I went to see Gone Girl this past weekend with my wife and someone had brought two kids. Yeah, that's not appropriate.
As you say, the TV-14 is enough of a warning for anyone with any sense. People with no sense cannot be helped.
Gotham - Season 1
- Thread starter Agent Richard07
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I went to see Gone Girl this past weekend with my wife and someone had brought two kids. Yeah, that's not appropriate.
As you say, the TV-14 is enough of a warning for anyone with any sense. People with no sense cannot be helped.
That's really weird. Penguin's just a gangster. He's basically the most grounded member of Batman's rogues' gallery and would have fit in just fine.
I really enjoyed last night's episode and loved the homage to The Dark Knight where Liza and the other woman had to fight for Fish's open position. Then I got to thinking. We've already met most of the other major Batman rogue's gallery, with the exception of Mr. Freeze, Bane and a few others. What if Joker's a woman in this series?
Nolan may have been thinking of Tim Burton's "sewer mutant" version of the Penguin. I've seen a lot of people assume that version was the default rather than the exception to the rule.
There's also the fact that Penguin's schtick in the comics and TV has generally tended to involve trick umbrellas and bird-related crimes, which are kind of fanciful. They can obscure the more grounded aspects of the character.
Fucking Tim Burton.
Here's an insightful article on the flaws of Gotham. It's a review of the latest episode, so don't read this if you aren't caught up with episode 4.
I think the article misses the point about Fish and the two girls and the seduction bit.
Don't think it was about seducing her. She wants to use them use them as a weapon as she's dealing with male mob bosses, her weapon is going to have to be able to seduce them.
It was mentioned in last week's ep that about one of them had a lover who had an "accident" (the Fish arranged) so it's appearent where things are heading.
The first paragraph hints at something that's been bothering me:
The central problem of Gotham is that its central character -- Jim Gordon -- will fail. He'll be an honest cop, and he'll become police commissioner, but his mission to rid Gotham City's streets of corruption will fail. It has to. If Gordon doesn't fail, then there's no need for a Batman. Gordon's victories in individual battles don't add up to anything, because he's still going to lose the war.
That's interesting ground to cover, but I have doubts that Gotham can do that justice -- or that the audience would stick with a series that would by necessity become emotional torture porn as it wears on as Gordon's long war on Gotham's underworld only digs the hole of despair deeper.
I can understand the shortcomings, but I'm still eager to see how this show will pan out by the season's end.
I do agree with one poster in the comments section who stated Cobblepot's character seems to be 'kill anything and anyone.' And, Cobblepot seems to do this with people who are bigger - bodywise - than he is.
Another thing: As has been stated before, we don't need to see Bruce Wayne in every episode since the show isn't really about him.
Right. That's why she wasn't troubled when they said they preferred men to women. She wanted to test their ability to be seductive toward people they weren't actually attracted to. She's creating a weapon, not auditioning a paramour.
How could any one, especially a "critic", miss that?
This isn't subtext, it's text.
And not only will Gordon fail in his goal(s) of ridding the Gotham PD of corruption and the streets of Gotham of crime but he's going to recant on his feelings about vigilantes since one day he's going to embrace and support a vigilante. (Granted, one who doesn't kill.)
So it's a series that's going to have an odd arc. Now, granted, it's an arc that can work and certainly one worth visiting on how Gordon comes to the point of balancing his morals with having to compromise them in the name of controlling the crime in Gotham (but unless the series is on for a lot longer than series like this last we're not likely ever to see the rise of Batman in the scope of this series without a time-jump.) He's also going to have to accept the level of corruption that exists in the Gotham PD and government because, really, there's no way one dedicated cop is going to straighten out an entire city.
I really enjoyed this one. We got some nice movement on the gang war storyline, and Cobblepot was able to get himself another step up in the mob heirarchy. I keep wondering if he's actually going to be loyal to Maroni or if he is going to turn on him. I'm thinking the second is more likely, but then that brings up the question of whether he'll betray him for his own elevation in the mob, or if he'll give some kind of info to Fish to get back in with the Falcone family.
I'm kind of glad that Barbara came clean about her relationship with Montoya. At first I was frustrated that Gordon wouldn't tell her about Cobblepot, but I think here it actually was understandable for once why he didn't. Usually this kind of stuff annoys me, but here the threat was very real, so I can understand him not wanting to tell her.
I thought they managed to work Bruce Wayne and Alfred into the story in a way that worked pretty well. My fear has been that they would end up just forcing them into stories just to give them screen time, but so far they've managed make their presence work.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that I'm also curious to see who Fish is planning on using her new girl against. It's obvious she has big plans for her beyond just singing.
I'm kind of glad that Barbara came clean about her relationship with Montoya. At first I was frustrated that Gordon wouldn't tell her about Cobblepot, but I think here it actually was understandable for once why he didn't. Usually this kind of stuff annoys me, but here the threat was very real, so I can understand him not wanting to tell her.
I thought they managed to work Bruce Wayne and Alfred into the story in a way that worked pretty well. My fear has been that they would end up just forcing them into stories just to give them screen time, but so far they've managed make their presence work.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that I'm also curious to see who Fish is planning on using her new girl against. It's obvious she has big plans for her beyond just singing.
I don't agree that the premise requires Gordon to fail. I expect it to follow the same general arc as Year One and the Nolan films: Gordon succeeds by surviving the system and establishing a core group of honest cops and officials that are able to weed out the worst of the corruption in the city government and bring the mobs under control, but that paves the way for the emergence of a new breed of criminal that requires Batman. Of course, generally we see that Batman is part of defeating the systemic corruption and the mobs; but in this version we would see Gordon making a positive difference by being a role model and supporter for Bruce as he matures.
Not every series requires its protagonist to personally save the world. Sometimes the protagonist ends up being a catalyst for others who end up saving the world. See Dollhouse, for example. Or the Terminator franchise -- Sarah Connor's success will be in helping to shape John Connor into the hero who will save humanity. Or the BBC's Merlin, where the main character was the guy whose job was to guide Arthur to his destiny.
Not every series requires its protagonist to personally save the world. Sometimes the protagonist ends up being a catalyst for others who end up saving the world. See Dollhouse, for example. Or the Terminator franchise -- Sarah Connor's success will be in helping to shape John Connor into the hero who will save humanity. Or the BBC's Merlin, where the main character was the guy whose job was to guide Arthur to his destiny.
Or: Mirror (Alternate) Universe.
Batman doesn't save Gotham.
The crazies overcompensate for the Bat.
The crazies overcompensate for the Bat.
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