Avoid the following combinations: Deodorants with Baby Powder, Hairspray and Lipstick

[Sturm316]

Is it just me, or does that "list" seem pretty underwhelming? Batman does a ton of analysis, he gives Vicki a full folder to take to the press...and the end result is "Avoid the following combinations: Deodorants with Baby Powder, Hairspray and Lipstick"?

 

[Paste Pot Pete]

What do you mean by underwhelming?

 

[Jokeneser]

It does seem too simple and not really ingeniously thought up...

If that is what you're getting at.

 

[DocLathropBrown]

In the novelization, it's noted that McElroy (the newscaster) lists a ton of combinations, including some that the Joker himself hadn't thought of.

 

[Sturm316]

It does seem too simple and not really ingeniously thought up...

If that is what you're getting at.

Yes, that's what I meant. It just seems silly to me that everyone's in a panic, Dent "needs all the help he can get", models and newscasters are dying, and the solution is to not use deodorants with baby powder, hairspray and lipstick.

I love Batman 89 and Returns but this scene coming up today in the screenplays thread reminded me of how simple the solution turned out to be. Does the entire city really need to have a "forced fast" due to using deodorant with baby powder? t:

I have the novelization and I'll need to re-read it to see what the other combinations were.

 

[DocLathropBrown]

Yes, that's what I meant. It just seems silly to me that everyone's in a panic, Dent "needs all the help he can get", models and newscasters are dying, and the solution is to not use deodorants with baby powder, hairspray and lipstick.

Because the combinations caused death by Smilex. I'd be panicked about that. The panic is obviously gone now that people know what chemicals together cause death.

I have the novelization and I'll need to re-read it to see what the other combinations were.

The novelization doesn't list what they are, but it notes that the newscaster recites a long list of them.

 

[Sturm316]

Because the combinations caused death by Smilex. I'd be panicked about that. The panic is obviously gone now that people know what chemicals together cause death.

Right, and I'm not saying there wouldn't be panic. I'm just saying that for as lethal and wide-spread and panic-inducing as the Joker's plan is, I would think the solution would be more elaborate than to simply not use deodorant with baby powder, hair spray, and lipstick (or "Odor-eaters" in the novelization.) Though I do like what the novelization follows-up that quote with as it offers a more detailed explanation: "He went down a list, citing every tried and true combination the Joker had devised, and even a couple he hadn't thought of."

 

[El Payaso]

Is it just me, or does that "list" seem pretty underwhelming? Batman does a ton of analysis, he gives Vicki a full folder to take to the press...and the end result is "Avoid the following combinations: Deodorants with Baby Powder, Hairspray and Lipstick"?

The significance and scope of an investigation I think is weighed up by the relevance of the results, not necessarily the extension of them. Should we feel Einstein's work was underwhelming just ebcause the results were: E=mc2 ?

Sure, it's baby powder, hairspray and lipstick but how much research you must follow in order to insulate those three elements from many others?

Of course, it doesn't sound too menancing. But that's AFTER we know what the elements are. When no one knew which 3 elements were to be avoided, everyone was in panic.

 

[The Joker]

I liked it. It reminded me of his Joker toxin in Steve Englehart's laughing fish story. It's harmless on it's own, but when combined with another poison it becomes lethal.

 

[CFE]

It's also scary BECAUSE it's so simple. Those items are so commonplace that everyone would have them and, thusly, everyone was in danger. It's like poisoning the water supply. Something that we take for granted becoming a silent killer and we don't even know it.

CFE

 

[Sturm316]

I guess I'm not being very clear. I'm not dismissing or even commenting on the fact that it wouldn't be scary that common, household items would be so lethal when used in combination with each other. The point I'm trying to make is that the list (as presented in the movie) is so short and underwhelming. Only four things has caused so much panic? I like better how it was presented in the novelization as a much longer list of items instead of just deodorants, baby powder, hairspray and lipstick.

But some good points have been made here and I thank everyone for their input. t: