So I am reading about this Batgirl movie that is supposed to be coming to HBO Max. And I am thinking to myself, wait, wait, wait. J. K. Simmons is going to be Commissioner Gordon? J. K. Simmons is white. Leslie Grace, who plays Barba Gordon/Batgirl is black. Barbara Gordon is Commissioners Gordon’s daughter. So how important is it that the movie have a minority female as lead while retaining an Oscar Winning supporting actor to support her? I mean, come on. And in the comics, Barba Gordon is white, just like her dad. Strange.
But there is another interesting tidbit. So Batgirl is defined by being under the tutelage of Batman. She runs around in a bat costume, but she doesn’t have any particular connection with bats like Batman does. She wears that costume because she is connected to Batman. She comes from Batman. She isn’t really Batman’s sidekick. That’s Robin’s job. She is more like someone who learns from Batman, partners with Batman, and tries to get out of Batman’s shadow, defining herself against him while carrying his torch, yet still wanting to gain his approval and acceptance, but at the same time marveling at and critiquing him for being a neurotic jacked up madman. She wears a costume of a bat, but it isn’t dark and brooding and grey and black like his. It’s colorful, based on purple and gold. Purple is the color of mixing blue and red, water and blood, purity and suffering, by the way. It’s the color of the tabernacle. And gold is the color of holiness. For those who are interested in biblical symbolism. Now in the comics Batgirl goes on many of her own adventures and does her own stuff. She is a major character with her own monthly series. However, her connection to Batman is essential to her character. There is just no other reason for her to dress up like a bat except for Batman. And in this movie I don’t see any reference to Batman. You can’t have a really essential Batgirl story, particularly an origin story, without a whole lot of Batman.
These two facts, the demanding of a minority lead when it just doesn’t make sense, and the fact that there doesn’t seem to be any Batman, give me the idea that this is just going to be some soulless adventure story that doesn’t care much to properly introduce the character or pay attention to what she is about. So just more post-Snyderverse Warner nonsense. I hope I am wrong, but I don’t have much hope.
Also, just to add enough raciness to make this post interesting, Batgirl was at times Batman’s lover. They really did have an outside the lines relationship of partner, teacher/student, friend, and psychological duo. I guess sometimes relationships like that can go into uncharted territory. And they had their sexy time here and there. Remember, Commissioner Gordon is Batman’s partner as well. His partner on the inside of the Gotham City government. The chief of police. A man of great temporal power and social respect. A man who has shot other men dead, and who puts them in prison when they do wrong. A man with an army of armed detectives at his disposal. A man on whom Batman’s career as a crime fighter depends in many ways. At the very least, Batman needed the cops to leave him alone and not hunt him as a vigilante. At best, those cops gave him what he needed to catch the bad guys. And in the face of all that, Batman was banging Commissioner Gordon’s daughter. Batman had some balls. Batgirl did too. And apparently Commissioner Gordon had some circumspection. And character. Because they were all friends.
Something tells me you’re not going to find that story on HBO Max. More important to have a minority female lead, an Oscar winning supporting actor, and some karate chopping.