The Ben Holmes Batman

I've been following a new site as of late and it's called "MoviePilot" (You can access it through the link here.)  It's useful beacause I've found it's added to the conversation for the upcoming Batman v Superman  movie.  Although, I have to say, a lot of it's interests do seem to be all over the map.  That being said, I urge you to give it a try.

I'm glad I did for I wouldn't have discovered the art of Ben Holmes.

Holmes is an artist based in the UK and he recently sampled his wares on the MoviePilot site.  He explains his love for pencil drawings and his journey of discovery into watercolors.  He seems to have a bit of an abstract sensibility and he's pursued his passion for film in the form of self stylized movie posters.

Naturally, this being a Batman page, I've decided to critique his work of the Caped Crusader.  

If you go to the Holmes page you'll see he employs a technique where his subjects tend to explode or shatter into pieces.  Seen below in his "Nightcrawler" effort. 

He doesn't use it for all his work but he "artfully" deploys it for dramatic effect in some of them.

The shattered or explosive effect speaks to the nature of his subjects.  Perhaps it is revelatory to the inner demons that haunt his subjects.

To say Batman has inner demons is to state the obvious.

When I first saw the Holmes Batman image I thought of one of Batman's most iconic antagonists, "Two Face."  Two Face wears his persona overtly (albeit not deliberately) while Bruce Wayne's is hidden behind the cowl.  Both have issues with anger management but Batman has managed to separate his bitterness from turning him to the dark side, to be a force for good.  

At least most of the time.

So lets talk about the image itself and how it reflects on Batman.

Immediately you get the sense that Batman's anger is bursting from his psyche.  It is explosive in nature and barely to be contained.   In fact, you could argue it is the repressed nature of Bruce Wayne yearning to be exposed.  Perhaps a better word would be "revealed."

Perhaps the image is a window into the mind of the Batman/Bruce Wayne character.  Perpetually unresolved.  At once at peace with each other and relentlessly at war with the other.

The shattered splinters evoke a wound that never heals and the use of just black and white reveals the bipolar relationship between the two identities.  Batman is often portrayed living in a black and white world.


Good versus evil.


That is a rash generalization.  I think ardent fans know that Batman is a very complex character and his capacity for good often outweighs his darker nature.


I'm sure Ben Holmes is aware of this also but he has chosen to illustrate the face of Batman we are most familiar with.  Torn, angry, and a force of nature whose presence is at once both unstable and frenzied.  Holmes has captured the Dark Knight as Batman has desired to be seen but also disclosed the side Batman he struggles with every day.


Thanks for the work Mr. Holmes.  I hope your sister thought it as "cool" as you intended it.


For more of  the work of Ben Holmes (especially you Spiderman fans) you can follow the link below.


http://www.bjwholmes.com/

p.s. Ben, more Batman please!

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Gotham - Harvey Dent

Two Face. Two Faced. Two Faces.

I was going to approach this blog post from the perspective of Gotham's characters having two faces or more accurately being two faced.

However, not everyone was "two faced" in other words, disingenuous.  Some remained true to themselves and who they are as characters on this show.

Take Bruce for example.  (Seen here channeling Aquaman.)  He remained true to himself by continuing his dogged (batty?) pursuit for challenging himself.   Selina thought he was absolutely nuts.  She called him out on his privileged background and warned him that no one fights with gloves on in the street.  (Note to Selina, Batman wears gloves.) 

For her part, Selina revealed a side of herself that she takes great pains to hide.   Her capacity for being surprised.  When she found out she was going to Wayne Manor she was stunned.  So much for the street smarts.  She's already been to Wayne Manor and she's been a keen observer of Bruce.  But to go there and hang out.  That shocked her.

That doesn't make her "two faced."  It just revealed a side of herself that she wasn't too familiar with.  She's vulnerable.

 

It was that vulnerability that led her to chastise Bruce by the pool.  She didn't like to see it in herself and it bothered her to see it in Bruce.  It was a seminal moment for the future Batman.  Selina was harsh but she felt Bruce needed to know you can't survive on the street without displaying a little anger and supplement it with a dash of ruthlessness.

Who'd a thunk that it took a meeting between two twelve year olds that would form the persona of a future superhero.  It also laid the cornerstone between the offtimes adversaries and lovers.

 

Also not two faced.

 

The Penguin.  Still a schemer, still a rat.  

Oswald played true to form by leveraging an alliance with Liza.  Okay, he blackmails her but that's still true to form for him.

Let's get to the real two face, Harvey Dent.

What the heck was this?

So that's the way "Gotham" wants to play it.  Harvey is already a little nuts just beneath the surface. 

We're used to seeing the early Harvey as straight laced and driven.  Yes, he's always had his own "dogged pursuit" of justice but I don't think we've ever seen him as a lunatic waiting to be unleashed.  The Harvey we know was turned because he suffered a traumatic event.   This guy is halfway there.  Oh, I get it, halfway. 

That's fine.  "Gotham" did say they were going to experiment a little with the characters.  We'll see how this goes.

That wide eyed look of his reminded me a little of the Joker.  A little too close perhaps.

Speaking of the Clown Prince of Crime, I think we got a couple of tangential references  to the Joker.

Remember when the Joker set a pile of cash afire during The Dark Knight?  (GIF courtesy of theonewithjb.com.)  We saw something similiar in this episode.

I thought of it right away.  One can't be a Batman fan and see burning cash and not think of the Joker.

Any other Joker clues?

Sure.  There was the "Smile" graffiti on the cityscape that quickly panned by our sleepy eyes.  (Well, I was a little sleepy.)  The Joker is known for his infamous smile.  Something that was featured in the Tim Burton Batman movie.  Who could forget "Smylex" and "Love that Joker!"

Smile!

Let's get back to our two face theme.

How about these two faces?

Barbara Kean sure is weak isn't she?  At least Renee Montoya is honest with herself and what she wants.  I suppose this opens the door for more relationships for Jim Gordon.

Sarah Essen is waiting in the wings and perhaps Dr. Leslie Thompkins when she appears later on in the season.  But where do they go with Barbara from here?  Do we really need her aside from being some plot device?  "Gotham" may have painted themselves in a corner with this character.

Selina was trying to intimidate Bruce during the episode when she was teasing him with a kiss.  She was trying to throw him off guard a little and retain the high ground.  But if we look at the future couple pictured above I guess they end up a little two faced after all.

Notice the masks or rather two faces.  

Bruce and Selina don't cavort too much publicly in the future.  But throw on the masks and their true selves come out.

Maybe being two faced isn't so bad after all.

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