Freakadas Varias

I’m pretty sure this is a rhetorical question, but whatever. I’vegot time. Yes, yes, I would. 

Bruce and Selina have beenfeatured in varying degrees of romance in many, many different media forms forthree quarters of a century, and that’s not for nothing. Even if you justnarrow it down to the comic books they’ve dated seriously, inside the costumeor out, for a steady forty years. The reason why so many writers decide to continueto build on this relationship is because it’s meaningful for both characters,and they’ve been together since the very beginning. I think a lot has beenwritten about why Bruce and Selina are a great couple, but I guess that doesn’treally explain why they love each other.

I’ll start with Selina.

I think that one of the mostimportant things that Bruce brings into the relationship is his unwaveringbelief in her. Batman more or less just looks the other way to Catwoman’s thieverybecause he believes that she’s a good person deep down, who cares about peopleand does the right thing when it really matters. This is important becauseSelina is a criminal and because of that people tend to always see the worst inher.

I think particularly in fandom the thievery aspect of Catwoman gets way tooromanticized. It’s fun that we get to read about her fantastic heists and rootfor the thief, but people really think this is not only all Catwoman is but it’s“such an important part” of who she is. Being a thief is what Catwoman does. It’snot who she is, and it certainly isn’t the most important part of her. Peoplealso weirdly use this as the benchmark for what Selina should or should not beallowed to do in her life (you what I’m talking about).

It’s ironic that this is somany people’s take because it’s something that Selina is often deeply insecureabout. 

Firstly, thieving has brought a lot of strife to Selina’s life and it’s not something that she finds fulfillment in long term. It’s not a sustainable lifestyle.That thieving that everyone’salways going on about has gotten Selina thrown in prison, almost killed, she’shad to fake her own death a couple of times, and it was directly responsiblefor the torture and murder of her friends and loved ones at the hands of asadistic serial killer. The latter was something Selina felt an immense amountof guilt over and went into a depression about. To act like it’s all just funand hijinks and Selina is just an aloof thrill-seeking thief who “is all aboutthe chase” without acknowledging the consequences it has brought her is woefullymisguided and does a huge disservice to the character.

Secondly; Selina does not wantto be defined as just a thief and eventually she grows weary of the criminal lifestyle.There are many examples of Selina reforming because she wants to do more withher life. These were very prominent themes during the Bronze Age,EdBrubaker’s Catwoman run, the Telltale series, and The Dark Knight Rises.

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You’re ranting, Britt! What does any of this have to do with thequestion?

This reason I’m pointing thisout is because it’s exactly this perception of her is why Selina loves Bruce. Brucedoesn’t expect so little of her and where people see the worst inher; Bruce always sees the best.

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And where others dismiss her as just a thief and a criminal he respects her…

Because she gets pigeonholedinto this role Selina believes that she really can’t be anything other than athief and this really holds her back in terms of character development and story. Let me tell ya: that heist stuff gets really repetitive after awhile. Eventually it’s just something that she outgrows and all she really wants is a second chance. She even lied about having amnesia to get it. 

It’s certainly fine to use those skills as part of the story, but at this point it should really be incorporated as a device in service of a larger narrative. 

It’s Bruce’s unwavering belief in her, even when she doesn’t believe in herself, that encourages her to go after what she really wants, and inspires her to do good and be her best self. Just for the record: Bruce has never, not once, given Selinaan ultimatum to reform. He just believes in her and tries to appeal to thatpart of her. Any time Selina reforms it’s because she’s decided to do so forherself.