What are you?! ... I'm Batman!

Like a lot of men in the world, not only my age but younger and older, I grew up with Batman. I didn't grow up with the campy 60's show like the older generation, or the very decent Batman Beyond like a lot of the kids have. No, I grew up with Batman; the 1989 phenomenon that changed the way people look at movies, comic books, and marketing all before it ever even flickered on the screen. Michael Keaton as Batman, Jack Nicholson as Joker, Kim Bassinger as Vicky Vale... the list goes on and on. This was my Batman. Tim Burton's direction inspired by Frank Miller's masterpieces and green lit by so many people who wanted to see Batman represented the way he should be was what I loved, what I knew, and what I grew up with.
Since then, I've realized much about the character. At twenty-one I'm still growing with the character. As I've become older and wiser I've been able to further attach myself with the character. I've realized the seriousness and the tragedy involved with Batman. I've realized, most importantly, that Batman is not supposed to be funny. It's not supposed to be family fun, it's not supposed to be quirky and camp. Batman is dark, tragic, and brooding.
As most people know, Tim Burton's Batman was a huge hit and a great film. It isn't a definitive Batman film, regardless of what anyone tells me. It was, for it's time, the most honest and true representation of Batman ever to be set on the big screen. After that, however, the series went down hill. Batman Returns was too much of a Burton film, which lead to Joel Shumacher doing Batman Forever and Batman and Robin... the two films that almost killed the one hero that could not be broken. I, like many fan boy nerds, was heartbroken.
My heartbreak, unlike the ones I've had with previous girlfriends, was not to last forever. In 2005 Batman Begins was released and made the world a better place again. As if he was truly brought back to life, Batman climbed out of the ashes to show the world he wasn't going anywhere. Christopher Nolan and David Goyer created a true masterpiece of a film that even surpasses Burton's. Christian Bale is Batman. Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, Cillian Murphy, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman all contributed to making a Batman film that up to this point can be truly considered definitive. I have seen it now five times and I'm sure it's not to be the last time I see it. I was very happy with how Batman Begins turned out and can't wait for the sequel. Now, I can continue to grow up with a hero the way he is meant to be and hope that others will see him for the way I see him.