Essays on Campy

Capstone / WA 3

In this project my purpose is to analyze the changes that have taken place in the film portrayals of Batman between the original Batman: The Movie feature from 1966 and the trilogy that was directed by Christopher Nolan, which ended with The Dark Knight Rises. My major question was whether or not the shift in tone from campy to dark and introspective was a sign of shifts in American culture. The subquestions included such inquiries as whether or not the movies’ success tracked with their ability to mirror the slow darkening in the cultural mood and whether the writing ...

While the films in the Batman cycle speak powerfully for themselves, the reception of the films – and the resulting commentary – go a long way toward showing the different culture in which the movies were made, and which they reflect. In 1965, when the original Batman: The Movie came out, the focus was on action and humor. A review from the time (Variety Staff) indicated that the film is “packed with action, clever sight gags, interesting complications and goes all out on bat with batmania” (Variety Staff, web). The reviewers also noticed that the “script retrieves every trick from the ...

If you look at the portrayal of superheroes in film over the past three or four decades, it is clear that the characters are becoming darker in their personal nature, their motivations and the way they act in the films. If you look at the way that Adam West acts in the Batman film from the 1960s and in the television program, it is fairly clear that the emphasis of the show is campy in nature, and while his Batman does state lessons in a paternal sort of tone, the humor of the show makes the whole thing seem ...