DWA #8

Medhurst's work was very interesting to read. He describes how the old school Batman was a homosexual and gave off homosexual vibes to viewers. He uses Wertham's opinion as evidence to support his own. He describes Batman as being a threat to innocent children who watch his shows. Batman tends to sway his audience towards a homosexual world. Little boys watching Batman are already going through that stage where they resent girls. Batman takes this stage a step further by portraying women as mean, evil villains. This creates an even stronger resentment towards women and moves them a step closer to the homosexuality nature. The men in Batman are also given strong, masculine features which gives little boys in the audience a sense of admiration towards these men. The piece describes Batman's house with its decoration of feminine flowers. This gives off a homosexual vibe. To me, the writer is looking too much into these subtle occurrences. I do not believe Batman is gay and I disagree that watching Batman will turn little boys into homosexuals. This is absurd. These over the top features are only meant to draw in the audience and entertain the youth of the day. Medhurst also tries to describe camp. Camp is theatrical over exaggeration that is known to be over the top and cheesy. I had a hard time understanding camp. I still have a hard time understanding camp. To me, camp seems to exaggerate the opposite of what things are meant to be, but in a way that's evident to the audience as well. For example, Batman acts goofy and silly throughout the show. Batman, however, is a superhero who takes his duty to the welfare of the people seriously. So when these two aspects of Batman are put together, camp is created. The subtitles "POW" and others add to the campy feel of Batman. I thought this reading was interesting, but I though it was a little out there. I don't agree with Medhurst and Werthams' views to a certain extent.