Waaghpowa said:
airrazor7 said:
First off, the time period Batman was created means nothing, what's important is how it's written now. They said an iconic character is gay, and most, if not all if I recall, of their characters were created decades ago before homosexuality was widely accepted.
Not everyone is black and white in their actions or beliefs. The fact that Batman has a history of going against the norm doesn't mean that some part of him is totally detached to those standards. Many people, myself included and probably you, don't agree with the norm yet still abide by them to a certain degree to avoid being singled out or chastised. The same could apply to Bruce Wayne. Perhaps he attempts to appear as a heterosexual because he grew up believing that was normal.
The fact that he's slept with numerous woman is not indicative of his heterosexuality either. It could be a means of compensating due to a fear of being gay. I had a friend who did the same thing. From my experience, people who are gay, aren't always obvious. Sometimes they're the last person you'd expect. Which is why I'm thinking Bruce Wayne is a possibility since, aside from the Robin jokes, people wouldn't expect it.
Yes, you're partially right about the importance of how characters are written in current times. Comic book characters are at the whims of the their present day writers. However, those writers understand that they have a duty to the long time fans of the character, to the creator(s) of the character and the character itself. To say that the period of time in which a character was created does not matter is to also say that the one whom created the character does not matter. Any character from any work of fiction is shaped and sometimes based upon the creators perspective of their culture and current period of time. If none of that really mattered then the DC Batman writers could release a comic tomorrow depicting Batman as a flying, rainbow farting hero who deals out cannabis instead of justice alongside his sidekick chimp and no one would have a problem with it.
Bruce Wayne has been, for the most part, a black-and-white character. Going against the norm is apart of his established characterization. At times, this has put him at odds with his own justice league teammates. I'm not a die-hard fan, but these traits seem to be constant in the Batman comics I have been reading lately.
You're right about the different lifestyles gay people can lead. However, we're not discussing other people, we're not discussing your life and we're not discussing my life. We're talking about batman and indirectly, we're talking about his team of writers, editors and creative designers who may or may not be familiar with the different lifestyles and personality traits of homosexuals. I'm a little familiar with the stories of a person coming out as gay or even transgender after being married and raising a family. The thing is, their feelings did not happen after marriage and family; they happened before and there are signs of it even when people try to suppress it. You just have to pay attention to them. I have yet to see similar signs in the depictions of Bruce Wayne.
Now, I'm not saying Batman will not be the one chosen to be gay because I don't have that creative control so I don't know. That is up to DC. I'm simply discussing the character based on what I have seen. Batman has just as much of a chance of being the "Iconic Gay Hero" as any other character which DC does reserve the right to do exactly as you previously mentioned and say, "screw it, we're completely ignoring this character's history and declaring this instead" which they will retcon later as a PR stunt. Heck, I believe what's going on now is a PR stunt.
Also, since this went unanswered I'll ask it again. If the relationships people choose are not at least partially indicative of what they prefer, then what is? Take note that I did not type flings and one-night stands. In my previous post I stated that Bruce is known for his flings
after I mentioned his two relationships with Talia and Selina which were taken seriously story-wise. If he is chosen to be gay, what reason do we as readers have to take his new relationship seriously if the others do not matter? Is it simply because it will be the homosexual one? I only say that because that is the direction your logic is going in.
On a side note: It will be a bit humorous if Batman becomes gay. Then everyone can say, "Oh, that's way he always ignored the romantic advances of Wonder Woman. He was too distracted by someone else's battle underwear and a matching red cape," and I'll get a good chuckle out of that.
Bleedingskye said:
Seriously tho I'm siding with a lot of people that this is just lame as hell, who cares if they're gay, and why can't they just introduce a new character, and why does this deserve a press release?????
I agree. How exactly is the declaration of any character being gay going to affect them dealing out their brand of justice? I read about any action comic book character for the symbolism in the action and their actions. I don't read about them to find out about their gender preferences in relationships and who they wish to have as a bed partner. That is what romantic dramas and soap-operas are for.