The Batwoman Controversy

Is It Riding The Feminist Train to Troubled Waters?

There is a new comic book superhero incarnation coming to the CW Network. While one has called it a day after announcing that next season will be it's last (Arrow), a new show will be coming this fall to join the so-called Arrowverse. Batwoman, played by Ruby Rose, made her debut in a crossover event earlier this past season. Now the crossover event involves the combined story arc of three of the four main shows in the Arrowverse, Arrow, the Flash, and Supergirl. The Legends of Tomorrow chose to opt out this past season. Black Lighting isn’t in the club for some reason. Batwoman’s debut was met with a so-so passing grade. She didn’t bring anything new to the table and she didn’t make herself look campy. In short, no harm, no foul.

So why would the makers of Batwoman put out a trailer that just torches any goodwill it may have fostered. The trailer in questioned sticks its fingers in the eye of the very people who they need to keep the ratings going, 18–45-year-old males, especially white males who are the significant purchasers of comic books. The Batwoman trailer isn’t anything extraordinary. It has way too many fast cut fight scenes, it has music in the background and it seems like the only expression on everyone’s faces is the, “I’m smelling your stinky bean and cabbage farts”, face. It has also pissed off a lot of people, both male, and female, because of the tone it set with dialogue attributed to Ruby Rose. As of this writing, it sits at 65K of likes and 245K of dislikes.

So let’s delve into this trailer, shall we? The leading actor in this telling is Ruby Rose. She gained a lot of attention on the show, Orange Is The New Black. I don’t know what a sexual leanings are and I really don’t care but for some people, this is something they need to know. In Hollywood, you must declare what your sexual preference is. I don’t know if she is bisexual or lesbian and again, I really don’t care. But in Hollywood, I guess being gay is a talent. I’ve seen people get TV series just on the fact that they were gay. They had no other talent only just being gay is the ticket. So Ruby Rose being gay got her other film roles. I’ve seen her in xXx: Return of Xander Cage, John Wick 2, Pitch Perfect 3, and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. In a majority of these films, her characters are one dimensional and she’s playing the same role with the same fart face expression. That same fart face expression is evident in Batwoman along with her acting that’s paper bag thin. When she is in the Batman stolen costume, she makes an entrance that was mocked by Deadpool where he made fun of superheroes who come in and land in that crouching/kneeling fashion to show how bad-ass they are. When she came in and landed like that, it was a hackneyed superhero 1–0–1 move. Deadpool was right.  She also has a girlfriend and they show them kissing each other so I guess this is supposed to be titillating cause I'm twelve years old.  Please, this is boring and passe.   

There is some female villain in this trailer. She too is a bad actor. She has bad hair as well. I don’t know if that mop on her head is real or if it’s fake? I do know that whoever decided to dress her made some wrong choices. None of what she is wearing is flattering or makes her look diabolical.

The trailer is also an insult to the iconic Batman. Batman has left Gotham and disappeared? Is that what they are going with? You’re Gotham, well, you’re not. This Gotham looks like it’s a college campus. Gotham, the recently ended TV series, was a gray and dark place. It was a character just like the actors who played on it. That Gotham became an extension to the Joker, to Penguin, to the Riddler as we felt that strong connection throughout the duration of the show. Batwoman’s Gotham showed this building at the beginning that looked like a library with its bright lights. You got no sense that you were in this Gotham.

Let’s continue. So Kate Kane, aka Batwoman, shows up on the doorstep of Wayne Manor and makes the claim that she’s Bruce’s cousin and proceeds to invade the private quarters of Wayne Manor and its’ inner workings. Just because you are a cousin doesn’t give you the right to snoop around in their place. And what are you, first, second, the third cousin? By Ancestry.com data records, I have a bunch of second cousins that I don’t know from Adam. And yet you, Kate Kane, comes strolling through his place and discover his secrets. You appropriate his costume and makes it yours as well as everything in the cave. You’re a squatter. You hear that the suit is “literal perfection” but you make this insulting statement with “It will be once it fits a woman”. Why don’t you make your own suit and not use a man’s suit? Why don’t you use another cave instead of a man’s cave? Why don’t you find some other helper instead of Bruce’s assistant?

Ah, but that wasn’t enough. Ruby Rose steps further across the line when she says, “I’m not about to let a man take credit for a woman’s work.” So stop dressing like Batman. You could have been any incarnation other than Batman if you wanted to fight crime. If you’re into the black theme, how about Raven or Black Mamba? And it’s not just guys who are ticked off with this show, it’s women as well, especially those who are into comics. These women don’t understand to slights directed at Batman and what he has done in the comics and in several film adaptations. The Batwoman show depicts Batman as some “deadbeat dad” situation who has just abandoned his children and ran off to Mexico.

Let’s also not forget about the Captain Marvel fiasco that’s connected to Batwoman. As you may recall in the Captain Marvel trailer, the graphics in that presentation had HER and HERO fade in and out to let us know it is female driven. In the Batwoman trailer, the same thing happened and EVERYBODY caught it and knew the meaning behind it and were just annoyed by the content. The music bed was just as worse with whoever was singing “I’m a Woman!”

Brie Larson, in addition to the bad storytelling to Captain Marvel, made her the poster child to fan backlash to what is generally perceived as denigrating male bashing. The 40-year-old white dudes have had #EnoughwithTheManBashing rhetoric. Batwoman is implying the same. In the trailer, you only see one white dude and a token black dude. Yes, he’s a token in the way he’s presented as a weak secondary character who didn’t have the balls to keep a cousin out of his boss’s personal business. He’s no Morgan Freeman. Hell, he’s no Morgan Fairchild.

This show is supposed to follow Supergirl, another show that is female-centrist and is a male shrinkage show. I watched it when it was on CBS but soon tired of the male bashing and put-downs especially after Supergirl got mad when Superman helped her catch a bad guy and she didn’t offer up a single thank you even after this villain handed her ass to her and he didn’t have any superpowers, only a special suit. Batwoman has those same undercurrents of being female-centrist show. That’s fine, it’s just not an invite for me.

A lot of the mainstream media is referring to those who have been criticizing the trailer as trolls. This sort of characterization is further from the truth and just represents an easy attack on people who have a valid justification to voicing their opinions. At this stage of the game, it is criminal to express your voice without someone on the other side attacking you for your honest opinion. The same would be said for Batwoman as media outlets have referred to the critics as trolls. I would say that if that is the case, use your investigative prowess as a journalist and prove it. Otherwise, don’t call everyone a troll, just call them passionate observers.