But watching these old episodes really bring me back. When I was a kid, Batman was my favorite show. I would get home from school every day and eat a quesadilla which I watched my Batman. But now I am going and watching them in order. And it is one of those shows that works either way. You can watch them in sequence if you have that kind of time (or even if you don't, in my case). Or you can just watch them like a kid, in whatever order they come on in reruns.
So I am watching the first season. I am up to episode fourteen, the first appearance of Mr. Freeze. And all these episodes have been nostalgic, but at the same time has gotten me thinking. In later movies and such (Dark Knight), the content was more ambiguous with Two Face. They tried to tie together the similarities between Batman and Two Face in The Dark Knight. But I really like the animated version of Two Face's demise better. You see him as a politician really struggling with his Multiple Personality Disorder. You feel more sympathy for him there because you can see that he really is a good guy, but that he just repressed his anger too long. Also, I didn't like that in The Dark Knight, Harvey Dent (Two Face) is dating Rachel, Bruce Wayne's ex-girlfriend. It makes it too personal for Batman. I mean, I can see why they chose to do that for that particular movie. But it takes all the audience sympathy away from Two Face.
Another point that I like about the animated series in reference to Two Face is the existance of his girlfriend. Because he was engaged and then was destroyed, the girlfriend still has to live with him as this monster now. They lost connection but her existence gives Two Face a sense of humanity. He has to fight between his love for her and the presence of Big Bad Harl. It just hits harder. Which is interesting because you would expect the more complex ideas in the version that is not a children's show. Although Batman has always been bigger than that.
Further updates to come.
