Joss Whedon has stepped down from scripting duties on a proposed BATGIRL movie, saying he just couldn’t come up with a story.
I suspect he had some other reasons, some of which speak well of him and some of which don’t, but that’s a boring subject. (So is whether there should be a Batgirl movie, period. Let’s just say that my personal enthusiasm at this point, is limited. We have more than enough movies in this genre, thank you.)
But let us talk of his stated reason for having so much trouble with the character: paraphrased, he couldn’t think of a reason why this girl’s head would be so messed up she would start doing this thing.
And instantly you know that he doesn’t get the character at all and that stepping away was a good thing.
You see, the premise that a person’s head must be “messed up” in some way to become a hero in this genre is based on only a very few examples.
Batman is certainly messed up by grief.
Spider-Man is certainly messed up by guilt.
The Punisher is certainly messed up by hatred.
Daredevil, as understood today, is messed up by all sorts of things.
But move beyond that: Captain America is driven by duty. The Flash by the knowledge that he has this crazy power and that something beneficial needs to be done with it. Wonder Woman was raised in a warrior culture and she believes in the fight.
Superman?
Is at heart just a really, really nice, caring guy with the powers of a God.
So not all these characters are demented by trauma.
They’re just…not.
Take the multiple iterations of Robin. You would expect them all to be cookie-cutter versions of the same generic kid, but as written they have never been.
One, Dick Grayson, was a grieving kid taken under Batman’s wing, trained to channel his loss into positive action. The next, Jason, was canonically a messed-up kid who Batman, showing spectacularly poor judgment, was trying to provide some emotional stability. The next after that, Tim Drake, was….just a really smart and good kid who wanted to help Batman.
Different motivations. It’s what makes them different characters.
The next most famous Robin is Carrie Kelly, from Frank Miller’s THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, who became Robin out of…enthusiasm.
That’s right. Batman saved her from a mugging and possible rape, and the first thing she did was go home and make herself a Robin costume, without his encouragement. Not because she was so traumatized by her close call. But because she was excited. Because she was enthused. Because she had become passionate about something she could believe in.
Not messed up at all. (Not within the context of superhero comics, anyway; in real life, it shows a dearth of common sense.)
Barbara Gordon, Batgirl?
She was a nice middle-class kid working as a librarian, whose father was the police commissioner, who in the comics was heading for a costume party in a distaff Batman costume when she encountered some bad guys in the midst of evil doings, made short work of it, and decided, “You know what? I can do this!” And then commenced building on the natural gifts she already had.
And this is why we came damn close to a couple of cinematic Superman iterations where he was, in one case, an embittered outcast living in the Metropolis sewer system, and in another, a freakish outcast unable to fit in with the rest of humanity, fighting crime out of manic compulsion; as opposed to what has never been hard for comics writers to convey, that he was JUST A NICE GUY, brother to humanity.
The people trying to get those projects off the ground had no handle on, “Honestly, he’s just a sweet guy.”
Why Joss Whedon thought he needed a reason for Barbara Gordon to messed up, when all he really needed was a reason to tap into that far more difficult motivator: sheer joy.
Honestly: not everybody needs to be motivated by trauma.
Certainly not a bright, motivated girl who dotes on her father the police commissioner.
So yeah.
I think Whedon has done some remarkable work over the years, and I don’t look down on him for this decision, when it would have been just as easy for him to just bullshit something that would have passed muster as long as it had enough action scenes.
But what he has told us is that he didn’t get the character at all.
Comment By: Adam-Troy Castro
February 23rd, 2018 at 11:17 am
What the hell: Mike Glyer
Comment By: Michael Rapoport
February 23rd, 2018 at 11:17 am
Actually, even if you accept the “messed up” premise – and I agree with you that there’s no reason to be limited by it – it isn’t terribly hard to come up with a Batgirl origin story, using elements from the comics. Barbara Gordon is the police commissioner’s daughter, a librarian, a little sheltered, yearning to do something more with her life. She gets attacked, shot, violated by the Joker in his attempt to torment the commissioner, a la THE KILLING JOKE. She recovers, builds herself up, finds in herself a strength she never knew she had yada yada yada, and vows to fight evil so that no one else will ever have to go through this. She takes inspiration from the masked vigilante she’s seen her father working with, and boom, she’s Batgirl.
I don’t claim it would necessarily have been a good movie, and for all I know maybe Whedon considered such an idea and it wasn’t to his liking. But it could have been done.
Comment By: Adam-Troy Castro
February 23rd, 2018 at 11:17 am
Oh, please, no. No “She was raped” origin.
Comment By: Michael Rapoport
February 23rd, 2018 at 11:17 am
As I say, I don’t claim it would have been a good idea. But it just isn’t accurate to say you can’t come up with ANY origin based on trauma, for this character in particular.
Comment By: Adam-Troy Castro
February 23rd, 2018 at 11:17 am
Batgirl is…god, I hate this word…perky. She’s upbeat. She’s positive. She can be serious, but there is not an ounce of bitterness in her.
It wouldn’t be this character.
Oracle, certainly. (And even SHE got past it.)
Comment By: Linda Hepden
February 23rd, 2018 at 11:17 am
So she was a young woman who led a sheltered life…. So was I when a complete stranger slashed as my throat with a knife and tried to abduct me (and the police later confirmed that yes, he had intended to rape me). When the dust settled from that little fracas, *I* was the one who walked away, because I’d kicked him so hard in his manhood that 5’1″, 110lbs little me actually lifted him clear off the ground. Then I memorised his van’s number plate to make sure the police could get him – which I’m pleased to report they were more than happy to do. Never ever underestimate the female half of humanity.
Comment By: Christopher Bennett
February 23rd, 2018 at 11:17 am
Michael Rapoport : He’s not saying you *can’t*, just that you shouldn’t. Both for Batgirl and for superheroes in general, defaulting to damage/trauma-based origins is missing the point.
Chris Sims, the comics columnist formerly of the defunct ComicsAlliance and now writing for Looper, has said that the value of Batgirl and Robin/Nightwing is that they show that what Batman does *works.* He’s not just some sociopath unable to get over a childhood trauma like some people want him to be; his efforts as Batman actually make a positive difference, as shown by the fact that Dick suffered the same trauma but grew up healthier and happier because of Bruce’s parenting, and the fact that a perfectly well-adjusted woman like Barbara could be inspired by him to do the same thing he did. They prove that Batman really does make a positive difference.
Comment By: Adam-Troy Castro
February 23rd, 2018 at 11:17 am
Linda Hepden, First, I am sorry for what you went through and happy that you came through unscathed.
Second, I want to be a hundred percent clear about what I am saying here.
I have no problem with embittered, traumatized female characters rendered strong by their backlash against the pain, who do what they do out of sheer rage at the world that has treated them the way it did. I WROTE THREE NOVELS AND FIVE NOVELLAS SO FAR ABOUT THAT CHARACTER.
I am saying that “She was raped, therefore she…” is an easy and cheap default.
Superman gets to be Superman because he’s JUST A NICE GUY. The Flash gets to be The Flash because HE CAN.
Squirrel Girl gets to be Squirrel Girl because she’s written so clearly that IT WOULD BE SILLY FOR HER NOT TO BE.
Batgirl doesn’t need rape as an origin.
Comment By: Michael Rapoport
February 23rd, 2018 at 11:17 am
Christopher Bennett My comment that “it isn’t accurate to say you can’t come up with an origin based on trauma” was in response to Joss Whedon, not Adam-Troy. It’s a thought experiment more than anything. As I said, I agree that superheroes don’t have to come from trauma.
Comment By: Linda Hepden
February 23rd, 2018 at 11:17 am
You know the odd thing about the night I was attacked? It was the realisation over the next few months that in unleashing my inner anger at anyone and everyone (and believe me, I dug really deep) in order to keep the adrenalin flowing, I also let go off a lot of anger and resentment against those who had bullied me and rejected me years ago. It’s as if the adrenalin just washed it all way and it no longer mattered. So being on the receiving end of a violent attack does not necessarily make you embittered or filled with rage. For me, if anything it was more the opposite.
Comment By: Patrick Flanagan
February 23rd, 2018 at 2:17 pm
I kinda loved the BATGIRL: YEAR ONE comic, that would make a fine film.
Comment By: Gregory Lamberson
February 23rd, 2018 at 11:17 am
Assuming the reason he offered for leaving is genuine, which I don’t believe
Comment By: Adam-Troy Castro
February 23rd, 2018 at 11:17 am
Which is, you know, what I said. Before going on to take it at face value.
Comment By: Josh Olson
February 23rd, 2018 at 11:17 am
A hero steps up to fill the void.
https://twitter.com/UweBollRaw/status/967057171048382466
Comment By: Adam-Troy Castro
February 23rd, 2018 at 11:17 am
Sounds exactly like the version of Batgirl who would fight Halle Berry’s Catwoman.
Comment By: Josh Olson
February 23rd, 2018 at 11:17 am
Adam-Troy Castro I’m in!
Comment By: Patrick Flanagan
February 23rd, 2018 at 2:17 pm
I don’t get it. There’s never been a Batgirl video game. How could Boll make a movie about her?
Comment By: Storm Weaver
February 23rd, 2018 at 11:17 am
I have to say that I love that Joss Whedon has the chutzpah to just say “Hey… I got ‘nothin’… and walk away from what would probably have been a pretty lucrative paycheck, instead of turning out a piece-of-crap junkpiece for a paycheck and his name on the credits of something that, even if it -sucked- would have people saying “Oh, yeah, Joss Whedon… he does superhero stuff, right? Not like he doesn’t have enough credits elsewhere that are really great pieces… but I love that he didn’t bite the “any publicity is good publicity, even for shit work” mentality and just take his paycheck and run when he knew he didn’t have any sense of tale for this character.
Comment By: Josh Olson
February 23rd, 2018 at 11:17 am
Storm Weaver His commencement fee on the script – while not as hefty as what he’d have gotten for finishing it and rewriting it – was pretty sizable, I can assure you.
Comment By: Adam-Troy Castro
February 23rd, 2018 at 11:17 am
Yup.
Comment By: Adam-Troy Castro
February 23rd, 2018 at 12:17 pm
(I would not allege this of him, but I can see some guys taking the initial fee for a few bucks, aware that they would claim lack of inspiration later; not a trick you can do much.)
Comment By: Josh Olson
February 23rd, 2018 at 12:17 pm
Adam-Troy Castro I’m reasonably sure there’s more to the story. You don’t get to do that more than once in this business.
Comment By: Adam-Troy Castro
February 23rd, 2018 at 12:17 pm
Considering how much shit he got over his Wonder Woman treatment and how much attention is being paid over women needing to be writers of these properties, that may have been either his case, or his mutual agreement with those in charge.
I don’t pretend to know.
(Again, I did say, in my essay, that I was pretty sure there were other reasons.)
But…on face value…”I couldn’t think of what would mess her up,” is sufficient lack of understanding of the character.
Comment By: Dave Creek
February 23rd, 2018 at 11:17 am
Whedon has stated elsewhere that, “Everything I write is about power and helplessness. And somebody being helpless, their journey to power is the narrative that sustains me . . . ” That can make for compelling stories, and I can certainly see that concept leading to FIREFLY, for instance, and even both his AVENGERS movies.
But that’s not Batgirl. She’s the positive influence who, like Superman, fights AGAINST such conflicted characters who have allowed those internal conflicts to turn them to the dark side (to mix fictional metaphors).
Comment By: Stephanie Maurer Whelan
February 23rd, 2018 at 12:18 pm
One of the ongoing issues I started having with Whedon was his limitations. He does a specific type of character arc and enemble work really well–enough that I enjoyed seeing it three or four times played out. But . . . after a while you notice that the characters never shift from those arcs no matter what work he’s doing.
Comment By: Michael Rapoport
February 23rd, 2018 at 12:18 pm
Associational, not related to Batgirl, but this is a very interesting discussion about superheroes and trauma: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fwV0n3Jdug
Comment By: Marilyn Holt
February 23rd, 2018 at 12:18 pm
Motivated by love and caring: I can think of several scenarios for a Batgirl (hate the name) movie.
Comment By: Melissa Ann Singer
February 23rd, 2018 at 1:18 pm
“the world” may not “need” a Batgirl movie, but legions of women who love the character in its various forms would like one very much. I cannot count the number of women comics fans I know who are major Batgirl fans and really want her to get the respect they feel she deserves. She’s a touchstone figure for at least two or three generations of women comics readers.
Comment By: Adam-Troy Castro
February 23rd, 2018 at 1:18 pm
(Mildly) I loved WONDER WOMAN and am looking forward to CAPTAIN MARVEL.
Comment By: Dave Creek
February 23rd, 2018 at 1:18 pm
And Marvel is supposed to be considering a a movie with the leads all being women — Black Widow, Scarlett Witch, several others. They grabbed Marvel guru Kevin Feige at a con and pitched the idea to him.
Comment By: Melissa Ann Singer
February 23rd, 2018 at 2:17 pm
It just annoys me to see opinion stated as fact. “I’m not sure the world needs a Batgirl movie” is opinion. “The world doesn’t need a Batgirl movie” is fact and leaves little if any room for disagreement that won’t come across as adversarial. Unless carefully worded.
Comment By: Eric Dietz
February 23rd, 2018 at 2:18 pm
If DC had the golden touch that Marvel seems to have acquired I’m sure they should do a Batgirl movie. Maybe they should try the small screen, where they seem to have the advantage.
Comment By: Tim Tucker
February 23rd, 2018 at 2:18 pm
Before they do a Batgirl movie, DC Entertainment needs to get an admirable Batman on-screen to be the inspiration for an aspiring young female crime fighter.
Comment By: Michael M Jones
February 23rd, 2018 at 4:18 pm
You want to depict Batgirl’s origin? Just have a quick moment of her seeing Batman on tv/in person/working with her father. Her eyes light up. Her gaze lingers on the bat symbol. Cue to a musical montage of her studying, training in gymnastics, etc etc. Until we see her launch forth from the rooftops one night with a squeal of joy. She is the night, but she is also youthful exuberance. Give her an appropriate villain… I dunno, how about an appropriately young Catwoman? Make it a joyful romp as Batgirl tries to thwart Catwoman’s heists all over town… until she realizes that Catwoman is robbing from criminals and using some of the proceeds to benefit charities or orphanages or the criminals’ victims. In the end, they have to work together to take down a mutual enemy, and so Batgirl “fails” to apprehend Catwoman, who “escapes” into the night… for a credits cameo, we see Batman appear behind Batgirl after that. She looks terrified to meet her idol, worried that he’ll disapprove of her decision to go lenient on Catwoman, but instead he smiles faintly, says Catwoman has that effect on him too. But now, he concludes, it’s time to start training for real. Batsignal shines in the background, roll final credits. There you go. It’s fun, it’s upbeat, it’s got the spirit of Batgirl, and with the right creative team it’ll make billions. 🙂
Comment By: Galen Strickland
February 23rd, 2018 at 4:18 pm
To my big surprise, Whedon didn’t get Wonder Woman either. His script was ludicrous, and I’m glad we got Patty Jenkins’ version instead.
Comment By: Amy Hays Craane
February 23rd, 2018 at 8:18 pm
Zoe Washburn is one of the single greatest female characters ever created. For that, if nothing else, Whedon gets a huge amount of benefit of the doubt from me.
If he’s got nothing, he’s got nothing. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Comment By: Pixel Scroll 2/23/18 In The Unlikely Event Of A Pixel Landing, Scrolls May Be Used For Flotation Devices | File 770
February 23rd, 2018 at 9:23 pm
[…] (6) THE GOODBYE BATGIRL. Yesterday I read somewhere “Joss Whedon Drops Out of Batgirl”. Adam-Troy Castro won’t miss him: “Joss Whedon Quit the BATGIRL Movie For All The Right Reasons”. […]
Comment By: Elric Fraumeni
February 23rd, 2018 at 11:17 pm
With all that Batman/Bruce Wayne is messed up., I’ve always felt that once he caught the guy who killed his parents and cleaned out the criminals,, putting escalation aside, he just felt it was the right thing to do, to continue to protect the city he loved.
Same with most of the other Superheroes. It’s in THEM. I don’t know what’s going on in Whedon’s head, but if he felt that way then yes, don’t bother.
The reason why Marvel movies work is because each time, the hero had a choice. And they made the one they felt was right. In SPITE of whatever they were going through, personally. Isn’t that rather the point, most times?