The Bat A Man May Become…
“What gives you the right? What’s the difference between you and me?!”
“I’m not wearing hockey pads.”
The Dark Knight
If there is one thing that Higglytown Heroes teaches us, it is that everyone is a hero in there own right. Alright, so maybe doctors, police and firefighters train to hone their skills but don’t get to wear the spandex or get the better gimmicks like your day-to-day superheroes do, people like Creep Child Molestor Man and his sidekick Indecent Exposure Boy, but only a small percentage of heroes get to be superheroes. The Medical, Law and Rescue heroes are still heroes.
But this isn’t about day-to-day normal heroes, nor is it about Higglytown Heroes – and to be honest I’m not quite sure where I was going with that as an opening anyway. This is about superheroes and one mans quest to be a hero. Not the hero we deserve, not even the hero we need right now, but the hero we’re going to get regardless.
A lot of people had made their own series on YouTube in the wake of The Dark Knight, some of them are almost works of art (The Joker Blogs stands out as a shining example) and some of them are cringe worthy and best left to clutter up the Related Videos listing.
Back in November 2008 a new series started on YouTube, made by some young brits with perhaps the greatest concept of the time, something at the time I couldn’t help dropping messages to everybody about. The series was Becoming Batman and the concept was both simple and genius at the same time: track a man most unlikely for the role as he becomes Batman.
The very notion of a British attempt at Batman, if not already amusing enough, is coupled with the most unlikely candidate. There are really only three options to take with a concept like that, either you take it as a serious documentary, as a half-serious mockumentary or as a complete spoof.
The series has recently come to a close, at least for this story arc, so I thought I’d give a review of the series. Spoilerific, so you may want to watch through it first.
The original feel of the series seemed to be the mockumentary concept, as ‘Wayne’ and his friend mostly sat about discussing and planning, with the friend providing at times a voice of reason and letting natural interaction and seeming cluelessness or ignorance take the lead.
It was rather a simple set-up, with a few one-liners and perfect deadpan delivery of reasonable thoughts in amongst an absurd situation. The very pilot episode featured some classic examples:
- (On being Batman according to newspaper)
Wayne: Any bored, wealthy martial artists feel like taking this on?
Friend: How is that you? Are you a martial artist? No. Are you wealthy? Not at all.
Wayne: I am a bit bored
Friend: You are a bit bored. Theres a stretch between “I’m a bit bored” go bowling or something don’t become a crime fighting…
Wayne: But I could be Batman!
Whereas the second episode featuring the “To Do List” really brings home about the almost surreality of the situation, the idea of a To Do List for becoming a costumed crimefighter featuring “costume”, “fitness” (“I can hold a jog, for a while”) and “get a butler”.
- Friend: ‘Hide my true identity’
Wayne: Yeah, ’cause I thought because if I’m fighting crime I don’t want people to know who I actually am
Friend: Oh yeah yeah yeah…sort of protect you, people around you…yeah, should probably stop doing these videos…
The flaw as I saw it though happened from about episode three, where the nature of the series began to change rather early. The friend started to act comical on his own, as far as making an overly large protein shake and started to slip from the voice of reason role.
This was only the start with the series taking on more of a spoofing nature, becoming it’s own retelling of types and less about the mockumentary. Certain episodes still kept the original feel, such as the discussions with legal advice, but there seemed to be more of a lean to drop in movie references and lines or to cram in nods to a developing ‘celebrity status’ and to see how far they could push certain points.
Some of these references were very well done, especially the visual references (compare Episode 6 to Bank Heist) and some of the choice quotes, but the shoe-horning of Alfred in and going down the spoof route seemed to harm a great concept.
There are also some great moments in the opening of episodes, even after it has changed its direction, that harkens back to the original feeling of the series. Simple mundane tasks like having to scrape ice from the batmobile or having to answer the bat-mobile.
One aspect that perhaps became the most noticeable change is shifting focus. I tend to think of this along the “Harry Potter Style”, in that series you follow one character throughout, you only know of that character and what he knows because you only ever see scenes he’s in. This from a storytelling point of view makes it much more character- and circumstance-centric, and in some ways adds some essence of believability to the story – although you are aware that there must be a camera and operator, there is more the feeling of being there. The sudden change to following multiple characters and different styles of shots changes the overall style.
The element that quite threw suspension of disbelief in to a curve ball akin to ‘Bad Boys II’ with Miami PD invading Cuba with CIA, was the inclusion of daydream sequences.
Personally, and I know that they have gathered a fanbase so my own view is not that impactful given I’ve still had free entertainment, but I feel the unique nature and approach would have made a much more satisfying and even more humourous series. I’m not sure whether I could be as excited for a continuation as I was for the original episodes.
The trick, of course, is to adapt the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 line and “say to yourself it’s just a YouTube show and I really should just relax”. It’s a fun show, it has great humour and it’s highly watchable and re-watchable, but in my opinion, if it had stuck to it’s early styling then it could have been something so much more.
Though, admitedly, it does prove tempting to see just how an average person would do trying to train for the role. I know probably at least Deej has had those very same thoughts as I.
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