This is Why You Don’t Mess with Catwoman [VIDEO]

Just like the quote about Ginger Rogers – “Sure he (Fred Astaire) was great, but don’t forget Ginger Rogers did everything he did, backwards…and in high heels!” Go Anne!

I love Anne Hathaway, I loved her performance and I usually love Nolan’s Batman universe but that costume… boy, do I hated it! Despite all her efforts, Hathaway never made the costume looked comfortable and those heels made no sense whatsoever. I thought she looked more badass wearing a regular dress half-flirting/half-threatening Bruce Wayne then she ever did wearing her Catwoman costume.

Maybe I’m in the minority but I actually liked and appreciated her costume. All things considering her male counter part in this world and the ridiculousness that was his costume (because wearing a particularly stiff mask that deprives your capacity to use your head’s full range of motion certainly doesn’t seem practical, nor did the material that HE was wearing look overwhelmingly comfortable or practical either), they managed to give her a design that was relatively believable for the universe that it took place in without it being horribly offensive to the senses (re: Catwoman’s DCNU cover).

Also, the Selina that set up in this universe does not seem like the kind of person who’d ever wear flats if they could help it. Normally I’d roll my eyes but for how they’ve set her up, it makes sense that she’d wear heels and not ‘sensible’ shoes.

I understand the Batman argument and I agree with it but it’s a situation where the filmmaker was handcuffed by the comics. Batman needed his cowl and his cowl was never going to be comfortable, so they made it part of an armor. Makes no sense but you’re stuck with it.
The case of Catwoman is different though. Her current costume looks very practical and easy to adapt for a film, and it doesn’t look offensive at all when the artist draws her jacket zipped up. The aspect that bothered me the most, more than the shoes, was that it kept most of her face uncovered and easy to recognize. Any security camera could help identify her.

I don’t really agree with that. There is nothing particularly ‘canon’ about the material that Batman’s mask is made out of, not only that but in the comics, he certainly tends to show a much wider range of movement than he did in the movies. The reason why they tend to gravitate towards materials that are more stiff in the movies is because it holds it’s shape and provides a consistent silhouette, unbroken silhouette which is purely up to them and them alone since old Sixties Batman certainly didn’t have that issue. The stiffness of the material also provides a much more foreboding figure, which, again, is purely a design choice.

Seeing as the creators of this movie weren’t working from the DCNU, I think it was probably for the best that they did not try to mimic it, especially considering the outrage that it received from so many people. It was in their best interest to try and separate her design as much as they could from that one. Not only that but the comic designs gave a different character feel than that in the movie. Her design was clever (I’m particularly in love with how they mocked up the cat ears out of her goggles), and matched the weightiness that existed within the world that Nolan had created.

As not ‘smart’ it is for her to reveal so much of her face, the sacrifice of a full faced mask was also a design choice, and it’s one that I also liked since I felt it fitting for her. It reinforced the sense of cockiness that she gave off. The people who were the biggest threat to her also already knew who she was and if she was really afraid of being caught by the police, she certainly wouldn’t have tried all of the heists she did sans mask and catsuit. She’s a very proud person, and I also can’t imagine she’d want to use anything that would ruin those precious locks of hers.

I hear what you’re saying. I don’t know if a Batman costume with the same material than the 60′s show would work, but I don’t know for sure it wouldn’t. I maintain my opinion on the Catwoman costume for the reasons I stated, though.

P.S.: I have to correct you on your timeline, though. The current Catwoman costume design pre-dates DCNU by quite a bit: Darwyn Cooke created it in 2001 and it’s his design I would have used. Also, unless I’m mistaken, the DCNU was released after TDKR was completed so Nolan could not have copied any of their bad ideas even if he wanted to.
You may know all that, but just to make sure.

ah yes, you’re right on that timeline. It’s just that the Catwoman cover sticks so firmly in my head that it’s the only thing that I could possibly associate that horrendous outfit with.

Also, I’m not saying that the fabric hood would work with the universe that Nolan made, I’m just saying that the reason why they chose such a stiff material was likely to create a consistent iconic silhouette that so many people know so clearly and emphatically as being that of Batman.