I respectfully disagree. There is an ending, and a very tragic one... she may be doing something that is essentially well-intended, but a crime nonetheless. And Batman is in Gotham to stop criminals... he can't break his code right now. And if he falters, or hesitates, he will get the distrust of many citizens, even from allies like Jim Gordon. Isn't she a criminal? Then she must be stopped. But that's also what he is...
I don't think our Nolan Batman is reliant on the predetermined labels like "crime." Almost everything he does is illegal. By the end of TDK he's roped Gordon into "crime" as well, what with the having him lie about Harvey. He wouldn't take someone else down just because what they are doing is illegal. He's not going to stop her and arrest her because what she's doing is illegal, he's going to do it because she's a loose cannon who he can't trust.
By the end of TDK, Batman hasn't gained yet a good understanding of the gray areas of his work, and the true nature of criminals. "Criminals are simple" he says, not realizing the full extent of the world he's fighting. With Catwoman, he may find things he may not want to fight.
Not quite sure where I am on the "criminals are simple" subject. On one hand...they are. They all have a motivation and a method. On the other hand, you can take simple so far in one direction that it becomes something else entirely, which was the genius behind the Joker.
But, despite all these good things Catwoman brings to Bruce's development, she's still a criminal, and she must be imprisoned. She may loose control of her own rules, she may just be too judgemental of some of her targets for robberies... but no matter how grey it looks, she's still wrong. She's still a thief. And Batman knows he must stop her. Why? Because he's Batman, and that's his job. He may like her, love her, admire her, but she's still a criminal setting the wrong kind of example.
And he's setting the
right kind of example by killing cops, chaeuffers and district attourneys? We're beyond examples now. That's partially what I was getting at with my original "stakes are too high" post.
Could be. I think there are many more options. I don't remember who I was arguing with about in which way Catwoman could lose control of herself. I think it was Protoctista, and it was a good debate. Catwoman can become a undisputed villain in many many ways.
I don't want to see her as an undisputed villain, though. And I don't think you do either.
No hooker. Orphan, maybe an ill sister, maybe some bad neighborhood with some childhood friends still living there, leading bad lives in gangs. Who knows? I dislike the prostitution angle so much I've become allergic to it.
Whatever it is, I'd keep it mostly in the subtext. Don't want her coming off as whiney, and I wouldn't mess with a whole gang of flashbacks.
And what about faking a murder? Or being too good to be tested. I don't know how cautious are some of Gotham mob bosses. Remember Gambol benig fooled by the Joker "corpse" trick. There are many clever ways to get past their measures, and these new freaks are indeed creative.
Stop her from doing the same to the good guys, or doing really terrible things to the bad ones... thee may be a point where Catwoman may be so hurt that she can drop her rules and decide to kill someone. In that moment, Bats will be needed.
It's a tough trick to balance her steadfastness in her rules, her great skill at what she does, and her moral position.
I'm starting to really see her as a fundamentally lost person. Lost in a quest of vengeance, perhaps, or some other type of crusade...or maybe just lost in her ability to steal stuff. That could be addicting.
My problem is that I don't think she would need to kill people to get what she wants. Murder is not in her list. A some point, maybe as a vendetta; maybe someone hits her where it hurts and she wants payback... but normally, my ideal Catwoman wouldn't kill. It wouldn't make sense to her... due to her skills, she wouldn't even have to. She wouldn't even have to fight... as long as keeps avoiding her enemies and having great skills escapin Bats, her fighting abilities could be really minimal.
I'm pretty undecided on the fighting angle.
Catwoman's portrayal is something Melkay and I agree on. She needs to operate outside the law, but not just for herlself. She very much needs to come from nothing, and been involved in something criminal and be a sort of female Robin Hood figure, but a tragic one overall. She's doing the wrong thing for all the right reasons.
you could say that about Batman, too. I'm unsure what side of this line I want Batman to believe he is on.
I don't think she should be a former hooker, but having ties to that sort of underworld wouldn't hurt one iota. I believe she should be involved with Leslie Thompkins and some local and charitable aspects, tying her to the idea that there is hope for Gotham's poorer sections. This would be her main drive, and maybe she could pull Bruce into this idea that Gotham can be saved by fighting the disease, not just the symptoms, since he doesn't appear too concerned with it thus far (Despite Rachel pointing it out to him in BEGINS). It's too bad there's not a more overt "Crime Alley" angle in the Nolanverse so far.
I'd love to see Batman trying to fight the "disease" in this film, and not know exactly how. I'd also love to see him slip into fascism to do so.
