The Ice Princess

[The Joker]

I really like your analogies with other film characters.  Otis would definitely be right at home in a Farrelly Brothers movie as say Jim Carrey's even more grossly stupid dad, whilst the Ice Princess does strike me as a WASP version of the dim-witted spoiled rich girls in Clueless.  How do you think they'd both have got on in high school?

I think the Ice Princess would have been very popular with the boys. 

Otis I could see as a Waterboy, though it's unlikely he would be competent enough to hold the job for very long. 

[johnnygobbs]

I think the Ice Princess would have been very popular with the boys. 

Otis I could see as a Waterboy, though it's unlikely he would be competent enough to hold the job for very long. 

LOL about Otis.  Poor guy, and it seems he gets stuck in jail whilst Lex escapes.  To be honest, were it real life I couldn't see a guy like Otis lasting very long in a maximum security prison.  Apart from being incredibly stupid, he's not even that strong for a *ahem* big guy...

As for the Ice Princess, sure she was probably very popular with the boys, and no doubt she was the prom queen, but I'm thinking that she probably didn't do too well from an academic point of view unless she managed to get one of the boys to do her assignments for her.

[The Dark Knight]

Very popular, I'm sure.

Love the Ice Princess, but just a few comments.

She did not possess anything resembling brain power, but it did not matter for her. She was still filthy rich (you would think so) and living a privileged lifestyle.

Academia and the like was clearly not her field and it wouldn't have concerned her - she instead played to her "strengths" with her "job".

Getting an easy ride in life, adoring media attention, magazine deals, sponsorships, etc. I have a feeling this is Burton offering a form of social criticism.

[Azrael]

And Shreck's son. Chip Shreck is the big hunk with a rich dad and a brain the size of a nut.

[johnnygobbs]

Spot on The Dark Knight and Silenig.  The Ice Princess and Chip Shreck also remind me respectively of the typical high school prom queen and king you'd find in a teen movie.

That's one of the many things I love about Tim Burton's movies - the social satire, usually at the expense of either mainstream or high society.  There was a hint of this in the first Batman with Alicia Hunt and the news anchors, but by Returns Burton was given more control to unleash this side of his personality.  Just look at the various characters throughout his films; for example:

Pee Wee's Big Adventure - Francis Buxton
Beetlejuice - the Deetzes
Edward Scissorhands - the Boggs' various shallow and fickle neighbours, including Jim, the jock, who is like a template for Chip Shreck
Mars Attacks! - practically all the characters in the entire film are satires
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - the spoiled naughty kids are kind of like junior versions of The Ice Princess and Chip Shreck; Veruca Salt even suffers a similar fate to the princess, getting scared by little animals and falling down a great distance, although this time the girl survives.

[burtongenius]

Ah, the ice princess.  I think she was put in the movie to be an easy hostage for the penguin and catwoman.  I mean, shes dumb and she's all about her looks (I guess there is nothing wrong with that, but it definetely doesn't help her).  The catwoman and the penguin instantly recognized her as a way too easy mark.

[johnnygobbs]

Ah, the ice princess.  I think she was put in the movie to be an easy hostage for the penguin and catwoman.  I mean, shes dumb and she's all about her looks (I guess there is nothing wrong with that, but it definetely doesn't help her).  The catwoman and the penguin instantly recognized her as a way too easy mark.

Ahh, but what looks.  Seriously though, I think you're right.  The Penguin and Catwoman needed someone who they could easily fool for their plan to work and she definitely fit that bill.  It's clear that she might have lived longer had she invested half as much time in her mind as she did in her beauty.

[burtongenius]

Plus, and I just thought of this, everybody knew her and would wonder who would kill such an innocent person. 

Also, I think it shows how much christmas was commercicalized and was made to be all about looks.  More about going through the motions of the material christmas.  Maybe I think too much.  Maybe I don't.

[Catwoman]

Also, I think it shows how much christmas was commercicalized

thank you linus.

[johnnygobbs]

Plus, and I just thought of this, everybody knew her and would wonder who would kill such an innocent person. 

Also, I think it shows how much christmas was commercicalized and was made to be all about looks.  More about going through the motions of the material christmas.  Maybe I think too much.  Maybe I don't.

Sure, she was very high profile and her death would cause the maximum outrage and fury against Batman.  As for her apparent 'innocence', I recall that in the original script and the making-of book that the Ice Princess is described as being the 'type to push an old lady to the ground' during the Red Triangle Circus Gang's rampage, though I can see how her public image might mask her less pleasant characteristics.

With respect to your second point, I think many of the film's key supporting characters, including Max Shreck, his son, the Ice Princess, the image consultants and even the feckless Mayor might represent the more materialistic and image-orientated aspects of society.