You would think it to be another homophobic punchline. The Joker insists that what he and Batman has is something special, that they are each otherās āgreatest enemy.ā Batman dismisses him, saying that he ādoesnāt do āships,āā and he denies that the Joker means anything to him ā or that anyone does.
Thatās how the movie starts.
You can argue that the movie plays the idea of Batman in a relationship with another man as a joke, and it can be interpreted that way. When Batman explains to Robin that he and Bruce Wayne (āBrunoā) have shared custody of him, youāre certainly expected to laugh. Robin canāt have two dads; Bruce Wayne and Batman are the same person! But thatās exactly it: the joke is that theyāre the same person, not that theyāre both men.
In the LEGO Batman Movie, Batman struggles with his fear of forming meaningful relationships and losing the ones heās close to, pushing away everyone he could be close to in the process. He refuses to work with Barbara Gordon, and he adopts Dick Grayson by accident, almost sending him back to the orphanage if Alfred hadnāt intervened. Itās not a subtle movie.
Then the Joker comes into play. When I first was watching the movie, I was fairly certain that the plotline between Batman and the Joker would be just a homophobic joke, and that the characters would comment on the idea of them being in a relationship as weird or gross. There were moments where it sure felt like it was approaching that. Itās difficult to describe how Batman and the Jokerās relationship is framed; Joker calls himself Batmanās āgreatest enemyā and thereās a whole thing where they āhateā each other, but itās hard to interpret it as actual hate when theyāre lovingly saying they hate each other in front of the setting sun.
What Iām trying to get at, the reason Iām writing this article, is that the movie doesnāt have a homophobic punchline. Itās true that my standards are low, but seeing the movie, and seeing these lighthearted jokes, seeing Robin being elated at having two dads, that meant a lot to me. It still means a lot to me. And during the climactic moment, the movie makes it clear that Batmanās feelings for the Joker, whatever those feelings may be, are not a joke, but real. The Joker, Batman says to him, is the reason he wakes up every day at four oāclock in the afternoon to pump iron untilĀ his chest is āpositively sick.ā He is the reason Batman has given up a life of Russian ballerinas and lady activewear models ā and the implications of that are clear. And if the Joker helps him save Gotham, heāll help them save them.
Batman, and the Joker.
This #MVPride guest post was contributed by Carter Terry. Thank you!
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