Yesterday was the 25th anniversary of Tim Burton’s Batman, a movie that basically redefined the comic book movie genre until Iron Man and The Dark Knight changed the game. Its release date, June 23, 1989, makes the movie less than a month older than I am (which means I’ll be 25 in less than a month, y’all!) and, fun fact, apparently my parents saw it in theaters when my mom was 7 months pregnant with me! Despite having been around for 50 years already, this film was probably many people’s first exposure to the characters Bob Kane and Bill Finger had created. The generation before might have been familiar with Adam West’s portrayal of Batman in the cult classic 1960s TV show, but Batman was able to introduce the Caped Crusader to an entirely new group of people and a new generation (including myself). While it’s not my favorite Batman film, it will always hold a special significance for me.
Of course, I obviously was in no position to see the movie when it came out (though unborn me was present), so it wasn’t until four years later that I first saw it. My grandfather, who I’ve credited with inspiring my love of education, learning and Harry Potter, and his future wife Randi had been dating for nearly 5 years and were living together in a cute little mobile home near my family. My grandfather was a frequent babysitter for my sister and me, which was how we ended up sleeping over at their place one stormy night. I was only 4 years old, so I was nervous about the storm and being away from my mom. Randi, who had never had kids of her own, didn’t exactly have any Land Before Time or Sesame Street videos laying around to try and calm me. What she did have was Batman. Maybe not the most ideal film for a 4-year-old (Jack Nicolson’s smile might have haunted a less than brave child), but it was just fine with me. I remember Randi saying it was one of her favorite movies, and after that night, we watched it pretty much every time I was over for a few years.
Twenty-one years later, and my love of Batman has only gotten stronger. Outside of seeing all the movies (even the terrible ones), Peter and I have stacks and stacks of Batman and Batman-related comics between us, as well as action figures, art and more in our home. Obviously, seeing Batman at a young age inspired me to dig into the world of the Dark Knight, and by extension, comic books at large. But seeing Batman for the first time on that stormy night also has another meaning for me: it’s one of too few moments of bonding between my grandmother and me.
Randi was a tough and unapologetic woman and my sister and I were really her only interactions with children. She liked fishing and backpacking and NPR, things young children turned tweens turned teens didn’t always enjoy. I remember her chiding us for wearing nail polish, but not being able to put a worm on a hook. I remember getting scolded for patting her precious Jack Russell Terrier a little too hard. I remember worrying about saying the wrong thing or making a mistake around her. But I also remember how much she loved my grandfather and how much my grandfather loved her. I remember how she laughed and smiled when we played Gin or Spoons. I remember how she told my sister what a beautiful singing voice she had. And I’ll always remember when my mother told me that Randi had inoperable cancer. She had been a smoker for many years, but hadn’t touched a cigarette in more than 20 when the diagnosis came. She had had cancer once before, beat it, but now it was back. My grandpa had just retired and they’d bought their dream home in Lake Isabella, CA, ready to spend their remaining years gardening and fishing together. And as much as I didn’t always like her, I cried on many occasion knowing that my beloved grandfather would be losing the love of his life.
She passed away a few days before Christmas, and the holiday is still a bit of a sad time for my grandpa. For a few years, my mom would have a tree planted or give some money to a charity in her name as a gift to my grandpa. Perhaps this year I’ll give him a copy of Batman with the notion that I’ll always remember his wife for introducing me to something that has had a profound impact on my life and career.
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