Batman Returns Selina Kyle In Batman Returns: A Character Study

[Stu]

Intro

Hey guys; I've always been fascinated by the character of Selina Kyle in Tim Burton's Batman Returns, not just because I feel that Michelle Pfeiffer put in an absolutely amazing, Oscar-worthy performance portraying her (so boo Academy for not at least nominating her, boo!), but also because I think that she's just an incredibly compelling, fascinating character full of a lot of conflict and depth, courtesy of screenwriter Daniel Waters, who managed to include some meaty explorations of sexism, inner duality, and feminism in her characterization, resulting in what I feel is the most three-dimensional character of any modern live-action theatrical Batman film.

And, while it may seem odd to be writing so much about someone who seems like she's just a supporting character, as far as I'm concerned, she's still easily the most fascinating figure in Returns, and if this guy's list is accurate, then you can see that she actually gets more screentime in BR than anyone else (including Batman himself), so as far as I'm concerned, she's the one who's the real star of the film. And so, in the interest of looking deeper into what makes her so interesting, I'm writing this little character study series, dissecting a bit of what made her so great in the film, and discussing the vital beats in her character arc (which will obviously entail spoilers, so consider ignoring this if you haven't seen BR yet). Anyway, enjoy!​

 

[Stu]

Part 1: Housebroken

The first time we glimpse Selina in Batman Returns, she's working diligently as the downtrodden secretary to Gotham City businessman Max Schreck, helpfully pouring coffee at a meeting her boss is holding, constantly hovering in the background in almost total silence, and disappearing almost completely into the background of the scene so much that she might as well be a piece of furniture, that is, except when she clanks her pot slightly up against Max's cup, resulting a look of visible annoyance on his face in response to her daring to make any sort of noise at all, even just accidentally. This foreshadows his reaction (and that of all the other men in the room) when, upon the meeting reaching an impasse, Selina suddenly speaks up and says that she has a "suggestion" for them, and all the men turn around to intimidatingly stare at her in the proverbial pin-drop silence, and we (and Selina herself) are suddenly acutely aware that she's the only woman in the room.

Upon this reaction, Selina tries to walk back her statement, and hesitantly stutters that it's more like just "a question", but, instead of showing Selina some common respect as a fellow human being and hearing her out, Max instead just apologizes to the other man that he hasn't properly "housebroken" Ms. Kyle yet, a bit of obvious foreshadowing, yes, but also a clear indicator that Max, as his female secretary, Max views Selina as nothing more than an animal to be trained. He then continues "but, in the plus column... she makes a helluva cup of coffee", and then takes a very smug swig of said coffee, extremely satisfied with himself that he's put Selina back in her place. All of the other man in the room are very pleased with this as well, as they all break out into a big, "dumb broad!" group-chuckle at her expense for having dared to speak up in the presence of men, and, since they're lead by a brash real-estate mogul with a New Yawky accent, this drives the film's connection to contemporary Trump-style sexism home further.

In response, Selina gives a desperate, half-hearted chuckle of her own, pretending like she's in on the joke made at her expense, and then waits in an uncomfortable silence as the men file out, before speaking her mind as she cleans up after them like she's some sort of a glorified maid. However, instead of lashing outward at them now that she's alone, she instead directs her anger inward, repeating her previous words in a mocking tone, and admonishing herself as "stupid" for trying to contribute something more substantive to a meeting than essentially serving as a waitress, as it's obvious that she's internalized the regressive, "woman should be seen (and leered at) attitude" that's rampant in Gotham City (although in an early draft of Daniel Waters' screenplay, Selina originally told Chip Schreck to "shut up" after he made a sexist comment at her, and then berated herself, which was a possible early hint at the inner personality conflict that she would develop later on).

This scene not only serves as a great foundation for Selina's character, and a starting point for the direction Selina's arc will take over the course of Returns, but also serves as a stark, illuminating contrast to the way that one of the previous female characters in the film, the "Ice Princess", was treated, who is a vapid beauty queen type whose sole function is to look pretty, take her some of her clothes off, and push a button to light the Christmas Tree in Gotham Plaza (and even then, she gets confused at one point as to whether the tree is supposed to light up before or after she pushes the button).

Admittedly, it's a big, broad (no pun intended), definition-of-stereotypical "dumb blonde" characterization on the film's part, but, given not only the inherently, extremely heightened sensibilities of Returns in the first place, but also considering the great depth and agency given to Selina (who is obviously portrayed here by an actress that happens to a natural blonde herself), as well as the film's blatant feminist themes, I can't come down too hard on Returns for this. Anyway, upon removing her sensible Winter coat and revealing her readily visible legs sticking out of her pageant-ready leotard (an incredibly impractical number to be wearing outdoors in "late December"), the Princess is greeted by a lusty, "hellooo nurse" whistle, as a smile beams from her face and she positively basks in the attention she's getting from the crowd, apparently completely unconcerned that it's a result of a pointless objectification, as she appears to be genuinely happy to encourage it, and be appreciated as basically just a pretty piece of meat.

Her character, and the way she's reacted to by the men of the film, pretty much serves as the complete mirror image of Selina and her coke bottle-thick, "look, I'm a nerd!" glasses, her hopelessly unkempt and frizzy hair, and her drabishly brown, prudishly buttoned-up, objectively unattractive business attire. Of course, none of these aspects of Selina's appearance should matter, seeing as how she's not some super model, but a secretary (although the fundamental gender-stereotyped nature of the latter occupation is a problem in and of itself), but it's clear from these two scenes that the men of Gotham only seem to "appreciate" women solely for their physical attractiveness, and if you're not willing to objectify yourself for their leering pleasure (like the way Selina has refused to), then they'll never respect you for your intellectual side, no matter how softly you step.

 

[Stu]

Part 2: The Batman

Later, still at Schreck's office, Selina is finishing cleaning up while repeating to herself a verbal to-do list of tedious, lowly tasks she needs to take care of for Max, hinting at a chronic absent-mindedness to her character, one that is immediately confirmed when a look of pure, panicked realization suddenly dawns on her face, as she remembers that she forgot to give him the notes for the speech he's supposed to be delivering right now at the tree-lighting ceremony below. Selina lets out a terrified "Oh darn", and immediately scrambles as fast as she can to deliver the notes, already in fear of the punishment she's sure she'll be receiving for this oversight, as rows of pictures of Schreck posing with various celebrities and politicians loom over her shoulder, as if to remind her just how powerful Schreck really is (and how comparably insignificant she is), pictures which include a future Mr. Freeze, and a certain disgraced ex-President whose iconic "V for victory" gesture inspires an identical pose in Schreck when he dabbles in some shady political machinations later in the film, hinting at his own corrupt nature.

Down below, Max realizes that he's forgotten the notes, and asks his total blockhead son Chip to remind him to take it out on "what's-her-name", eager to find any excuse he can to punish Selina, even for something that's his fault, and not even caring enough to remember her name this time, mere minutes after he just said it (wow dude, Mr. Burns much?). The Penguin's Red Triangle Gang then shows up and attempts to kidnap Schreck (completely ignoring the Mayor in the process, again driving home the point about how powerful Max really is), as Selina is soon caught up in the chaos that the Gang is causing, unable to defend herself, and helpless to do anything but uselessly panic, as her librarian glasses are violently knocked off, and one of the speech pages that she rushed so fast to deliver now flaps around comically, hung up in her hopelessly frizzy hair.

Selina then notices her glasses on the ground in the distance, but as she goes to try to pick them up, a nearby clown hooligan takes advantage of her distracted state of mind to take her hostage, another example of how her bookishness proves to be a liability in Gotham society. Batman soon arrives on the scene to save the day, but all Selina can do is mindlessly scream like the proverbial damsel-in-distress (much like Vicki Vale constantly did in the previous film), as the clown yells at her to "SHUT UP!", brandishing a taser and threatening to shock Selina if Batman takes one more step towards them, the sparks hissing menacingly from the end of his weapon as he speaks (of course, Batman immediately finds a way take him out in an unexpected but brutally efficient manner, further contrasting his capability as a vigilante man-of-action with Selina's fundamental helplessness, as all can she do is let out an incredibly girlish little shriek in response).

However, Selina doesn't take this abuse completely lying down, as she immediately turns to deliver a swift kick to the now-unconscious clown (who is lying down for this, coincidentally), hinting at an inner vengeful desire against the men of Gotham buried somewhere deep inside of her psyche. However, after this tiny bit of payback is delivered, Selina immediately forgets about him to turn her attention back to the caped crusader, her expression taking on the warm glow of (male) hero worship, as she awkwardly fawns "Wow... the Batman. Or, is it just Batman?". Batman, not much one for idle conversation (or human connection in general), just coldly, silently stares at Selina for a brief moment, returning none of her warmth, before abruptly turning and walking away, representing yet another rejection of Selina by a prominent Gotham man, her hand grabbing thin air as she futility reaches out to him saying "Your choice, of course!".

As the batty one continues abandoning her, Selina resumes her self-monologuing, pathetically commenting "Well, that was brief... just like all the other men in my life. What 'men'?", revealing that Selina has become accustomed to such rejections, with the "What men?" part being a very telling comment on her part, as we eventually learn that Selina does have a boyfriend at one point, although obviously one that's not very close to her. And, as Selina begins re-gathering the speech notes off of the ground (out of an apparent mindless loyalty to Max, since what good would they do him now that the ceremony's been ruined?), she turns her attention back to the only man still left in her life at the moment, the still-unconscious clown, as she tells him that he needs "therapy", before she notices the stun gun he threatened her with is still laying in his limp hand.

Intrigued, Selina puts her glasses back on to study it, representing her finding a way to weaponize her bookishness, before turning the phallic-looking device against the man who threatened her with it, taking a moment to give a little "is the coast clear?" look around her before she reaches down to give the clown a brief shock, his still-prone body convulsing in response, as Selina daintily holds her hand to her mouth to cover the amusingly startled giggle she can't help but let out, again, showing her inner desire for vengeance against all the men who ever wronged her that's aching to break free from her mundane, work-a-day existence.

 

[-JKR-]

Nothing weird about writing an essay about Selina Kyle/Catwoman in the movie, she's one of three main characters. Looking forward to reading everything as soon as I have the time.

 

[Stu]

Part 3: Honey, I'm Home

The next time we see Selina, she's walking through the front door of her apartment and excitedly yelling "Honey, I'm home!!!", before quietly (and sarcastically) continuing "Oh, I forgot... I'm not married", showing how she's tied her sense of self-worth to whether not her marital status fits society's stereotype for women (because men are defined by whether or not they have a wife, right?). Visibly limping after her long day of work (and being held hostage), Selina wearily trudges through the sad, faded girly-pink walls of her shabby, run-down apartment that trap her in a state of forced femininity, arriving at the kitchen sink just as a stray black cat jumps through an open window. Selina responds with an excited "Ms. Kitty!", musing whether the cat is back from sexual escapades that she "refuses to share" (hinting at a sexual frustration within Selina), and half-seriously interpreting a random meow as a question as to how someone can be as "pathetic" as she is, reinforcing Selina's Marianas Trench-low opinion of herself.

As Selina continues to babble away at the mute animal like the proverbial crazy cat lady that she is, she walks into her bedroom to pull her Murphy bed down from its closet, listening to the messages on her answering machine as she does so, the first of which is from her mother, who initially claims to just be calling to say hi, but who immediately shifts into nag-mode, something that Selina is apparently used to, as she preemptively rolls her eyes at the forthcoming gripe, as her mother complains about how she can't understand why Selina isn't coming home for Christmas as she continues to toil away as a lowly secretary in Gotham (lowly "assistant", Selina testily corrects).

As the next message begins playing, we hear the voice of a previously unknown off-screen boyfriend talking to Selina about a Christmas getaway they were planning, to which Selina reacts by immediately quitting her making of the bed, as she rushes back towards the machine, eagerly anticipating his answer, her face positively beaming with the first moment of actual happiness Selina's had in the film to date (and what will prove to be one of the last, as well). However, the smile immediately drops off her face when the voice continues by saying that he'll be going alone, as a "Dr. Shaw" told him that he needs to be his own person and not an "appendage", yet another male rejection in a long, sad line of them, one which Selina responds to by dismissively pushing the delete button on the machine, remarking "Some appendage!".

Selina sits down during the pause between messages, and ponders about how maybe her boyfriend wouldn't be giving her the cold winter shoulder if she had let him win the last raquetball game they played, showing how Gotham society has warped Selina's instincts into blaming herself for seeming too assertive, no matter what. As a robo-ad for an "exciting new Gotham Lady's perfume" begins playing, Selina picks the stolen taser back and begins toying with it, as if she's fantasizing about all the men in her life she might like to teach a lesson with it, a lurking aggression that comes to the forefront when the fembot voice on the machine concludes with a sexist comment about how much men will appreciate her new scent, to which she responds by angrily smashing the delete button yet again.

Finally, the last message on the machine begins to play, as we hear the deadpan tone of Selina's own voice reminding her that she forgot to bring home a file vital to Schreck's upcoming meeting with Bruce Wayne, another man who basically already rejected her, as, apparently, she's so absent-minded that she's come to anticipate herself forgetting everything, showing how, in addition to the rest of the world, Selina lets even herself down. Selina wearily buries her face in her hands before getting back up, rushing to get ready to go out into the cold winter night again, and meet a radical transformation in her character that will change everything forever.

 

[Stu]

Nothing weird about writing an essay about Selina Kyle/Catwoman in the movie, she's one of three main characters. Looking forward to reading everything as soon as I have the time.

Thanks, JKR!

 

[-JKR-]

Read it, and I'm looking forward to read the rest of your essay and commenting further once you're done!

 

[Stu]

Part 4: Working Late

We cut to the headquarters of Schreck's department store, through which Max stalks like the symbolic vampire he is amongst the coffin padding-lined walls. He silently sneaks up as close as possible to Selina as she rifles through a file cabinet, and creepily asks "Working late?" right in her ear, an obvious invasion of her personal space that he doesn't respect. A startled Selina quickly responds that she's just brushing up for his upcoming meeting with Wayne about Schrek's proposed power plant, and how she opened up the "protected files", a revelation that causes Max to exclaim "How industrious!", a remark to which Selina responds by naively smiling, taking it like a genuine compliment, so desperate she is to receive a scrap of praise from her boss that she completely fails to perceive the inherent, threatening sarcasm in his tone of voice.

Max inquires as to how she opened those files, ominously pausing as only Christopher Walken can, and Selina responds by explaining that she figured it would be the name of the deceased Chihuahua that Max has stuffed in the office (an appropriately morbid, Burton-y touch for his character). Selina continues on about how the protected files are all a bit "technical" but interesting, as to how they explain that Schreck's project will be a power plant in name only, and that, instead of generating power, it will be sucking it from Gotham, another vampiric touch, as Selina realizes in the middle of her exposition that this is something she wasn't supposed to discover, suddenly aware of the manner in which Schreck is threatingly hovering over her, all alone in the building with him, as she looks up at him out of the corner of her eye in a dawning, fearful apprehension.

Max responds by wondering who Selina might talk to about this bit of dirty laundry, to which she responds with a nervous "No one", although that doesn't reassure him, as he then stalks closer towards Selina, moving her closer and closer to the office window as he asks her "What did curiosity to the cat?" (heh, more foreshadowing). Selina responds that she's no cat, just "an assistant- secretary!" she corrects, trying to downplay her importance now that she's in Max's presence, instead of her nagging mother's. It doesn't work, however, as Max continues his menacing advance towards her, and Selina begins to genuinely, fearfully panic, desperately promising that this can stay their little secret, and then asking Max how can he be so mean "to someone so meaningless?!", the patheticness audible in her pleading.

Max goes on about how this power plant is the legacy he'll be leaving behind for his son, and how nothing can get in the way of that. Selina ignorantly says that, while Max can try to intimidate her, he can't just kill her, to which he responds "Actually... it's a lot like that". A look of pure fear dawns on Selina's face as Max begins to threatingly lean towards her, but after a tense moment, Max suddenly backs off, smiles, and goes "Huh?", as if he was just playing with her the whole time.

Selina lets out a relieved laugh, and tells him that she really frightened her for a second there, just before he suddenly whirls back around and pushes Selina screaming out through the window, her body breaking through a couple of fortunately-placed awnings on the way down, before she impacts the cold snow below, the breath forced out of her body as she lies motionless, her body now as pale as the frozen ground she lies on, in a perverse sort of snow angel pose. Max lets out a dismissive "Eh", as if to say "Gotta murder your secretary? Eh, what can you do?", confidant that he's gotten away with murder like only the rich can, but, after a moment, we hear the sound of a meow echoing in the alley, as a stray cat comes towards Selina, soon followed by many, MANY more.

The first cat, a black one (possibly "Miss Kitty", having followed Selina all the way from her apartment?), presses its lips near Selina's, as if to give her a form of feline form of CPR to rouse her from her death-like state, while the others follow soon behind it, the herd crawling and meowing all over her comatose body in a distressed manner, seemingly frantic to wake her up in a perverse display. As the camera dizzyingly spirals in on this odd resurrection and the cats continue swarming all over her, Selina's body begins to twitch in a jerky, unnatural fashion, as if performing an undead Saint Vitus's dance. And, as one of the cats begins to bloodily gnaw on Selina's fingers, her eyes, rolled up to show an unnatural white, begin a rapid, unnatural fluttering, until finally snapping wide open in an ice-cold, thousand yard stare, as if she's just woken up for the first time in her pathetic, miserable life, and indeed, something very dark has awakened within her, as we shall soon see...

 

[Stu]

Part 5: So Much Yummier

Back at Selina's apartment, we're treated to the same shot of her entering, only this time, the door is creaked open much slower this time, as Selina ominously stands completely silent for a long, creepy moment, before she abruptly drops "Ms. Kitty" on the floor, and repeats the same "Honey, I'm home" refrain to herself as before, only this time, she says it in a incredibly eerie, forlorn whisper, her delivery of the "joke" now as utterly drained of its life as Selina has apparently been, as, when she finally flicks the light switch back on, it suddenly, shockingly reveals the hideous bloodstain she sustained from the fall still lying on her forehead, as well as her skin still retaining its deathly pale tone, like that of a walking corpse.

Not even noticing that she's left the door wide open, Selina then slowly trudges inside in a mindless zombie-walk, carelessly dropping her coat and keys on the floor, knocking a lamp over as she walks by it, and spilling a large amount of milk on the floor as she pours it for Ms. Kitty, before taking a big, long swill straight out of the carton herself as the drink runs sloppily down her face, her icy blue, deadened eyes staring straight ahead for a thousand yards the entire time; even after the trauma she just survived, Selina is trying to cope by going back through her normal, daily routine on a sort of auto-pilot, albeit a severely damaged one, completely failing to notice the messes that she's making, as she is no longer the endless chatterbox she once was, but a shambling shell of a human being, and the tense, eerie swellings of the orchestral strings on the score underline Selina's mental fragility all throughout the scene.

Walking back to her answering machine, Selina presses "Play", and is immediately greeted by not just one, but two(!) back-to-back messages from her mother obnoxiously nagging her to call back, messages which Selina has no significant reaction to, no longer having the ability to care as she just keeps chugging the milk, perhaps trying to awaken the feline instinct within her, which gets awakened anyway when the same soulless robovoice from before comes back on to make sure that Selina's tried Gotham Lady Perfume, with the promise that "One whiff of this at the office, and your boss will be asking you to stay after work, for a candlelit staff meeting for two!".

Obviously, this is not only a grotesque selling technique, but also one that triggers Selina by reminding her of the recent trauma she suffered at the hands of her own boss, as she finally breaks from her zombie-like stupor to express emotion again, and a look of sheer, emotional pain and horror begins to break upon her face. The final coup-de-grace comes when the robovoice mentions that the perfume is only available at "Schreck's Department Store", as the mention of Max's last name causes an already tense-as-a-rubber-band Selina to finally snap, as a blood-curdling shriek ERUPTS out of her, she hurls the carton at the machine, and grabs it and violently smashes it full-force down on the table, as Selina's civilized facade has finally cracked for good, and she begins... the transformation.

Immediately going to the pile of childish stuffed animals lying in her living room, Selina grabs these symbols of the arrested girlishness that society has forced upon her, and tries to force them all down her garbage disposal, grabbing a butcher knife and frantically stabbing them down the drain as she does so, as more cats begin to pop their heads through the open kitchen window like a perverse sort of audience to Selina's mental meltdown, as she finally turns the disposal on and sends fluff grotesquely flying everywhere, her mouth spread wide in a maniacal, almost Joker-ish grin as she does so.

Grabbing a frying pan, Selina begins randomly smashing the walls in a blind fury before hurling it directly into a mirror, a representation of the ongoing self-destruction of the "old", demure Selina, as she rifles through a pile of household supplies, haphazardly throwing miscellaneous objects around before finding a can of spray paint, and creating a long, ugly black streak across her formerly girlish-as-can-be pink walls, before slamming open a closet, and spraying a sweater inside it black, before tearing the article down (the sweater is pink, of course, but it also has an image of kittens upon it, ironically enough). Selina then furiously paws through a rack of her clothing before grabbing an uncharacteristically sinister-looking vinyl jacket, possibly a hint at a dark side that Selina has kept hidden until now, as she moves into her bedroom and casually smashes two of the letters on the neon "Hello There" sign on her wall as she walks by.

We're then treated to a disorienting close-up of an odd-looking pink bedroom just before a sudden rush of air also paints it black, as the camera pulls back to reveal that it's really just a dollhouse that Selina is in the process of vandalizing, before she loses patience with the indirect approach and just starts smashing it with the spraycan herself, finally pushing the house off of its table entirely and dumping the contents of a sewing kit in its place. As the silent Greek Chorus of strays continue to watch this transformation in rapt fascination, Selina places the vinyl jacket upon the table, silently and obsessively beginning the process of altering it for her own purposes, as she utilizes scissors, needle & thread, a sewing machine, and other tools of this stereotypically "feminine" activity to weaponize it for her own personal liberation as a woman, the corners of her mouth curdling upward in a twisted little smirk as she does so, a genuinely frightening sight to behold, and one of the first genuine signs of joy that Selina's expressed the entire film.

After a while, we transition to a outer shot of Selina's apartment (appearing, oddly, a bit similar to the close-up of the dollhouse earlier), as the strays gather outside upon a ledge, and the light from the neon sign still casts its girly pink glow, except the damaged sign now displays the message "Hell Here", an apt description of the scene we just witnessed if I've ever heard one. Soon, a figure clad completely in black from head-to-toe creeps in front of the window, lasciviously bending over and stretching, before we hear a familiar but undeniably transformed voice say "I don't know about you Ms. Kittty, but I feel... so much yummier" in an ultra-low, sultry purr, and, even though we never see this mysterious figure up close, just the distant sight of her silhouette alone brims with a frightening, newfound danger, and the ominous omen of a woman forever changed.