Fed Up With Burton/Batman Bashing

[Sandman]

Oh don't get me wrong i really loved begins esp for make batman watchable again after batman and robin. And when i heard they were making a second one i nearly hit the roof and as i said im dying to see it but i just meant i didn't like the way that you couldn't have a simple convo with people about batman or returns without someone coming alone and just saying anything and everything they can to pump up the dark kight and tear down the older ones and you get tired of it really fast. Now i strongly feel that everyone is allowed there opinion for or against and im not really the kind to get angry and go crazy just for someone not having the same opinion as me just meant it's nice to have people to talk to that just wanna talk good about the movies new and old and believe me the last thing i want is to make trouble for anyone .

[BladeAndBatman FanChuck]

I love Batman Begins, I think The Dark Knight will be a masterpiece.  But I live and breathe the 89 Keaton Batman and Batman Returns.   

You can like them all.  Don't let those bastards grind you down, as Bono sings.  hhahaha  I love Batman, who cares what they say! 

Just hit them in the head with your batarangs!  hahaahaha  kidding!

[BurtonBatman]

i liked batman begins and im dying to see the dark knight but the amount of hate toward this film for no reason makes me start to dislike the nolan films alot that why im so glad someone should me this site its great everyone is so nice and won't tear you apart for liking burtons batman the best

Wow, thats exactly how I have felt for a while now.  I liked BB when it came out(still do), and in my enthusiasm for it scoured the net for any news on a sequel and found BOF.  I really enjoyed the site (still do) and have visited it daily since I discovered it, but once I started to read op-eds and message board posts, I started discovering a strong Nolan bias and a strong anti-Burton one.

B89 made me a Batman fan and is still my favorite (probably will always be), but I was and am willing to put BB right up there, and it was the negativity and irreverence towards B89 that some of the people at BOF that have made me want to bash Nolan on occasion, even when I really enjoyed his film.  All of a sudden its Nolanites vs. Burtonites, and I found myself taking sides.  They made me a Burtonite. 

Whats wrong with having B89 (or BR for some of you) be your favorite, without having to defend yourself against hoards of Nolan extremists.  Now I'm not saying everyone at BOF is this way, some have a healthy respect for B89 (and to a lesser extent BR) there, but there are others who find it an insult to thier being for anyone to actually like Burton's take just a little better than Nolan's. 

On June 18th, I am ready and willing to put TDK right up there with (but slightly underneath) B89, and I am going to enjoy it without having to defend myself If I happen to think that Bale and Ledger were really good, but I still prefer Keation and Nicholson even if only slightly.     

Regarding this site (Batman Movie Online), I love it.  I followed a link on  raleagh's sig at BOF a few weeks ago and have enjoyed visiting it daily.  Kudos to you raleagh, for creating a refuge for us "Burtonites" on the web.  Keep it up.   

[Joker81]

Well said BurtonBatman, I'm  with ya! 

[thecolorsblend]

My problem with the "why must we pick favorites?" is (1) it falsely suggests one version cannot be superior the other and (2) all versions are of equal artistic input.

Such is not the case.

If you're a Batman fan and sincerely have no preference in, say, BR vs. BB, you need to see a shrink.  One will work better for you as a Batman tale than the other.  To say that they're both completely neck-and-neck 100% equal in your eyes is an insult to everyone's intelligence.  The things that work for you in Burton's films are probably systemically deconstructed in Nolan's.  And vice versa.

If you like hamburgers, it's not at all out of line to think you have a preference in Whoppers vs. Big Macs.  Or Smallville vs. Singerman Peeps Superman Returns for Superman fans.

When two products present the same basic thing in such diametrically opposite ways, it's only natural to prefer one over the other.  You can hate both but I find it difficult to believe that a fan would hold both in equal esteem.  It's symptomatic of (A) an outright lie or (B) a weak-willed fan who has no intellectual facilities to objectively compare the two to each other.

Pretty much it's that simple.

[Paul (ral)]

thats an interesting point.  but i think it's as simple as you think to put one movie above another.

for me it's simple. (at the moment) B89 is my favourite.

but as for putting the rest in order? there are some elements in each that i really like - but then how do i arrange those elements in importance to myself? i can't. there are parts of each one that really annoy me. i can't valuate and arrange those in order either.

one week i may be in the mood for BR and other it may be BB. To say one is without merit at the expense of another is arrogant.

The things that work for you in Burton's films are probably systemically deconstructed in Nolan's.

Maybe, but also they are incorporated too in places.

I don't see the attraction in pigeon-hole-ing yourself when it comes to Batman.  darn it, i'm watching adam west this week!

[thecolorsblend]

I don't think it's so much about merit as preference.  One clicks with you moreso than the other.  Even I get the occasional itch to watch certain scenes from BF but my preference for BR above the other Batman movies stands.

Incidentally, when it comes to opinions, I've never been thought of as a humble person.

[Paul (ral)]

I don't think it's so much about merit as preference. 

Bingo, very well put.

Incidentally, when it comes to opinions, I've never been thought of as a humble person.

Good, don't ever change!

I don't see the attraction in pigeon-hole-ing yourself

Sorry, I meant "ones-self". i didn't mean to infer you, colorsblend  - just incase you though i was

[Sandman]

I guess when it all comes down to it thats true you can like any or every batman movie but everyone has there one movie that they pefer above all others for me its 89 but i still love returns and begins and theres nothing to say that i can't but for some people there fav is anything from begins to B&R or even the adam wst movie but thats there opinion and im cool with that. You can like or hate someone else's opinion but i still think that just because some people think begins is better then 89 or retuns is better then begins ect that people have to go as far as to insult or even threaten another person over likeing a different *movie* is pathetic and no theres nothing that can be said for trying to justify that type of stupid behaviour.

[thecolorsblend]

Good, don't ever change!

I couldn't.  Even if I wanted to.

Sorry, I meant "ones-self". i didn't mean to infer you, colorsblend  - just incase you though i was

I knew what you meant.  And it's not pigeon-holing oneself.  This isn't politics.  Attitudes and tastes can change over time.  I wasn't really nuts about Burton's films until about 2004 or so.  It was around then that I started to analyze them a little and BR emerged as the clear champ.  Going to see BB (it's numerous cinematic warts and weaknesses aside) was simply not as invigorating as Burton's other wordly Gotham City, teeming with crazed clowns and catwomen.  The psychology in Burton's universe just works better for me.

Incidentally...

I don't see the attraction in pigeon-hole-ing yourself when it comes to Batman.  darn it, i'm watching adam west this week!

I think West is one of the greatest Batmen in live action.  Often times he's third on my list of best Batmen ever (behind Keaton and Conroy, in that order).

I guess when it all comes down to it thats true you can like any or every batman movie but everyone has there one movie that they pefer above all others for me its 89 but i still love returns and begins and theres nothing to say that i can't but for some people there fav is anything from begins to B&R or even the adam wst movie but thats there opinion and im cool with that

It is not now and never has been about the validity of other peoples opinions.  While I sincerely doubt I'd be able to relate to someone who prefers Nolan over Burton, I accept that some people do.  What I cannot, will not and will never accept is that someone thinks of those films as precise equals.  They're so different from one another that individual preference eventually has to creep in.  One will eventually be seen as superior to the other.  To suggest that they're exact equals when they're absolute opposites is an insult to everyone's intelligence and taste.