karmicdragonfly

I found this interesting. I was never a comic book reader, so my only experience with Batman and Robin is that horrible cheesy 60s series ("Wham!" "Pow!"), and then the movies in the theaters. Seems weird for a gay man, but I never once considered B&R might be a couple, lol! (Now, the Hardy Boys Series? That was a different story -- I had ALL sorts of fantasies about them, lol!)

Anyways, it seems that back during the days of the Lavender and Red Scares...the Batman and Robin cartoons were accused of being homosexual propaganda --

Batman and Robin, Wertham charged, inhabited "a wish dream of two homosexuals living together." They lived in "sumptuous quarters," unencumbered by wives and girlfriends, with only an aged butler for company. They cared for each other's injuries, frequently shared quarters, and lounged together in dressing gowns. Worse still, both exhibited damning psychological characteristics: proclivities for costumes, dressing up, and fantasy play; secretive behavior and double-lives; little interest in women; and, most damning of all, neurotic compulsions resulting in their violent vigilantism. Indeed, Wertham argued, depictions of Batman and Robin were frequently homoerotic, visually emphasizing Batman's rippling physique and Robins splayed, bare thighs.

"Only someone ignorant of the fundamentals of psychiatry and psychopathology of sex can fail to realize the subtle atmosphere of homoeroticism which pervades the adventures," wrote Wertham. "The Batman type of story may stimulate children to homosexual fantasies."

Batman's creators and writers were aghast. Batman, they noted, had a series of dalliances with several Gothamite ladies, even if he'd never settled down. Nor, they argued, had there ever been any explicit homosexual affection between Batman and Robin, much less a portrayal of anything beneath their tights. And, in any case, what sense did it make to interrogate the sexual practices of a character who lived only in the frames of a comic book? Any "sex life" Batman might possess was purely the imagination of his critics and had nothing to do with Batman himself. Right? Right?! Imagination, as they say, is a powerful thing.

As literary critic Mark Best notes, "Wertham did correctly identify the possibility of a queer reading of the superhero, albeit as an example of what was wrong with the comics."

http://www.bilerico.com/2008/07/when_batman_was_gay.php

I found this image amusing from the article. I can see the homoerotic overtones!



Another tidbit -- I read somewhere that during the original 60s series, that Adam West felt that Robin's, ahem, endowment showed better in Robin's costume than Batman's, so Robin had to tone it down a bit (or maybe they stuffed Adam West's costume, I can't remember). Sorry, I can't seem to find the link to where I originally read that!


This is NOT SAFE FOR WORK. It takes the 60s series and overlays dialog onto it, lol!