Elkins Batman Returns

http://images2.fanpop.com/image/photos/8900000/Michelle-Pfeiffer-catwoman-selina-kyle-8971857-446-480.jpg

Catwoman has always been a staple of the Batman universe that no one really knows quite what she is. In all of her incarnations, really only two things remain with her: her normal, tamer side is Selina Kyle, and she changes (usually at night) into Catwoman – her more destructive side. I think Burton was able to capture this well in Batman Returns. She more than makes up for the boring, uninteresting character of Vicki Vale in Batman, and she provides a new wheel for the plot in the movie to continue, using Selina Kyle and Catwoman as more or less two different characters in the same body (like Bruce Wayne/Batman).

“We’re like two sides of the same thing, cut down the middle.” Batman tells Catwoman something along the lines of this quote in the scene where he reveals for a second time to Catwoman who he is. This quote also sums up Batman and Catwoman’s relationship in a very concise way. One side of both of them (“the Masked Side”) is forever in conflict with the other, and the other side of both of them is always tame and cordial to the other (“the Normal Side”). Neither one really knows exactly what the other has up his or her sleeve. It truly is one of the most complicated relationships I have ever seen on screen.

With Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle is cordial and follows social norms. They both seem very superficial to one another, and I cannot imagine that the plot of the movie would go anywhere if it were just these two normal people talking to each other the entire time. It only really gets interesting when the audience starts to see the other side leak through both them.

With Batman, Catwoman is a tricky beast that some could argue is more feline than human. All of their interactions with each other are pretty much comic-book fights. She uses seduction on him, and Batman never really seems to be able to predict what she is going to do next (and he is the World’s Greatest Detective). A perfect example of this is the last scene, right before she kills Max Schrek (after Bruce Wayne invites her to live in his Manor, which she denies only after leading him on a bit).

The Catwoman/Selina Kyle and Batman/Bruce Wayne relationship is incredibly complicated and Burton achieves something that he has always said: no one is only one thing.

Elkins Batman

http://www.confusedmatthew.com/Batman-Films.php

Being a huge Batman fan, I have been looking forward to this watching this movie since day one. It has been a while since I have seen it, so I was pretty excited to watch it. With that in mind, I enjoyed it overall, but the inner Batman fan in me was annoyed by some of the changes (Joker’s origin story, Batman killing, the whole killing of Bruce’s parents). But that is not the point of this post, though I could complain a fair amount about the film (do not get me wrong, though – I enjoyed it). I want to talk about the Joker.

Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, the Joker has always been Batman’s nemesis and has always wanted to create as much trouble as possible simply for the hell of it. He is a trickster character, and like every good trickster character, he pushes the limits of power. I think Burton made it very clear as to what kind of trickster Joker is, from destroying paintings to killing mass people (which I think undermines the idea of a trickster in a way, but I will get to that later). From the Joker using witty one-liners to contaminating Gotham’s cosmetic products, Burton definitely supports the idea of a trickster with the Joker’s witty, somewhat playful destruction – all with a smile on his face.

However, I also think that Burton undermines the idea of a trickster in two key ways. The Joker has no special powers, and does not outwit people as much as just kills them. The Joker is someone who could potentially fit into our own world, so magic is out of the question. The Joker uses guns when he can, and kills people in whatever way he sees fit. Like the art museum scene (with Vicki Vale) and the very end, Joker does not seem to care who he kills, as long as it is creative (“I’m the world’s first fully-functional homicidal artist").

The Joker in Batman makes a very dark, very convincing trickster that fits well in this movie. He is a homicidal maniac, and one never knows what he will do next, which I think was Burton’s intention.

Elkins Beetlejuice

            Death is a fact of life that is inevitable. There’s a 100% failure rate in people that have tried to live forever. No matter how important or rich a person is, death makes us all equal in the end. America refuses to believe this.

            What with such popular trends in the media telling us to “live while we can” and new advances in medicine allowing us to live just a little bit longer, Americans, it would seem, cannot and will not grasp the concept that at some point they will depart from this life here on Earth. Death, I think most can agree, is a concept that most do not want to hasten. Why think about dying when one can think about living forever? Hollywood films, like Beetlejuice (especially Beetlejuice), would rather people laugh at death, which most are more than willing to do.

            Beetlejuice, a story of ghosts and the after-life, would appear at first to be a movie about accepting death as just another phase of life, and that death is not the end-all-be-all that people believe. Yet, I believe it does not accept death at all. It wants to sugar-coat it and say that people will just come back as ghosts, and it will be the same as life – waiting rooms and all. Take the Maitlands, for instance. They had no idea they were dead until they started experiencing weird things and found the manual called Handbook for the Recently Deceased. Their only conflict throughout the movie was scaring the Deetse’s out of the house so that they could continue living in it and work on the model city. Even at the end of the film they are helping Lydia with her school work and continuing to live their lives as before.

I do not know if Burton did this intentionally or not, but in one scene Mrs. Maitland tries to scare Mrs. Deetse by in a closet by tearing off her own face. Mrs. Deetse bats her out of the way, a symbolic moment of how the Deetse’s do not think about death.

In Beetlejuice, Tim Burton makes one thing clear: death, in all its forms, is something Americans want to ignore.

http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/beetlejuice-the-movie/images/23838576/title/beetlejuice-screencap

Elkins Introduction

My name is Charles Elkins. I am from Plaquemine, Louisiana (near Baton Rouge). I am presently a psychology major. I chose this Tim Burton Seminar because I enjoy some of his movies. I enjoy reading and watching movies, as well as playing a few video-games.  I also enjoy humor quite a bit and do not like to take anything too seriously (and by too seriously, I mean over-the-top).

I am a Freshman at Loyola University New Orleans, which is kind of obvious since I am in this class.  I am a frequent redditor (although I do not like to get sucked in like a few people), and dislike using Facebook. I enjoy history, with my favorite subject area being the Italian Renaissance (although, that changes from time to time). I dislike being under pressure, so I get things done rather early. I also enjoy English.

I am very awkward in social situations, which is one reason as to why I am a psychology major. I like to delve into the human brain and see what makes us work. Currently, I am taking social and abnormal psychology, both of which really fascinate me. I find it interesting that humans want to learn more about the world in which they live in, yet barely understand themselves. I want to understand why people are the way they are.

I am a huge nerd. I like Game of Thrones (currently on Storm of Swords in the books), Harry Potter, Doctor Who, etc. I could go on. My family (I have a brother and a sister) enjoy taunting me with said nerdiness, which I am perfectly fine with them doing. I am a  big Batman fan (although, I have not seen Tim Burton’s take on him in quite a while, so this seminar should be good for that).

I enjoy travelling. Usually, my family and I go to a foreign location during the summertime (my favorite has been England, where I plan to study abroad in the near future). I like to learn about different cultures and languages in the places where I travel. I also enjoy koalas quite a bit.