Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic The Dark Knight gets darker

Batman star Christian Bale arrested

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

Ann

Batman is a character in a comic book, someone plays that role in the movies. Batman wasn't charged of a crime today and he did not beat anyone up, except maybe some bad guy/girl in works of fiction.

Christian Bale, however, is another matter. And as of right now, the news does not specify that he's been accused of anything. Only arrested and released.

Without actually having any details - because none have been released that enable us to be clear on what actually DID go on - I don't think it's fair of you to say that he's been beating up women, or anyone else, for that matter.

I really wish you'd be careful with the words you use. Unless you have factual evidence to prove your allegations -- which I doubt, considering.

I think in this instance Ann was making a joke and not being serious. XD

But as it appears the Police probably don't even have much to go on. Which is why he was released and why they didn't even have him come in until after the opening of the show last night.

EDIT: It appears in the UK you can report people for verbally assaulting you. (labrat and others is that correct? That is what I am reading on some sites.) So I guess he yelled at them? LOL seems like a pretty lame thing for his mom and sister to do.

Can you? No clue. I wouldn't be surprised though - Gordon and Chums seem determined to pin down every thought you utter these days and they issue a new raft of things the thought police can get you on almost daily. It's hard to keep up.

I know you can report someone for racially abusing you. But it didn't sound to me as though he'd been accused of either of those things, so I think your websites are telling porkies, Jojo. (Although, I have to confess that I really wasn't paying attention when the news was on because I was adopting my usual policy of being completely disinterested in the antics of celebs).

I looked it up for you. No mention of verbally assaulting anyone on the BBC news website:

Sounds like physical to me. (Allegedly. )

LabRat

Hmm looks like a lot of the gossip sites are betting on verbal. I've seen it on a few now.

http://www.tmz.com/2008/07/22/did-batmans-bad-mouth-trigger-bust/

Either way he is denying it. I don't think there is much to go on since they let him go though.

I saw it yesterday too (Sydney time). At that point it was only that he'd been accused and not actually arrested.

At this point it is wrong to assume that he did anything remember that you are only innocent until proven guilty. It seems to me that the police have a lack of evidence to prove these allegations. If more turns up and he is then charged it would be another matter.

You know, I'm still highly dubious. I've never heard of this charge of verbal assault and the only mention I can find on it is the same little block of text repeated, word for word, on several celeb websites. They all seem to have copied it from a single US source.

So, who knows, as I say it's difficult to keep up these days, but I have to question the source. Celeb sites don't rate highly with me as being known for their factual accuracy.

Other than that, the only instances Google could find for me of someone actually being arrested on a charge of verbal assault were US cases, where it does seem that such a charge exists.

You've gotten me intrigued now, though. I'm going to do some more browsing around and see if I can pin this one down one way or another.

LabRat

Thanks, JoJo. I was.

Of course I realize that whatever may have happened it is not Batman who has beaten up women ... and I have to agree with LabRat that it remains to be seen if Christian Bale has done so.

Ann

In that case, I can't help but wonder why the post title was worded to convey as much.

I half-expected to open this and find a rant against Bruce Wayne, labeling him as a sexist pig who disrespects women. You just never know.

It's the other way around -- he was arrested, but not accused of a crime, as per the Associated Press article that I read earlier (AFAIK, AP is a reliable source of info):

Bale said the allegations were false Tuesday, hours after the Wales-born actor was arrested, questioned by London police and released on bail. The 34-year-old actor spent four hours talking with authorities but was not charged.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iicjQogv9sRO3liiAQT06j2G6jrQD9234P8O3

Good question. My answer will have to be a quickie.

As a kid, I liked Batman. I didn't like him as much as Superman, of course, but I liked him. And just as I thought that the best thing about Superman was that he loved Lois Lane, I thought that the best thing about Batman was his fatherly love of Robin.

This link should show you how important Robin was in Batman's life way back when. In this comic book from the sixities, a number of superheroes have been told that everyone they have touched will die. All the other heroes worry about their girlfriends, but Batman worries about Robin. How sweet.

Robin, what have I done to you?

Here is sweet Batman and Robin statuette, based on a classic comic book image:



Some years ago there was a movie, Batman and Robin, where Batman was played by George Clooney, a favorite of mine. Clooney projects so much warmth, and the warmth is there in this Batman poster, too. But the movie with Clooney was a bit of a flop.



Nowadays Batman is a much colder, lonelier person. I regret that change of his. And George Clooney isn't fit to play him, either.

I guess I was trying to say that people nowadays seem to favor a much harsher, colder Batman than before, and the men who are to play him are picked according to those criteria. Then perhaps we shouldn't be surprised if some of those Batman actors aren't really nice persons themselves.

But I realize, of course, that this whole Christian Bale business may be nothing more than a lot of hot air, which was made so interesting because of the current Batmania.

Ann

That is a thought I find a little disturbing, to say the least.

Leaving aside the fact that you seem to dismiss the notion that being an actor - or an actress, for that matter - is about projecting to be someone else than you are in real live, i.e. playing a role instead of just playing yourself, you also imply that one should judge people on what they seem instead of what they do. Interesting thought, especially on a message board about a guy with a secret identity.

Even if I were to agree that Christian Bale seems "harsher, colder" than e.g. George Clooney (which, in the light of other performances from his extensive body of work, I don't), I would always oppose the claim that you should judge him on that outward appearance.

There are people who appear to be distanced and cold because of their upbringing, shyness or other factors, but who are in fact very kind and constantly concerned about others.

And there are people who project the image of a friendly, caring person, when in reality they are ruthless and care for no-one but themselves. I could give you quite a few examples of dictators who convincingly play a friendly father figure, when in reality they suppress their citizens and use violence, intimidation and fear to keep their position and power; but I would guess that if you took the time, you could come up with most of those examples yourself.

Sorry for being a little of topic, but I just had to comment on this troubling logic.

Frankly, I know nothing about Christian Bale. I have no reason to make any assumptions about his personality whatsoever.

I also agree that a really good actor can play any character whatsoever. However, I think it may be true that many actors are better at playing certain roles than certain other roles. Whether that means that they actually somehow resemble the characters that they are particularly good at portraying is something I just don't know.

Let's consider George Clooney. Is he a particularly warm kind of person with a very warm sort of personality? Frankly I have no idea. But I do think he has done a good job at portraying men with warm characters. So what if George Clooney had been the one who had been accused of using violence against his mother and sister? Would that reflect on the characters he has played as an actor? No, not in the same way, not to me, because any violence that he committed as a private citizen would seem so unconnected with the warm characters he portrayed in movies and on TV. His acts of violence would be a failure on a very personal, private level, not an aspect of the characters he plays professionally.

But if people want Batman to really be The Dark Knight instead of the fatherly mentor of Robin, then I don't expect George Clooney to be picked to play that troubled vigilante. And if the new Batman becomes a smash hit because he is so dark and troubled, then there is a greater 'concordance' between the Batman character that the actor plays and any violence he may commit in his private life.

But of course, for all we know, Christian Bale has been the victim of false accusations. And in any case Christian Bale is in no way identical with the mythic character of Batman.

Which still begs the question of why the Dark Knight is so popular while the smiling Batman and Robin are so outdated.

Ann

Why is "Leave it to Beaver" outdated?

PJ

More info on the charges:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbi...star-flew-rage-mother-insulted-wife.html

I find it interesting that instead of rushing to think the worst (as the media often does) everyone seems to be mostly on Christian Bale's side. Probably says a lot about his character and how he has treated the media.

As for the argument that he is somehow channeling the dark characters he is playing. I think that is rubbish.

And why are the darker versions more interesting? Cheery characters who don't seem to have any sort of terrible past are horribly boring. When you have a dark character that is likeable you want to know more about them. Why are they so dark? What secrets do they hold?

That's what keeps you coming back for more.

Also George Clooney sucked as Batman and that is why people didn't like him. There is a huge acting difference for me. It had nothing to do with how warm he came across.

So the latest info seems to boil down to -- CB's mom said awful things about his wife, and he lost his temper and yelled at her. Seems a far cry from "beating up women."

Personally, I think if a woman insults her son's wife she deserves to have him yell at her...

re: George Clooney, I don't remember much about his acting skills or lack thereof, but the Batman & Robin movie was just generally *awful.* Hugely campy villians -- plus scriptwriters so "talented" that they managed to make Ahnuld unfunny. I saw bits of it on TV recently. Oh, no, Robin's been frozen! I know, let's push him in the pool and boil the water, that should make him all better! :rolleyes:

PJ

Update

Includes some info on the verbal assault thing...

Carol

I've never thought of Batman as a beater-up of women. I've just had problems with his dark moodiness.



So I'm changing the post title.

Ann

I don't see how changing the topic title is going to make a difference. It's an insinuation that Batman hits women.

As for your question about why people seem to embrace The Dark Knight while the smiling Batman and Robin aren't as popular anymore, well, I'd say it's the same reason we like Lois and Clark: They're flawed characters. No one wants to watch perfection. You can't relate to it, and it's not as much fun to watch. I think watching people make mistakes and learn from them and following them on their path to self-discovery is a lot more interesting than watching perfect superheroes on a pedestal.