinea]

Then this may be a case where you intent isn't very well carried out by the way you worded it. By castigating Barbara as "stupid" or "suicidal" for not behaving as cautiously as you think she should (were she written consistently), it is easy to infer that it is her responsibility to not let herself be attacked again, and therefore her fault if she is. Please, be more careful about the weights and the implied meaning of your words, regardless of what you mean them to convey. None of us can read your mind.

Re: Mod Note

[kenn_el]

I see your point. I should have made it clear that I was disagreeing with the writer's portrayal. After being the victim of a violent crime myself I changed certain things that I did, not because I blamed myself, but because I was more alert to potential dangers. That's in large part why the behaviors portrayed frustrate me as a reader.