I saw that Batman Beyond preview on Smallville -- after 10 minutes of ESPN and 10 minutes of an incomprehensible Smallville cliffhanger -- and was like, wait, what now? It didn't do much for me.

I continue to insist that making explicit the implicit fascist impulse of the Batman scenario is the kiss of death. Appealing to the id so openly puts me off the character, makes me stand outside him. Sometimes, I can end up fascinated by a character study, watching a dude wrestle with his id; but most of the time, the vicarious pleasure disappears when I'm appealed to so basely.

Also, since when is Liam Neeson the Interplanetary Ninja King? That segment of the preview was like a flashback to the X-Files episode "Pusher" -- oh yes, he trained with Gurkas in Nepal, and Ninjas, and has deeply studied the tantric art of withdrawing his testicles into his torso. A bit much, you know? Even for a rootless, disturbed billionaire.

A bit much, you know? Even for a rootless, disturbed billionaire.

Having gotten completely sucked into the comics, *nothing* strikes me as a bit much for Batman anymore. The dude redefines "fucked up."

He's not rootless. He's irrevocably and firmly rooted in that one night. Geography is nothing to that.

Since I was both watching and taping Lost last night, I didn't get to see the 8 minutes of Batman after Smallville.

I'm assuming it will be (if it isn't already) on the internets today. If anyone can dig up a link, I'd be ever so grateful. (Yes, I already googled "Batman Begins" + Smallville + preview.)

He's not rootless. He's irrevocably and firmly rooted in that one night. Geography is nothing to that.

And the travelled the world, studying with masters of various disciplines is from the comics. Indeed, a few of his mentors are still around -- the assassin David Cain, for one, and boxer Ted "Wildcat" Grant. I also recall him studying stage magic briefly with Zatarra (Zatanna's dad.)

So, yeah, that's nothing new.

Having gotten completely sucked into the comics, *nothing* strikes me as a bit much for Batman anymore.

But, like, what about those who aren't sucked into that universe? (Or those, like me, who hover only on its edges?) It strikes me as just, you know, too much, in a similar (though of a different type) way that Joel Schumacher's Batman was too much. Batman works, if you make me believe he might exist in this real world; any strong whiff of unbelieveability just pushes me out of the story. So, disurbed billionaier, fine; disturbed billionaire who can afford to hire the personal trainer from hell, fine; disurbed billionaire who tinkers and builds and acquires cool gadgets, fine; but "studies with ninjas" is kinda over the top.

Well, he spent 10 years travelling all over the world to train himself to be the bestest vigilante ever!

Meanwhile, NewLine's website for A History of Violence is up -- there is a clip from the movie in it. (A scene with Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen.) There is also a trailer up on the Cannes Film Festival website. Subtitled in French. Kind of fun.

Hm. I am likewise on the edges of the Batman universe, and "studies with ninjas" ups the attraction for me. YOTTMV

But I could study ninjutsu if I wanted to. As the improbable things in Bruce's life go -- that's one of the easy ones. If I had his cash, you damn well bet I'd be travelling the world and studying fighting styles. No need to kill my parents, and I'd never even intend to be taking it out on the road, vigilante style.

Hell, I know a guy travelling right now, who just finished studying Muay Thai in Thailand, and is expecting to taste the arts of each country he goes to.

No angsty billionaire him. Just a guy taking a year off.

But I could study ninjutsu if I wanted to.

Like, with ninjas? In some far-off wilderness? (Where the master of this very Japanese art is an Irishman?) I think I could have bought it better if they hadn't specified "ninjas," or if it had been Muay Thai or something else. Just, "ninjas" sounds like the kind of big fat lie movie-people use instead of realistic texture.

Also, it raises the problem of "How does everybody in Gotham society not immediately know who Batman is?" If Bruce Wayne is a recluse, suspicion falls on him. If he spent years in the hinterlands of Asia, suspicion kind of falls on him. It's hard to disappear for long periods of time, and still come across seamlessly as a society airhead. "I went to school in Europe" doesn't cut it any more, you know?