Movie Monday : Batman Returns, Parenting ENDS

 Who knew the Dark Knight would be used as a weapon against responsible parenting and to strip filmmaker Tim Burton of his grasp on the franchise which made his career...

After the incredible success of Batman in 1989, it was easy to see why Tim Burton would be handed the reigns for a sequel, but it would be this sequel that studio execs would use to take the franchise from him and stop his third installment.

Not only was this going on, but the film was also used by certain special interest groups to attack the film industry and fast food franchises for marketing to children, to the point an entire episode of a talk show was done about it.

Parents were "angry" that the 2nd Batman film was so dark and thought that it scared their children, to the point that these obviously coached kids were drug out and used as props on Jenny Jones talk show, an entire episode attacking Batman.  They were also attacking McDonalds and toy companies for making toys from this film to market to children.

Instead of telling their children "NO, that's too mature for you." they attacked everything else, they didn't want to be parents anymore, they wanted to lay the blame elsewhere, rather than say "no" to their whining brats, and it's only gotten worse from there.  Since then, good parenting is considered a crime by some and poor parenting is rewarded & glorified.

At the same time the studio was angry with Burton's vision because they didn't sell enough toys from the second film, they thought it was too dark and too far from the campy, colorful comic book version they wanted ... so they could sell toys.

Burton has always been one of my favorite filmmakers because he doesn't give a crap about selling toys, just making the best film he can from his own vision of the story and characters and I thought his vision for Batman was outstanding and awesome.  Very gothic, tragic, moody, as the best stories from the comics have been for the Bat, it's what makes The Bat unique to the other heroes who are bright and positive (yet now, we've seen how miserable a fail it is when you try to make the other heroes dark like the Bat, it does not work).

So, this film was taking a strong attack from two different sources, neither should have ever happened, they should have let Burton have that 3rd film.  If they wanted toys about Batman, concentrate more on, the Animated Series.  

Burton had a vision of Billy Dee Williams as Two-Face, of Robin Williams as The Riddler, of Patrick Stewart as the dark and VERY cold, Mr Freeze, it would have been epic, but now we just have to sit and wonder how good it could have been.

Another example of how outsiders can destroy an industry they know nothing about, because the only vision they have is their own greed for money and power, rather than what is best for that industry. 

Seeing REALITY

 When it comes to history and/or modern events, there are some basic rules you NEED to remember when you read ANY book, watch ANY documentary or go over ANY webpage (yes, including mine)...

1.  The winners of wars write the history books.
Nice and simple.  When there is a war, the "winners" of that war are the ones who start writing the history books, keep the dates of when those books are published in mind when studying.

2.  Those same "winners" go back and rewrite the old history books.
Again, nice and simple.  They want to rewrite the history to make themselves look "right" and the "losers" to look "wrong", no matter how off that is from reality or truth.

I could use either or both of these rules to go into a recent an action as, The War Between The States (and yes that is the proper name, NOT "the American civil war", it wasn't one) and point out the numerous LIES that still exist from both of these rules.

3.  Words MATTER
Like in the description in the last paragraph, know what words mean, not just today but yesterday, last year, 10 years ago, 100 years ago, IT MATTERS.  It's like the term "civil war", the meaning is when two waring factions wish to over throw the other and occupy/control the whole of the land they are waring over.  In this, the War Between the States was NOT a "civil war", the South only wanted independence from the North, not to overthrow or control that land, although the North did want to overthrow and occupy the South.  On this, remember, it takes two to tango.  Words matter!

4.  "Experts" built the Edsel 
Today, more than ever, the term "expert" is bandied about like a kickball on a playground, it's lost its credibility completely and no longer really means anything.  This is another reason, WORDS MATTER, because they must be used properly and with credibility or they have none at all.  In 2020 we saw the term "expert" be destroyed completely, thank you corrupt media.  The reality is, most "experts" today are that ONLY by title, given to them or bought for them, not because they earned it.  If you're willing to grow, learn and research, you'll know who the experts are and are not.

5.  Opinion is NOT fact
Learn to tell the difference, learn to read properly, see what is actually being said, not just what you want to or what you've been told to, another spot when, words matter.  Unless someone uses the word "all" don't assume that is what they mean.  Pay attention to the words in a statement and you can tell if it's opinion or fact, or a bit of both twisted up.  NEVER let yourself get caught up in the "oh, we KNOW what they really meant" crowd, these are the most blind fools around and usually the worst of the propagandists.

 6. Ignore "buzz words/terms"
Start to recognize when someone is using a "buzz word", be it in history or in modern times, you'll see them lobbed in like grenades when a person runs out of intellectual ammunition, buzz words/terms are designed to destroy open dialogue, to divert discussion away from facts and substance.

7.  Journalism vs Propaganda/Sensationalism 
Journalism is simple, it's the Who, What, When, Where and Why.... sometimes the How, but that's usually part of the others.  Journalism is the reporting of FACTS, and what did we say in #5?
Propaganda is designed to sway your opinion, or right out tell you what you are supposed to "think" but that is not what you are doing when someone else does it for you.
Sensationalism is propaganda with flair (WOOOOO, no not him), it's misinformation with extra buzz words/terms to play on your emotions rather on your intellect.  This is where the term, "they made a mountain out of a mole hill" comes from... get it?

8.  Don't believe it.
In the first line of this post I tell you not to rely on this page, I want you to RESEARCH, I want you to dig, I want you to LEARN, I want you to GROW, I don't want you to take my word for anything.
The liars, propagandists, sensationalists, criminals, traitors, want you to "trust them"... "you don't have to look anywhere else, we tell you the truth", they don't want you to educate yourself, I do.... 

Remember in #4 about "experts"?  The propagandists and sensationalists want you to "just trust" their "experts" and not question them at all, if you do question them, "YOU'RE A COSPIRACY THEORIST"...oh my..... no you're not.  
FACT, the more they tell you not to question, is when you should question the most! (that includes "faith" and religion too, as well as science).

9.  Real Science isn't afraid of questions
Science advances because of questions.  Science grows because of doubts.  Science changes because someone didn't believe.  It's when they tell you not to question science is when you should do some scientific research of your own, if needed.  Religion neither science or fact, it's faith, plain and simple.  Belief doesn't make anything more true or untrue, it's a personal decision and has nothing to do with facts.  "God" didn't win the war at Gettysburg and the devil didn't chop down that cherry tree.

10.  MOST IMPORTANT .... don't be afraid to say, "I was/am wrong" when confronted by new facts/information.  Don't be afraid of change.  EMBRACE LEARNING  EMBRACE GROWTH and FIGHT FOR KNOWLEDGE 

GI Joe was correct, Knowing Is Half The Battle, what you do with it, how you use it, that's the important half, are you going to grow and be more than you were before, or are you going to deny and regress?

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, seriously, build yours the right way!