Catwoman Analysis & Retrospective

Time and time, you can find plenty of angry, over-the-top arguments over who the best Batman is. 'Michael Keaton is the best! No, Christian Bale is the real Batman! Hell, Ben Affleck's would wipe the floor with Bale. You're all wrong - Kevin Conroy is the best!' Mind you that this is merely a sample of how these 'discussions' flow. However, I never see this with Catwoman. I did some digging of my own, even though I already knew the answer.

This graph comes from my research and polling. We can see how huge of a majority Michelle Pfeiffer has over the other actresses. Notice I leave out Camren Bicondova, who only played a young Selina Kyle in the Gotham television series. Her character does not become Catwoman in the show. Besides, a different actress portrays the adult Selina Kyle in Season Five. Furthermore, I relegate this to only live-action. No doubt some fans hold up Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill as the superior Batman and Joker. No ill towards Adrienne Barbeau, but I never hear of people holding her up as the ultimate Catwoman.

Now let's ask why is Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman the most popular? We must answer this first by looking at the other Catwomen and their shortcomings. I do believe this comes from timing and generational gaps. Notice that Julie Newmar and Anne Hathaway follow. Our first ever Catwoman is Julie Newmar's. Grant you Lee Meriwether appears in the original Batman film of 1966. Newmar's inability to reprise her role for the film was due to a back injury. The film was a modest success at best, however at the time and throughout the years, it is not on the same pedestal as Tim Burton's Batman or The Dark Knight. Plus, the film does not equate to the success of the television show. Hence, Lee Meriwether's triggers no memory or awareness due to no fault of her own. Later on, Eartha Kitt takes up the role for the final season. She left her mark as a more aggressive Catwoman with the best growl and purr for the feline temptress. Unfortunately, Eartha Kitt's Catwoman has only three episodes. Say Catwoman to the Batman '66 crowd, and people's minds think Julie Newmar right away. Baby boomers make up the basis of the Batman '66 crowd, along with Generation X growing up on repeats.

We can see how far Halle Berry's Catwoman tanks on the graph, although still above Eartha Kitt and Lee Meriwether. No doubt, her Catwoman has much acclaim, although hardly positive. One cannot separate the actress or the film from one another. Honestly, this film may be a guilty pleasure for some. The film reeks to many Catwoman/DC Comic fans. Yet, it remains in the collective pop consciousness more than Meriwether and Kitt due to this reason. It is a film you may never see, but you certainly know about it. Meriwether and Kitt also do not come from a generation of huge, over-produced, over-hyped blockbuster movies.

Now Anne Hathaway is the most recent Catwoman on the silver screen. Taking exception to Halle Berry's, she comes two decades after Michelle Pfeiffer's take. We now have the Millenials and the older hordes of Generation Z viewing this Catwoman. Some younger viewers were probably too young for Tim Burton's sequel, especially if you listen to the critics and torch carriers. Meanwhile, the youth want their own Catwoman but refuse to accept Halle Berry as theirs. I have seen people thrown every iteration of Batman under the bus with the new one. Anne Hathaway was not as lucky. Hence, we come back to Michelle Pfeiffer. Why does she still hold up?

The History of Her Appeal

First, we need to truly understand why this depiction of Catwoman has grown to such popularity and recognition. Tim Burton's Batman Returns was the sequel to 1989's summer blockbuster hit - Batman. Over two decades, the general audience knew Batman from the campy Adam West television series. Bam, pow, wham go through the minds of many people, never taking the property of Batman seriously. The same applies to Catwoman. A generation of many remembers that woman lying back making cat puns and saying 'purrrfect.'

Batman comics after the Adam West television series began to change. Campy humor was out and replaced with real social issues and graphic content. By the time of the film's release, titles like The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: The Killing Joke exist. Where is Catwoman's makeover then? Mindy Newell's limited Catwoman run comes months before the Batman film's release and does accomplish this, following on the origin set up in Batman: Year One. Unlike Batman: The Killing Joke or The Dark Knight Returns, Mindy Newell's Catwoman series never gathered that kind of pop-culture appeal and vibe. Even amongst long-time readers, her series is hardly memorable. Hence, fans end up falling back on the film's portrayal of Catwoman. What may help is that Catwoman from the film is not a prostitute, unlike the Catwoman of the Post-Crisis late eighties comic books.

Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman spans across generations, only strengthening her popularity and prestige. People from Generation X had to grow up with repeats from the Adam West series or the Filmation series with her silly, lackluster design. By the time of Tim Burton's film, this is a breath of fresh air. Many Millennials will grow up on this depiction, with only the Catwoman from Batman: The Animated Series to compare it to. Generation Z will inherit these two depictions of the nineties from their elders. Finally, you have the Halle Berry Catwoman and the critical disowning of the film. Younger people in 2004 will fall back again on their elders. Anne Hathaway comes to in 2012 in a serious, but more subdued depiction. Her portrayal is hardly hated but also not passionately loved. Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman squeezes between two rather silly incarnations of the character. Hence, many fans prefer to accept this incarnation as the one and only.

Pfeiffer's Catwoman also comes at a time with a lack of fictional female icons. By this point, Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman is close to two decades old and under the rug. You have Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) from the Alien franchise and the badass Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) of T2: Judgement Day. Today you have Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman on the big screen, the ever-popular Harley Quinn, Captain Marvel, Batwoman, Supergirl, and an attempt from Hollywood to bridge the gender gap with things like an all-female Ghostbusters, for example. However, one can almost pin Ripley and Sarah Connor, especially in T2, as somewhat androgynous and a-sexual. Catwoman embraces her femininity and sexuality. Hence, at the time, she is something of a novelty. Both general male and female audiences know of the legacy of Batman. Many will see him as the pinnacle of masculinity, with men wanting to be him, fan or not. Yet, we see someone like Catwoman is willing and able to go toe-to-toe with him. Therefore, people took notice, and it stuck.

Origins

Right from the start, a glaring issue for Catwoman comes from the story itself. What does Catwoman want? What is she after? After her boss, Max Shreck pushes her out of the window, she comes back to her apartment to repeat her routine and then loses it. We see her smash and attack all of these items of femininity - the stuffed animals, the dollhouse, the kitchen, the pink walls, and all with a frying pan. It comes off as a hollow 'I am woman, hear me roar against the patriarchy!' Selina proceeds to make her Catwoman costume, claiming she feels a whole lot more 'yummier', whatever the hell that means.

Problematic for Catwoman is the lack of a foundational origin. Non-comic-book audiences know the story of Batman, thanks to countless retellings of it throughout various mediums. A mugger murders his parents - he takes a vow to war on all criminals, thus trains his body and mind for this task. You can find differing details such as leaving the movie theatre of Zorro or some musical, or perhaps it was the opera they attended. Prior to Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns there are no pearls. Mind you - these details do not detract from the overall origin and motivation of Batman.

Who is Catwoman? One origin has her as a flight attendant before her criminal career. There is also her coming from an abusive relationship with a wealthy man. In Batman: Year One, she is a prostitute from a broken home. Quickly, you see, there is no connecting narrative tissue here for the character. Hence, we cannot begrudge Tim Burton and the writers for detracting from the source material. After all, which one do they use? Still, there is something so off-key about her origin in the film. Kevin Smith even jokes, "people go like - is this how she becomes Catwoman in the comics, and you're like god no!"

To this day, people debate her origin in the film. 'She survived the fall, and the cats woke her up! No, she dies from the fall, but the cats resurrect her through their bites and licks!' Dead or not, this explains very little. Where does the athletic prowess come from, and the change in personality with a boost in confidence and sexuality. No doubt, traumatic events can change people, but overnight and with meta-human-like powers? If anything, it is simply a rush to establish their said character for a two-hour-long film. We do not have a television series like today or a cinematic universe to help establish and build up our femme fatale. What does director Tim Burton say on the matter?

"The ambiguous nature of the Catwoman. You start out when you see the creation with the cats coming around and it's not supernatural but we feed into the mythology of cats and 9 lives and all of that sort of thing, so in the same way with Batman, wanting to keep him sort of mysterious, we sort of treated the same idea with Catwoman a little bit and not come right out with it. It's not supernatural."

Then what is it, Mr. Burton? You say it is not supernatural but give no grounded, scientific explanation for the creation of Catwoman. He delves into the mythology of cats, but this sounds like Selina Kyle has these powers lying dormant until the alley cats arrive. Plus, which mythology of cats? Norse mythology? Eygptian? He then brings up the 'mysterious' nature of Batman, equating it to Catwoman. We see how Burton treats Batman as the second fiddle in these films, not knowing what truly drives the character outside of throw-away dialogue. Hence, falling back on 'mysterious' sounds like his attempt to admit he cannot construct a coherent narrative. In the end, he may as well say, 'she comes back from cat bites because....reasons and because I thought it was cool.' Still not answering any questions, but at least honest.

Tim Burton further tries to pair Catwoman with Batman with their tragic origins. Understandably, outside of fiction, people with trauma can relate to one another. Even though there exists in some stories of a Lois Lane and Bruce Wayne romance, is it hard to buy the idea of a rather plain person such as Lois Lane taking to someone complex as Bruce Wayne, the Batman. Albeit, both traumas are different - one of witnessing the murder of your parents and the other of attempted murder towards you. Yet, with Batman's trauma comes a glimmer of hope and the idea you can overcome grief. Glen Weldon puts it best,

"The agency she finds is both magical and external. Thus the film seems to posit that what empowers her transformation into Catwoman is not any choice Selina Kyle makes, but the abuse itself. That's messed up."

It does sound like Glen Weldon is on to something here. Can a woman only find agency from abuse and trauma? Other Catwoman stories fare better when she decides to take control of her life, not just because the script says so.

Motivation

In her first outing as Catwoman, we see Ms. Kyle rescue a woman from a mugging and possible sexual assault. She shows no remorse as she pierces the mugger's eyes. Strangely, when the woman thanks Catwoman for the rescue, she gives the victim grief and begins to assault her. Why? At first, it seems maybe Catwoman is here as some purveyor of social justice for women. Quickly, this is not the case with her attitude towards the woman for her defenselessness. Perhaps this is all to show to the audience that Selina is no longer your usual, defenseless woman.

Her second outing shows her in Shreck's Department Store, causing mayhem. From "careful, it's my first time," to "You poor guys. Always confusing your pistols with your privates." Always, there is some callous sexual remark towards men from her character. Character building perhaps? Hardly, it comes off more as just silly writing from a proto-feminist male trying too hard to be an ally. Catwoman proceeds to destroy the store, but why? It may be possible revenge towards Shreck, but it hardly fits the crime. Attempted murder and your payback is simply property damage? Plus, the movie makes no mention of Shreck's feelings on the incident. Hence, a throw-away scene.

After the department store explosion, she finally takes after Batman. Yet her reasoning is quite bogus - "Batman napalmed my arm, he knocked me off a building just when I was starting to feel good about myself." The napalm may have been a little much, but she sounds like the angry criminal upset that the police officer thwarted their bank robbery and istaking it personally. What did you expect? And now Catwoman finds happiness in arson? With this new thorn in her side, she enters an alliance with The Penguin.

Now comes one of quite possibly the dumbest scenes in the film. She comments on how she'll give herself a bath on the bed, for talk of busting Batman makes her feel "dirty." Catwoman licks herself, with the costume still on, as a cat cleans itself. One cannot ask enough, but why? What purpose does this serve? Two trains of thought possibly make this scene. One, she is Catwoman and like a cat, she cleans herself, because she is Catwoman - simple thinking from non-comic book reading adults. The other thought process is for the men behind the scene wanting to make this, knowing men in the audience will dig it. It is odd because of what Daniel Waters, the writer, says about Sam Hamm's original screenplay "Sam Hamm went back to the way comic books in general treat women, like fetishy sexual fantasy. I wanted to start off just at the lowest point in society, a very beaten down secretary." You can find the original screenplay online, and Waters is not wrong. Catwoman's outfit is a gimp suit. The final product is hardly any different in design. Michelle Pfeiffer was vacuum sealed into this super tight outfit which affected her hearing and made her lightheaded. With all of her remarks, and now licking herself on a man's bed, how is this not fetishy sexual fantasy, Mr. Waters?

Goal

What is Catwoman after in the film? Nothing shows her to be after jewels like a typical cat burglar in the comics. Her quarrel with Batman is more secondary than primary. Not until an hour and thirty-seven minutes into the film do we learn what she wants. Selina is at the dance with Bruce Wayne, telling her he came in hopes of seeing her. She wishes she could say the same, but she came for Max. Bruce, confused, asks, "What do you mean, you and... not you and Max?" Here she laughs maniacally, pulls out a gun to say, "this and Max!" With Max's attempted murder of Selina, along with all of his shady dealings, corrupt practices, and all she feels she is in the right. She tells Bruce not to patronize her with any "Killing Max won't solve anything speech." For the first time, it is clear what the character wants, the why, and the audience can empathize with it.

However, how come so late when there is roughly half an hour left? Furthermore, why is it now she is shown to be taking action? Why the mugger? Why the explosion? Why the alliance with The Penguin? Especially when none of this furthered her goal to kill Max Shreck? Is Selina that damaged that she does not know what she wants? Note the comments on how she could not be happy living with herself, even if Shreck is taken away in cuffs and she goes on to live with Bruce. There is no fairy tale here.

One theme in Batman Returns from Catwoman is the constant threat and or use of violence from men towards women. Max Shreck, Batman, and The Penguin all attack her at some point. Maybe she felt she find some meaning in killing that mugger. Although gratifying, it did not bring happiness. The same goes for destroying her boss' store and framing Batman. All of this is a temporary pleasure but brings no real comfort in her life. In the end, she decides to end her life with the murder of Max Shreck but also knowing she will survive. Hence, what does Catwoman want? It sounds as if she wants happiness but knows it will not happen. Somewhere, deep in her character, sounds like something complex but also lazily written and forced.

Final Notes

Go back to the origin of this Catwoman and recall the ending where we find out Catwoman, like a cat, has nine lives. Selina counts her plummet from Shreck's as the first kill, with eight lives left. Yet, this calls back on the illogical and unexplained origin of her powers. Hence, she has nine lives like a cat before becoming Catwoman? She proceeds to lose a life by being knocked off a building into a truck of kitty litter. Most mortals can survive this fall, with the kitty litter cushioning the fall, unlike the concrete. Her fall from The Penguin's umbrella to a greenhouse on a rooftop is not as lethal either. Shreck fires at her multiple times, with her counting down the lives left, although no bullet hit in any vital areas.

What I do find somewhat puzzling about this Catwoman is the free pass she gets at times. Selina Kyle was not blonde in the comics. We have her non-comic accurate origin as a secretary falling out of a window. Never in the comics are there meta-human powers of nine lives. The character is more Max Shreck fixated than Batman fixated. Time and time again, fans cry afoul when Batman kills. Where are they crying about how this Catwoman does not steal? Sycophants will say Superman needs to be more like this and proceed to hold up an image of Christopher Reeve. Catwoman does not, where instead fans tolerate Anne Hathaway's, ignore the sixties, and lambast Halle Berry's. Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman has left little to no impact or legacy. It seems fans take what they can get with her.

In the end, Michelle Pfeiffer does no wrong here. She really does have that bird in her mouth. The woman learned to crack that whip on her own and still owns it to this day. We see her put in great work in The Fabulous Baker Boys, Married to The Mob, Love Field, Dangerous Minds, and more. The problem stems from poor direction, terrible story-telling, and a lack of confidence in the source material. No doubt, as a comic-book adaption to film, there is room for interpretation. Yet, this character, this film, is just a Tim Burton film completely, with a Batman license.

If you like what you read here, please feel free to leave a like and or a tip.

And feel free to read some of my similiar work on Catwoman and Batman Returns down below...

The Truth About Oral Sex Between Batman and Catwoman

The Penguin is Electable

Batman Returns' Lack of Christmas Spirit

Is The Future of Catwoman...Black?

Remember The Original Catwoman?

Dissecting 'Batman Returns'

Sources

Fatman on Batman #49 - Bernardin Returns for Batman Returns

The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture, Glenn Weldon, Simon & Schuster, 2017

Batman Returns: The Original Draft for Tim Burton's Sequel Was Radically Different, G.Kendall, CBR, 2020