Strong women...

[lyssie]

thekatebeyond is doing a Week of Strong Women. I'm all for this. I like strong women. And I wrote this at work one day, after having re-watched Batman Begins...

Unfortunately, I don't remember if I've ever posted this. Whether I have or not, it still amuses me.

Contains spoilers for Batman Begins and Superman Returns

It had been a while since I'd seen it, and so I watched it, expecting Katie Holmes and her Damsel in Distress to wreck my feminine sensibilities.

Rachel Dawes is a cliche. Spoiled little rich girl, growing up with a crush on her best friend to become a prosecuting attorney that--

Wait. Hold the phone. Prosecuting attorney? Ok....

--is simpering and cute towards her True Love--

Must have missed that.

--and drives him to the worst part of town, tells him he's a stupid ass, kicks him out of her car, and drives off--

Whoa. So. Perhaps I'm missing something. Should she have been all dewy-eyed and "omg! You're a man! You're so right!" here?

--when he comes back into town, she's happy to see him. And still loves him.--

As we all know, the love of a good woman can change a man.

--But he pretty much brushes her off--

Poor thing.

--and she pines in a corner, and wastes away--

Missed that.

--and still does her job.

Wait, what? She doesn't immediately become a dithering, incapable pile of womanhood? But... But isn't that what rejected women are supposed to do? Oh, I'm so confused.

--Which includes confronting the skeevy Dr. Crane, realizing a little too late she was in danger, and having to be rescued.

It's not like she suspected he'd try to get rid of her. Suspecting someone is in the pay of the mob and might try to hurt you is NOT actually KNOWING they will. And as soon as she realized she was in danger, she tried to run. It's not her fault the man has a blower system for his drugs--even BATMAN got caught by them. Bruce just has more toys, and wasn't trapped in a god-damn basement.

--Once rescued, she foolishly goes back into danger, gets caught on the island, and nearly taken by scarecrow again--

Yup. It was stupid of her to go back, but she had the antidote, and she knew it was needed. And once there, she tried to get off before the gates closed, but she just wasn't fast enough. And then there was a kid to protect, and Scarecrow appeared, and what did she do? Did she stand and whimper until Superman came and saved her?

--whom she zatted.

Yes. She hit him in the god-damned face with a shock-gun. And when she had the chance, she took the gun from a cop, and was prepared to shoot a man who was menacing them. The only reason she didn't pull the trigger was Bruce saving them.

--And then she almost shot a guy, got stuck on a rooftop and figured out who Batman was.

She was not a helpless female. She didn't stand around, waiting to be rescued. When opportunity presented itself, she saved her own damned ass. Lois Lane would have stood there and whimpered until Superman saved her or her child threw a piano at someone.

--Now that she knew who Batman was, she simpered up at Bruce and told him, of course, her love would heal him forever. And then she married him. Or waited for him, pining in a corner, until he would realize his True Love for her.

HOLD THE PHONE. That didn't happen.

You know what happened? She told him she was sorry she'd been mean, but that he was too fucked in the head for her. And while she still kind of loved him, she wasn't up to dealing with his batshit. But, y'know, have a good life, Bruce.

And then she walked out of his life.

Katie Holmes wasn't awful. She was, in fact, damned decent as the Batman Girl. She wasn't sexed up, she wasn't pathetic, she didn't whine, or act indecisive. She was just a normal girl thrust into unusual circumstances who kept her head and kicked one hell of a lot of ass.

If she hadn't gone back to the island, Gordon would have been overcome by the gas, and Batman would have had to use a different plan. One which might not have worked.

Comments

[thekatebeyond.livejournal.com]

*blinky*

You are so frakking right. I can't believe I never saw it that way! I'm so used to thinking of Katie Holmes as a girly, man-dependent person that I guess I never really looked at the character with clear eyes.

Wow. I think I like the movie even more now. That's kind of awesome!

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

I know when I first saw the movie I was really impressed that his Love Interest actually told him, "You're too screwed up for me, bye." I'm pretty sure I didn't have any problems with Katie Holmes' portrayal then, either. But it could just be that I've seen a lot of ranting since then (I think people are embarrassed to think she's ok as an actress because of teh batshittery with Cruise, which of course, she gets mocked for, being one of them Gullible Wimmins.)

...er.

Mostly, I just remember re-watching and going, "...dude. She just picked up a gun."

[thekatebeyond.livejournal.com]

I think all the controversy surrounding her real life draaahma was definitely a big part of what made me see the character inaccurately, but part of it is also that she managed to seem so girly and vulnerable while picking up a gun and zapping Crane. But that's, uhh, actually a really good thing, isn't it? It's more realistic than to have her laughing in the face of death.

*shakes head*

I seriously need to rewatch the movie now. I'm seeing it with new eyes.