My Favorite Villain (-ess)

I'm going to see the new Batman movie this weekend! I'm so excited--I love what the Nolan brothers have brought to the screen, how they brought back the Dark Knight from the campy movies of yesteryear and back into the conflicted story of a very human hero.

Which leads me to thoughts of how much I enjoyed watching reruns of the Batman tv series during the summers at my dad's. I was entertained by the humorous at that time--Burt Ward's "Holy Something-Or-Other, Batman!" lines in every episode, and the inevitable fight full of comic-styling emphasis . . . POW!! ZOWIE!!. . . perfect for a summer afternoon's rest from playing.

I was completely enthralled by Julie Newmar's Catwoman--if catwoman was in an episode, I didn't leave the room at all for fear of missing a single moment after commercial. For a variety of reasons others share, all of which I'm sure have been expounded upon at some point by countless folks in the past, Julie's Catwoman was my very first favorite villainess.

I started watching Batman around the time I was 8 or 9 (mid-80s) and my pre-teen mind had already fixated on boys by 1st grade, so I was fascinated by the interplay of character relationship between Catwoman and Batman. Much as Heath Ledger's Joker is now esteemed the psychological balance to Christian Bale's Batman, I always thought that Catwoman was the gender and character balance to Batman--it seemed a defining part of their love/hate relationship. Neither character was truly good or evil, each seemed to struggle with their inner selves because of it. . . and the gender difference brought to the table a complexity that wasn't often seen with the Joker, Riddler, Penguin, or other male evil-doers.

Ha--I'll leave the prosaic stuff to the critics.

My point is this: Catwoman, for me, has always been my favorite villainess. Julie (and later Michelle) nailed it: she struggled with herself, never truly being either evil or good, torn in many ways between her desires. She was beautiful, sexy as hell, knew it and used it as a weapon against those too weak to see beyond the surface. I totally wanted to be Catwoman when I grew up.

I hope that the Nolan's bring this character to new life with one of their future Batman installments--I can't wait to see how she'll add to the Dark Knight's inner conflict, simultaneously tormenting and soothing both sides of his psyche. Rachel Dawes may be Bruce Wayne's childhood love, but he needs Catwoman as long as he chooses to remain Batman. Mrow! (lol)