what a hate for the Catwoman character !
I think some people here are totally obsessed by Michelle pfeiffer's performance. Well, as the teenage guy when the movie came out, it was also my vision of her since...
Well since someone told me to write an eventual fan film about her.
When I tried to figure out how to make a good catwoman movie, I had still the movie and the TAS version fresh in my mind.
She was a sexy cat burglar wearing a catsuit. She doesn't respect laws but she wasn't truely a villian. She had a tragic love for bruce wayne / batman, doesn't took anything seriously and conveyed a strong sadomasochistic ideas. ( having a whip, being tied up probably more on TAS than other female or supporting characters )
Yes, that was that. and that's probably the idea that you all have.
The pfeiffer version was still fresh in my mind but well, I wanted to do something else. I feeled that the character was reduced and basically decided to return to the comic. What was the point of catwoman ?
In fact, it couldn't be simply all the cliche which came from the terrible terrible movie ( which surprised me because it succeeded in being worst than I thought, remarkable exploit )
Having seen TAS and that pathethic piece of c..., I knew what I didn't want : the cheesy line like " purr-fect ", the pure SM costume ( How can a burglar / vigilante properly move in a dominatrix costume like the pfeiferr one. The sexy SM style had to be kept, but also tone down to be more practicle ) and the cat powers. Well, in fact I was sure that we could make a Catwoman true to the comic who was nothing like Michele pfeiffer.
It was hard for me to find all that I wanted, because there were so many version of her. I had to find sites and to buy the great scott beatty guide.
What I discovered was a character much more interesting that what was seen on the screen.
The modern Selina kyle was just so dark and tragic. I didn't like the Miller version ( the wh... thing wasn't exactly his brightest idea ), but I liked the brubaker / cooke version a lot.
The costume was way better, still sexy, retained still the SM tone, but had a better design for Selina nocturnal journeys.
I also discovered a character darker than I thought. She was an orphan. her family lived in the worst part of Gotham, in poverty. Her father was alcoholic and brutal, her mother comitted suicide when she was really young, letting her orphan.
I discovered that Catwoman was more than the " female empowerment ", it was all about survival. She had to learn how to survive. Where the joker, for exemple, was completely destroyed by his own tragedies, turning into the murderous and sociopathic nihilist he is now, Selina's ones make her stronger.
Her teenage years were terrible, but she never gave up. She made mistakes, the men she met ( who were mostly criminals ) were brutals, rude and ruthless with her. ( a disturbing side when, like me, you are a man ) But she allways refused to consider herself a victim.
That's why it is so important to have her powerless. She's just a normal girl. A girl from the poorest area of gotham who became a rich socialite by her own wish ( and her own theft )
Due to her young years she had problem in trusting men in general. Only one really fascinate her : Batman. The mysterious man inspired her. He was terrifying Gotham criminals. He was a model ( she decided to become catwoman inspired by his costume ) and a duel for her, who was on the opposite side of the law. When they finally met, the fan / duel relationship turned into a tragic love.
What is also interesting with her is that she has sometimes a mother like behavior, with her friend holly or her sister maggie. She can be very ptotective with them. This behavior is probably one of the reasons why she doesn't like killing.
She's a strong woman with a dark past who wears two masks : the classy, carefree and hedonistic socialite ( she suffered so much in her youth that she appreciates her current life ) and the malicious, agile ( and sometimes sexually provocative but it's more a play than anything else. She may seduce men but few are the ones that may have her in their bed, she ain't a wh... She seduces them become it gives her power on them. But sometimes, like with batman, she is caught in her own trap ) burglar dressed like a cat.
What I really love in her is that whatever she suffers, she takes the life on the bright / optimistic side.
It's my own version of what she is in the comic. ( she has had so many version )
I don't know how the character is so uninteresting or how he couldn't be brought in the nolan universe. And I thing she desserve it after her terrible movie.