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Selina was incredibly shy, seemingly because of some kind of childhood oppression. Evidence of this is her stuffed animals and doll houses(arrested development) and her talking to herself anytime she's at home(something alot of shy people do), as if she lives in her own world.

She thought hiding from life would keep her safe and no one would bother her if she seemed unthreatening and meaningless. Ergo, "How can you be so mean to someone so meaningless". She really thought people would do their part in leaving her alone if she receded herself enough. Shreck pushing her is when she realized you don't get to hide from life and that you must get involved. The entire movie "No Country For Old Men" is based around this one notion, just showing you the depth.

Now include, Shreck joking around before sadistically pushing her. That single-handedly kills her naivete. She now knows better than to fall for anyone's rhetoric or just generally trust others. She gets now that people don't do their part, and you can only rely on yourself. This whole ordeal causes her to come into her own; grow strong personality. There is no going back after now witnessing the confidence she's capable of evoking. Now Add, being that it was attempted on her, she now "knows" it's ok to kill. The incredible egoist and survivalist in her is born. Anything less than what she is now, she considers wrong and weak. Little does selena know she herself will lose focus.

She banked too much on her current state of mind so then when her strong motivation(lifelong oppression; Shreck killing her) started to evaporate, her state of mind shifted, resulting in everything she believed in to crumble. She was high off life, as seen when she takes control of her life and seamlessly assumes the Catwoman role. She rode her motivation to its very peak, then when there was no more motivation, she fell.

Thanks again for the replies guys.The thing about Pfeiffer's Catwoman is that it is "the Ledger Joker for women", in terms of darkness and complexity. Yes, I think the performance is THAT good because I watched the movie recently and once again she had the same disturbing effect on me. It is so sad and powerful when she tells Bruce at the end that she would love to live happily ever after with him but she couldn't live with herself then, or that earlier scene where she sadly looks at a store window and asks herself why is she doing what she is doing and later tells Bruce that she is scaring herself. It was a brilliant performance which was overlooked by the awards shows just because it was for a comic-book movie.

Thanks for your replies guys.Batman Returns takes the character for a whirlwind of a ride and eventually places her in some of the deepest, darkest corners of humanity. Catwoman in this film, in terms of social progress, is beyond both movie and comicbook Batman.Pfeiffer forever encrusted the sick and tortured Selina onto the screen.Selina/Catwoman's relationship with Bruce/Batman was done so well in this movie. Especially the Selina/Bruce parts. It was complex, and felt so right. I've even heard someone say Michelle had to play THREE roles: pre-attempted murder Selina, Catwoman, and the more confident post-attempted murder Selina... maybe even four, if you count the way the lines between new Selina and Catwoman blur....

What i thought was a nice touch was how as Selina's mental state deteriorated, so did her costume and by the films finale it was basically dishevelled and falling apart just like her sanity. That why she siad she couldn't live with herself if she let Max Shreck live because at this point her life is about nothing else.Thanks for reading

I love what Burton done with Catwoman in this movie by making Selina have a nervous breakdown and in turn becoming Catwoman.She was indeed a very twisted disturbed and dark character. Although not overly detailed, i like how her schizophrenia is hinted at throughout the movie.In regards to the resurrection by the cats scenario, i look at it like Selina suffered severe head injuries and snapped. She just saw the cats in the alley as inspiration for her broken psyche. I'd appreciate your thoughts. Thanks

I prefer the suit in the original. I don't know there was just something about it. It was more threatening looking.

Yeah the Joker/Jack Napier was just so far gone into complete psychosis that it would probably be difficult to explain his motivations. He is after all a lunatic.

Abosolutely 

I love that whole scene between Shrek and Catwoman. "A half pint. I'm talking gallons" LOL

yeah was Selina a schizophrenic? Watching Returns i always got the impression that Selina's transformation into Catwoman wasn't supernatural but that she had a nervous breakdown following her fall and the cat's were an inspiration for her shattered psyche.

I would go for Selina too. She is the mirror image of Bruce in so many ways. They both have psychological issues and dark alter ego's. They are bo th perfect for each other.