On Sunday, the United States began broadcasting the Batwomen series about the adventures of follower Bruce Wayne, the bat woman Katie Kane.
According to the plot of the series, Batman has been outside of Gotham for three years now. During his absence, responsibility for maintaining order in the city is assumed by the security service Crow ("Crow"), led by Jacob Kane (Dugrey Scott). Crow agent Sophie Moore (Megan Tandy) will be the first target of the new villain Alice (Rachel Skarsten). Moore is wrapped in tarpaulin and taken away in an incomprehensible direction.
Jacob's daughter Katie Kane (Ruby Rose) returns to the city. She went through military training, trained for many years with survival specialists, and is now about to join the Raven. This is opposed by the girl’s father: he believes that the daughter is not ready for such work. Tends to underestimate Kane and Alice's gang. He considers criminals to be maniacs who are not able to speak out against “fur seals” (such fighters are also in the ranks of the service).
Katie begins her search for Sophie on her own. For a modified Betvuman created in accordance with modern Western trends, the abducted person is not just a Crow agent and former co-worker, but a beloved girl. According to the plot, Katie Kane is a non-traditional sexual orientation. What, in fact, the creators of the series tried to display with the help of her appearance and behavior: the main character is like a young man - she does not wear dresses, prefers a short haircut, and uses kitchen utensils only to fight off enemies.
All the serious topics raised in the series, from the problems of fathers and children to the position of representatives of sexual minorities in society, are presented with a gender message, and there are five bright female images for three men (Katie's father, assistant Bruce Wayne and the episodic defector character).
- © Shot from the series "Batumen" (2019)
Female and male images
It is not yet clear what ideas the authors of the series decided to broadcast through the main character. On the one hand, Katie Kane is a self-sufficient character, strong in spirit and body, but all the stereotypes about women of non-traditional orientation are collected in it: masculine looks and behavior, inability to find a place in society, difficulties in relationships with family.
The heroine's closest friend was cousin Bruce Wayne, who, as Batman, did not save the girl’s mother and sister. Katie escaped from a car accident. After the incident, Batwomen’s relationship with his father worsened: he simultaneously wants to protect his only daughter and pushes her away.
Alice, the main antagonist of the tape, looks like the daughter of the Joker and Harley Quinn (but only looks). She also has a share of insanity, and the appearance contains recognizable details: a whitened face, bright makeup, dyed hair. Little is known about Alice’s past, but the heroine’s weapon - a bat-board - contains an admonition from an orphanage. It says that a good attitude cannot exemplify a child’s behavior.
However, the most controversial of the central characters is Sophie Moore. Due to the irregular relationship with her, Katie was expelled from the American army, however, Sophie betrayed her lover so as not to lose her job, and over the years of the absence of the main character, she managed to get married at all. Moreover, she is Kane's favorite, which only complicates her relationship with Katie.
It is still unclear in which direction the image of Sophie will develop, but probably the creators of “Batumen” plan to make a certain statement on the issue of traditional and non-traditional relationships between men and women.
- © Shot from the series "Batumen" (2019)
Viewers also get acquainted with Kane's wife and adopted daughter - the stepmother and half-sister of the main character (they were played by Elizabeth Enweis and Nicole Kahn). If the eldest is a traditional image of the wife of the ally of an influential person, then the younger becomes a friend and assistant to Katie. Mary also prefers to act in secret from her parents - she organized her own underground hospital, where she personally takes care of patients. After their meeting with Alice, the main character falls into their ranks.
Another assistant (now - a full-fledged, side-secret “sidekick”) goes to Katie from Bruce's cousin. In search of information about Sophie, she sneaks into the Wayne Tower, where she encounters Luke Fox. Despite his resistance, Katie discovers that Bruce is Batman, and then decides to continue his work in his image. Luke agrees to help the girl.
From Batman's Passion to Gotham's Savior
Batumen appeared on the pages of graphic novels by the Detective Comics publishing house in the period commonly called the Silver Age of comics. The introduction of a female character imitating Batman was a response to attacks in the direction of comics in the mid-1950s, as expressed in Frederic Wertam’s book, The Seduction of the Innocent. It signed the hypothesis that Batman and his partner Robin had a homosexual relationship.
According to one version, Katie Kane is a rich heiress, with a rather peculiar past as a circus artist. She decides to join the camp of fighters with injustice, and then becomes Batman's lover. The issue of orientation of Robin was closed thanks to the partner Betwomen - Batgirl, under the mask of whom the niece Katie Kane - Betty was hiding.
In 1964, however, both Batumen and her cousin disappeared from the pages of the comics. Then the editor of the bat line publications was Julius Schwartz, who decided to remove unnecessary characters from the segment. Batumen returned from retirement only at the end of 1977, and was killed two years later.
Batwomen's full return to comic book chronology took place in 2006. The heroine was still a “guest” character. Her image was rethought, retaining for her only a rich legacy from the comics of the 1950s. Ironically, the character, originally created to distract the reader’s attention from Batman’s “unconventional” orientation, has now become an open homosexual. In addition, Betwomen is Jewish in the restarted comic book line. In 2009, she became the leading character in DC comics, and in 2011 she received her own series of novels.