Research Paper on "Batman Outfit Exploring the Batman Character"

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Batman Outfit

Exploring the Batman Character and Outfit

After experiencing two world wars and the destruction both of them wrought, the American public was weary of seeing lawlessness and violence on a scale that defied imagination. The public was eager to see a futuristic world, based on their utopian fantasy, where superhuman forces would finally confront the evil and protect ordinary citizens. Movies featuring super-heroic characters brought psychological comfort to many Americans as they were eager to see a hero confronting their enemies. Superheroes characterized what the public wanted to see in real life. The development of the character of Batman is interesting in this context, as Batman is not a superhuman. He is a billionaire, an industrialist, a playboy, and a philanthropist. But Batman nonetheless behaves like a superman, by utilizing technology, intelligence, and skill. His scallop-hem cape, his weapon Batarang, and his Batmobile give him the power to confront the unmitigated evil which tries to disrupt normal life in the Gotham city. In confronting the evil, Batman's outfit and his character play an important role -- as we can see in the latest two Batman series -- Batman Begins (2002) and the Dark Knight (2008) -- produced by Christopher Nolan.

The character of Batman was developed by Bob Kane who died in 1998 at the age of 83. The author of such comics' characters as Courageous Cat, Minute Mouse, and Cool McCool, Kane was inspired by studying Leonardo da Vinci's drawings in his decision to create a character of Batman. Although the character of Batman is superman-like one, the man behind the mask, Bruce Wayne, is an ordinary person. Havin

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g personally witnessed the murder of his parents as a child, Batman goes on a bid to rid the Gotham city of crime and fear. He uses his vast amount of wealth to study criminology, train and perfect his body and mind, and assemble a set of vehicles and gadgets that help him in his crusade against criminals. When Wayne finds out that he is afraid of a bat, upon seeing it outside his window, he decides to embrace an outfit of a "bat" man to strike fear into the criminal heart of his "cowardly and superstitious" adversaries.

The color scheme of the Batman character has changed several times, and various artists have used different shades according to their own tastes and the context of the time when they made Batman films and animation cartoons. For example, when the first Batman comic books were introduced to the public, Batman's color scheme was shaded with blue, giving the illusion of three-dimensionality. Some artists depicted the Batman costume in the combination of black and gray or blue and gray colors. In the 1990s, artists depicted Batman in all-black costume incorporating an advanced armory, which was in line with the public tastes at the time. In the latest Christopher Nolan films, Batman's costume is all-black with light shades, but Nolan and his costume designers largely focused on turning the Batman costume into a light-weight, agile outfit, combining "armor, communications and combat technologies into one state-of-the-art crime-fighting system."

The foundation of Batman's Batsuit is a tight-fitting bodysuit, which makes him similar to many other superheroes. Contrasting briefs worn over a united suit characterized Batman in the early depictions, making Batman's garb similar to that of early 20th-century circuit performers. But in modern depictions, the briefs are tightly integrated into Batman's main costume. Modern depictions also change the construction of the bodysuit from being simple fabric into advanced materials, making the bodysuit resistant to tearing and in some cases bullet-proof. The suit is also resistant to mild fire and can insulate electricity. While some of Batman's armors and gadgets are used separately, he has incorporated some of them into his Batsuit, and thus making his basic suit more protective and powerful. In the latest franchise, the Dark Knight, at the insistence of Christopher Nolan, the costume designers made the Batsuit more agile and lightweight, at the expense, however, of its protective design. Thus, in the Dark Knight, Batman's bodysuit is not totally bullet-proof, makes Batman more vulnerable to knife attacks, but at the same time makes him quicker and more agile.

Batman's cape likewise has gone through various transformations as the character of Batman developed in the last several decades. The design and the color depended on how various artists depicted it at different times. Originally, as conceived by Bob Kane, the cape had a wing-like structure, being inspired by the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci. While some artists later drew the cape with protrusions on the shoulders, in an attempt to represent the "thumb" part of a bat's wing, others depicted it as bullet-proof and/or fire resistant. In some other depictions, the cape is made of simple fabric and thus is constantly replaced by Batman as it sustains damage and can be torn easily. In Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, the cape is used as hang glider, which allows Batman to glide over the rooftops in the streets of Gotham. Nolan personally participated in designing the cape, in this film topped by a cowl, and said that he wanted to have a "flowing cloak . . . that blows and flows as in so many great graphic novels."

The cowl, designed to be thin enough to allow motion, is also thick enough to avoid wrinkling when Christian Bale, the actor playing the character of Batman, turns his head in the Batsuit.

If there is an element of the Batsuit which has been repeatedly updated, then it is the armor -- which reflects the gradual advancement in technology. The Batsuit originally did not have any armor since Batman was not designed to be a superman who could shrug bullet hits off. The changing tastes of the American public as well as those of artists -- often influenced by advances in technology -- obviously began to be reflected in the structure of Batsuit's armor in later depictions. Interestingly, Batman almost always evades bullets shot at him although in modern depictions his armor and sometimes his cape are bullet-proof. In addition to its protective structure, the batsuit has a magnetic signature harness, which allows Batman to attract his body to huge metal objects such as a plane or a train wagon.

Batman's cowl serves several purposes. The cowl does not simply help conceal Bruce Wayne under a mask, but it uses from time to time its various defense mechanisms; for example, by using electric shock to thwart unauthorized attempts to remove it. It is interesting how Christopher Nolan incorporated new features to the cowl, trying to reflect the latest advances in technology. In Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne realizes that his actions may be easily monitored and stir suspicion. Therefore, he orders materials in very large quantities (10,000 each) through a shady network of undetectable shell companies. Realizing that today's criminals can see things through solid objects, Batman lines the cowl with lead to make it even more difficult to detect his identity. In the Dark Knight, the cowl serves as a night- and ultraviolet vision device, and uses sonar concept, which could be utilized as echolocation to triangulate objects via cell phones.

The cowl also serves as a communications device, its ears carrying an antenna on the left side, allowing Batman to keep in touch with his allies.

Other parts of Batman's suit such as boots and belts also serve various purposes, adding to Batman's collection of armory and weaponry, but his most powerful transportation armor is the Batmobile. In the latest two franchises, the Batmobile is an impressively powerful vehicle, able to withstand significant levels of fire power, can have a speed of over 100 miles per hour, and go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in five seconds. Despite its size and power, the Batmobile can make sharp turns at city corners, its design includes a 5.7 liter Chevy V8 engine, front tires by Hoosier, rear 4x4 mud tires by Interco (called Super Swampers) as well as the suspension system of Baja racing tricks. The front wheels were powerful enough to sustain the shock of a 30-foot fall. It took several million dollars and more than nine months to build and design the Batmobile.

Batman's outfit and his armory fit in well with the character of Bruce Wayne. The Dark color of his outfit has several underlying themes. "Dark' designates both a highly marketable aesthetic style and an ethical, or rather anti-ethical, stance," Mark Fisher writes, "a kind of designer nihilism whose chief theoretical proposition is the denial of the possibility of the Good."

However, it is within this darkness where Batman fights against crime, tries to impose justice, and overcomes fear. One the one hand, darkness is everywhere, inside us, around us, in human nature; darkness is what instills fear among us and our adversaries. And yet Batman's outfit is in all dark, his armory, his batmobile, the gadgets he uses, his cowl and cape all represent darkness, while at the same time… READ MORE

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Quoted Instructions for "Batman Outfit Exploring the Batman Character" Assignment:

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I*****'m posting my draft paper and teachr*****'s comment

Where to begin?While you some good raw research here, this is not a very coherent proposal. It reads more like an amalgam of different WebPages on the batman universe (and raises plagiarism concerns because of that). Here is what I recommend

1. Refine your topic- focused on recommend: the movies or may be the batman character (and his Costume) in two of the movies (dark night, batman begins)

2. Research the film(s), the director(s), the costume designer (s) _ what was their vision

3. Use the film costume, contrast of two different *****batman*****s***** to explore how your theme- the failure of futuristic technology to resolve basic human struggles ***** is expressed through dress.

Here is my draft

After World War I and II, the public was weary and grew impatient over the violence, which killed indiscriminately thousands of innocent people. It was apparent that public was drawn to the idea of super heroes, who were portrayed as an upright and strong individual who is always on public side. Super-heroic movies brought them the fantasy of peaceful world and psychological comfort that they are protected from the enemy. They were the icons of anti-violence which public wished it in their ideal world.

Batman is the character who does not have natural super power or special skill like supermen has. In daily life, Batman is an American billionaire playboy, industrialist, and philanthropist. Also, he is socially reputable individual who can afford to have futuristic gadgets. When he was young his parents were murdered in front of his eyes, and he swore revenge on crime. Batman trains himself both physically and intellectually. Because he is a billionaire he could have high technology. In the Batman movie, Batman has lots of new spectacular high technology that represent the futurism. For example his multifunction car, and bulletproof vest are representation of heroic futurism. In this paper, I will show some examples of heroic futurism based on Batman and other heroic outfits.

Batman*****s Weapon

Batman*****s main offensive weapons are all customized. His major weapons are Batarangs and his cape which has weighted tips. Batarangs have razor sharp edges for cutting and scaling shear surfaces and blunt edges for use as a blugeoning weapon generally Batman uses his Batarangs as throwing weapons to knock out his opponents. Batman often uses his Batarangs when he is cornered at the dead end road, and when he has to run away from his enemies.

Batman*****s Intelligence and Personality

Batman has no powers, but he has a strong will and has made himself into the epitome of human perfection. He has mastered numerous fighting styles such as Akido, jut-nee-do and boxing and melded them into a style that is all his own. In the movie, Lady Shiva is the only person who may have more martial arts knowledge than Batman. Batman learned boxing from former Golden Age hero and heavy weight champion Ted Grant A.K.A. Wildcat and other skills from men who were similarly experts in their fields.

Batman is a master detective, probably one of the best in the world. He has a high IQ score which isover 200. He studied in the key fields of interest such as ballistics, criminal psychology, chemistry, toxicology and various forensic sciences. Batman is fluent in half a dozen languages as well. Batman is nearly undefeatable by all but the most powerful of metahumans and has been known to take down foes with powers in the Superman range, such as the pale martians who possessed near invulnerability, heat, and x-ray vision, super hearing, invisibility, shape changing powers, super speed, super strength and telepathy. In a matter of hours Batman defeated four of those who had previously incapacitated the rest of the Justice League. Batman always has a plan and uses every resource available to him.

Despite of all the strength and knowledge, Batman is just a man and can make mistakes, such as when he ran himself ragged and set himself up as easy prey for Bane. Batman will always choose saving a life over apprehending a criminal and so a cunning foe will set up such a situation to allow himself to escape. Even though Batman is exceptionally knowledgeable person in numerous fields of studies, he does not function well without Alfreds help. His character is portrayed as an incomplete individual, which is probably unchanged fact in futuristic society as well. No matter how much the technology improves our life style, we will always other individuals to assist.

(http://agentofthebat.tripod.com/batpro.html)

Batman*****s Outfit

Batman*****s most notable feature is his outfit, which is integrated with special equipments mentioned in previous section. His outfit has a scallop-hem cape, a cowl covering most of the face featuring a pair of bat like ears, and a stylized bat emblem on the chest, and the ever-present utility belt with a hidden boomerang. The Cowl is equipped with several magnification lenses as well as Starlight and infra red lenses as well as the headset for secure communications

Batman*****'s old costume is derived from his Troika costume which was all black with leg fins on his boots. However, the new version of his cloth has electrically resistant fabric, and it is fire resistant and bullet proof. The color scheme is black and grey, and no longer has leg fins.

Batman*****'s utility belt is full of high-tech devices. It contains Batarangs, decel jump lines, grapnels, a short term rebreather, forensic tools, gas and smoke capsules, stun grenades, flash capsules, as well as a one-time high voltage electric shock device.

The older version of outfit is made with leather, which represents modern and richness of Batman. Originally Leather is a durable and flexible material. Leather is a very practical material. Because leather is a natural material and has been preserved in the tanning process, it requires very little maintenance to keep it supple, clean and comfortable. It has longevity with continuous use; leather upholstery outlasts fabric at least 4 times longer.

However there are other properties of leather, which make inappropriate choice of material for Batman. Leather tends to stretch over frequent use and over time. If batman wears his clothe for a couple of years, the size and fitting will change. Other property of leather is its inability to regulate temperature. Leather does not breathe and ventilate so it does not to adjust to the environment. For someone like Batman who needs lots of movement, material that can regulate the temperature and insulate his body from the outside weather would be desirable. On that note, synthetic material such as Spiderman*****s polymer based spandex fabric would be a better choice.

Batmobile

Bat-mobile is a customized vehicle with advanced technology and futuristic gadgets such as emergency Bat-turn lever, Bat-ray, Bat-computer and etc. Bat-mobile is the most important weapon, which plays important role in Batman*****s difficult tasks. Each new series of the Batman, Bat-mobile is equipped with a new high technology. Despite of futuristic gadget and upgraded technology and function, the appearance of the vehicle has been depicted much literal and suggestive. It is painted with dark black and usually features large tailfins that suggest a bat*****'s wings. With a long body shape, and tailfins, one brings to mind an image of a classical car rather than futuristic images. Last version of Bat-Mobile from the Dark Knight, is an improvement that attempts to stay away from bat-like appearance. Even though it is successful in achieving a different interpretation, it rather resembles a combat vehicle in a war zone. Bat-mobile could be more imaginative with its use of material, appearance and concept like the Gina Light Visionary Model by BMW, which features flexible fabric skin over a metal frame (Image 1).

Architectural Setting, Batcave

Beside of the Batmobile, the Bat cave is equipped with the best crime lab money could buy, When he ready to move Bat mobile go through the bat cave, it is a equipment which tries to mimic the characteristics of Bats. It isn*****t high technology equipment; however, it is will show bat mans character. When bat man pass the cave a bank of super computers that hold a massive criminal database and is accessible from the new Bat mobile. It will be batter if bat cave is made with the most advanced computer technology.

Despite of all the other far-fetched technology in the movie, the movie does not always use a high-end technology. The most recent Batman movie, the Dark Knight features an old school technology. Early in the movie Bruce Wayne and Alfred are planning an operation where Batman employs a device called Skyhook in order to board a flying plane from the ground. Skyhook is a 40 year-old technology, which is still in use in military operation. Basically it is a giant balloon hanging in the sky where a plane flies into the cable and catches the V shaped fork then lifts up the person on the ground. Then, plane*****s crew retrieves the person using a winch. (http://ryangreenberg.com/archives/2008/07/batman-skyhook.php)

Other Characters from the Movie

Catwoman

Cat woman is another character that appears in Batman movies. She has a love-hate relationship with Bruce Wayne. Many modern *****s have also interpreted her activities and costumed identity as a response to a history of abuse. She wore a dress with a hood that came with ears. A cat suit has attached boots and either a domino or glasses-mask. Ed Brubaker, the ***** behind the 2001 revamp of the character, has stated that Selina*****'s current costume was inspired by Emma Peel*****s iconic leather cat suit in the Avengers television series. If Batman*****s outfit represented an image of wealth, the latest Catwoman*****s leather outfit represents a female villain. Catwoman*****s outfit shows clear gender, which is more appealing to male audiences. Even though it is an improved image from green outfit of 1960s Catwoman, it is not a practical choice for representation of future technology.

Catwoman also has high-tech gadgets, such as domino-shaped infrared goggles on her cowl and retractable claw on her gloves and boots. However, Catwoman*****'s favored weapon is a whip, which is not a high tech weapon. The outfit is focused to depict female villain image, rather than to represent futuristic female image.

http://theavengÃŸÃŸers.tv/forever/peel1-21a.htm

Robin

Robin is a young and psychologically struggling hero. Learning to kill at a young age, Robin*****s murderous behavior created a troubled relationship with his father, whom he vowed never to take a life. In the movie, he shows internal struggle to find who he is and what justice is. Even though Robin leaves his mentor Batman, he still continues to work together with and learn from Batman. Most futuristic heroes often depicted as having a psychological struggle, because they often try to find out the meaning of their own super power. Like the girl in the movie The fifth Elements, Robin also struggles to find his identity and his place and role in society. Robin*****s outfit is green and red, with similar features as Batman*****s outfit. The choice of different color scheme from Batman*****s outfit intends to represents his young age. Also, his immaturely developed outfit represents his struggle and the path to look for his identity.

(http://mybox.happycampus.com/steban/2212231)

Joker

Batman*****'s *****"most implacable foe*****" is the joker, a psychopathic, clown-like criminal who, as a *****"personification of the irrational*****", represents *****"everything Batman is not. His smiling face makeup is the opposite representation of what he is to society. While his makeup depicts the face of clown, which is not a scientific professional, the Joker is actually highly intelligent and skilled in the fields of chemistry and engineering, as well an expert with explosives.

The Joker*****'s physical appearance is a polar opposite of that of Batman. Batman uses dark colors such as gray and black to intimidate criminals, while The Joker relies on bright colors, such as purple, green, and sometimes orange to do his bidding. The Joker also has a melted cliche clown face, the origins of which differ depending on the continuity he is used in. Some incarnations of The Joker see him wearing actual make up (such as in the film The Dark Knight), while others show his skin actually having been bleached (as in Batman 1989). He also traditionally has green hair and red lips, to complete the look of the psycho clown.

The Joker commits crimes with comedic weapons such as a deck of bladed playing cards, an acid-squirting flower, cyanide-stuffed pies, exploding cigars filled with nitroglycerin, harpoon guns that utilize razor-sharp BANG!-flags, and a lethally electric joy buzzer. His most prominent weapon is his Joker venom, a deadly poison that infects his victims with a ghoulish grin as they die while laughing uncontrollably.

The movie, Batman is distinguished because of the fact that every character in the movie is actually a mortal instead of an alien with super power. Batman is one of few super heroes who do not rely on their natural super power or special skill. Batman fights against his enemies with his high end gadgets such as his multifunction car, multifunction belts, and bulletproof vest. Even though Batman is super hero movie, which depicts the futuristic ideas and settings, it also describes internal struggles of each character.

This paper also pointed out a few points that can be improved in different character in order to represent futuristic settings better. As much as the movie was successful in creating a iconic super hero and plotting believable internal struggles, there is few other points to be improved. In conclusion, it is worth to point out that high tech gadget may improve our daily life, but the basic human struggles cannot be resolved by the future technology.

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