“Batgirl is unparalyzed. Apparently by some weird surgical procedure done in South America or something (South America being the home of revolutions in surgical science). I’m fine with that. I can live with that. Let’s face it, there was a period in the 90’s when it seemed like every lineup of buddies in a comic or cartoon included a guy in a wheelchair, right? Which was alright, but they seemed to always be making the point that people in wheelchairs could do everything everyone else could do. Which I hated. Because it’s just not true. I’m not trying to be an ass, and I think people in wheelchairs probably have a very good chance to make great, fulfilling lives for themselves. But to pretend that being in a wheelchair doesn’t change a lot about a person seems pretty stupid. One thing someone in a wheelchair can’t do is be Batman. Unless the 90’s television show Mantis is to be believed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.A.N.T.I.S.).
I think maybe we’re past the point of pretending that everyone is the same, and maybe moving onto something else where we say people are different but of equal baseline value. So thumbs-up there.
On to more related topics.
A friend once told me she doesn’t like when female superheroes are just lady versions of existing male superheroes. Why have Spider-Woman instead of just something new? Why can’t a lady become an established thing of her own instead of being the girl version of something else?
Batgirl, to me, will always be a sort of lesser version of Batman. Less interesting. Less exciting. Less dangerous. And I don’t think it’s because she’s female. Not at all. I honestly think it’s because instead of taking the time to come up with something new, they made a girl Batman.
Also, in this slim volume there were two incidents where Batgirl pointed out a little guilt for eating muffins. I mean, if you’re beating the holy bejeezus out of people in alleys all night, I’m sure the extra carbs will do you very little harm, lady.
I guess that’s my thing, my stitch with this sort of thing. Batman doesn’t give a hot damn about carbs. Not because he’s a man, though. Because he’s Batman and driven by a desire to stop crime in all its forms and ultimately avenge the death of his parents, a quest that he will sadly never complete. So he worries about the Joker breaking out, or someone blowing up the Batmobile, or the identity of a new billionaire who seems to have sinister motives. Not having a second muffin.
I don’t think Batgirl caring about carbs is about her being a woman, either. I mean, yes, it’s a quick signifier of what we think of as femininity in a very easy sense. “Carbs, am I right, ladies?” But to me, it’s a problem because it expresses a lot more than that. To me, it expresses that this character seems to have very little to worry about, very little to do, and not much excitement. Which makes for a great, happy person, and kind of a boring comic book.”