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 otherâs âgreatest enemy.â Batman dismisses him, saying that he âdoesnât do âships,ââ and he denies that the Joker means anything to him â or that anyone does.
Thatâs 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 (âBrunoâ) have shared custody of him, youâre certainly expected to laugh. Robin canât have two dads; Bruce Wayne and Batman are the same person! But thatâs exactly it: the joke is that theyâre the same person, not that theyâre both men.
In the LEGO Batman Movie, Batman struggles with his fear of forming meaningful relationships and losing the ones heâs 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 hadnât intervened. Itâs 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. Itâs difficult to describe how Batman and the Jokerâs relationship is framed; Joker calls himself Batmanâs âgreatest enemyâ and thereâs a whole thing where they âhateâ each other, but itâs hard to interpret it as actual hate when theyâre lovingly saying they hate each other in front of the setting sun.
What Iâm trying to get at, the reason Iâm writing this article, is that the movie doesnât have a homophobic punchline. Itâs 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 Batmanâs 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 oâclock in the afternoon to pump iron until his chest is âpositively sick.â He is the reason Batman has given up a life of Russian ballerinas and lady activewear models â and the implications of that are clear. And if the Joker helps him save Gotham, heâll help them save them.
Batman, and the Joker.
This #MVPride guest post was contributed by Carter Terry. Thank you!
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