After revisiting the 2 Batman films that Tim Burton directed- “Batman” and “Batman Returns”- I realized that I may actually be a fan of Cat Woman. I don’t even like cats. Here’s why I like Cat Woman, though:
With Cat Woman, we get to see female character development for once in a superhero flick. Don’t get me wrong. There is an aspect to the representation of women in the film that isn’t great. I feel as though she claps back to the stereotypes though.
At the start, a man almost sexually assaults her in the street, but Batman saves her just in time. She isn’t the typical damsel in distress though. She laughs off the scary situation with a self-deprecating joke and then shocks the knocked-out perpetrator with his own taser.
She is later introduced as the administrative assistant of this unethical big shot businessman/political operative. To the male gaze of her boss, she is the not-too-smart secretary. She later proves him wrong though. She is not only smart, she’s a strong, worthy adversary. After going above and beyond, working extra hours to help her boss prepare for a meeting the following day, she finds out his dastardly plans for draining power from Gotham. He is powerful, and he sees her as dispensable, so he throws her out the window. He kills her. These alley cats bring her back to life by biting her and she becomes part cat- with strength, agility, and 9 lives. She ultimately kills the boss, in revenge, but also because he uses politics to benefit his business interests and not the common good, profits while polluting, and murders anyone who stands in the way of his business.
To her boss’ surprise, she goes back to work with only a few bandages, and with a whole lot more self confidence. After her transformation, to the male gaze of Bruce Wayne, she is, at first, the bombshell secretary. He later actually gets to know her as a complete person though. She is changing, struggling with the two parts of herself- the part that is a woman (that grows more and more empowered) by day, and the part that is a vigilante by night (figuring out how far to take the violence). They have those two sides in common, as Bruce Wayne/Batman later points out in his love proposal to her. They get to know each other as complete people- unmasked and masked.
The female character development seems ahead of its time. I also kind of like how she expresses her sexuality. She is clearly athletic and beautiful. The form fitting black suit and whip weapon is definitely suggestive. She is completely in control though. The Penguin character seems to represent lecherous, incel, man-beasts. He sexually desires her, proposes to her after the success of their cooperation to calumniate Batman, and when she refuses, he insists she was giving him all the signals, and then tries to kill her.
I see Cat Woman as smart, sexy, funny, strong, dark, and artistic. When was the last time you could identify that many characteristics of a female character in an old superhero movie?
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A cool recent article on Michelle Pfeiffer:
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/michelle-pfeiffer-chooses-carefully
