So some of you may have seen this picture floating around Facebook.
True enough. 50 Shades is pure rubbish. Ah, some say, but what about Batman? Women rarely fetishize Batman, and he's a billionaire!
Here's why that in no way negates the Facebook post's argument:
1. 50 Shades explicitly combines money and BDSM sex
It's the entire point of the thing to combine riches and perversion into one novel/film. Batman stories have human interest themes that go far beyond mere sex, but are told in the form of a superhero comic in which every character is a personification of some concept or value, done up in the style of a Greek tragedy but made so lesser minds can still comprehend its ideas.
While Bat-fics do occassionally feature weird sexual themes, those themes are not the entire point of Bat-fics in general. Therefore, the association of themes is not as forced nor automatic.
2. Grey panders to Ana's weakness and inadequacy to get what he wants.
As much as that involves strangling her with ties and tying her with ropes and handcuffs, there are no mutated crocodile-men and riddle-cracking supercriminals running about to confuse the female viewer who's just in it for the p*rn . 1990s Catwoman in black leather only appealed to a handful of men and lesbians.
3. In 50 Shades, the billionaire is the sadist.
Shallow women have the promise of money in exchange for degradation.
In Batman-related works, the sadist is a clown - that the billionaire repeatedly tosses in jail, and is appealing only to an already-unbalanced blonde flunk-out at psychology.
That Anastasia Steele is now enjoying more popularity than Harley Quinn is a disgrace! At least Quinn is somewhat competent at what she does, even if what she does is cartoonishly evil.
As for Batman himself? That he gets so many girlfriends in the first place makes you question the writers' views on women. Is it really just about the money? Yeah, readers know what he does that Gotham residents can't ever seem to put two and two together on, but what else about him makes him the slightest bit interesting to women? Only women may be able to answer that.
Perhaps the only woman that sees anything in him besides money is Talia al Ghul. Or maybe Andrea Beaumont. And we all know how those two turned out. And Vicki Vale was almost totally forgotten until Tim Burton brought her back.
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