Althouse: He's "stale, hairy and vanilla."

August 24, 2013

He's "stale, hairy and vanilla."

The reasons — according to the NY Post — why 100s of 1000s of people think Ben Affleck should not play the role of Batman.

14 comments:

Chris said...: Folks, this is a friggin' superhero movie, not high art. I'm sure the legacy of Batman will survive intact.; 8/24/13, 10:21 AM
Stephen Taylor said...: I remember well the hue and cry about Michael Keaton, and he was excellent; he played well against Nicholson.

Oh, and either "hew" or "hue" is appropriate in this context. I recall our first color television set, a Magnavox, had a "hue" dial.; 8/24/13, 10:37 AM
chickelit said...: I picked up the vibe the other day that Althouse shares the general revulsion for pale and hairy men and thinks it shouldn't be aesthetically projected in public: link Duly noted.; 8/24/13, 11:17 AM
cubanbob said...: Vanilla is good for kids. As an adult I prefer dark. I for one would prefer the hero be dark and the villains darker. Now if Quentin Tarantino-in his prime-could do a Batman movie in a Sin City style that would be cool but that would require someone other than Ben Affleck.; 8/24/13, 11:32 AM
Gahrie said...: As long as Matt Damon isn't Robin...I'm fine with it.; 8/24/13, 11:41 AM
Anonymous said...: If this is still a free country, a "stale, hairy, vanilla" girly-man can play whatever he wants to play. Just don't go to see him.

I have a feeling, this "controversy" was manufactured by some PR firms to steer attention to the next Batman movie.

Btw, the new Superman is cute, but the serious and grim opening was a turn off. I turned it off before Crowe finished telling his wife that they were doomed. I like comics to remain comics, unbelievable, light hearted fun.; 8/24/13, 12:29 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Affleck is very talented. People are being silly.; 8/24/13, 1:10 PM
Jeff Gee said...: I’d have thought Affleck consolidated a major comeback with his Argo Oscar win earlier this year and that, as with Robert Downey, audiences would be rooting for him to keep it going. Shows what I know. Tweeters worried about his facial hair should be advised that we now have a technological solution to this problem.; 8/24/13, 1:49 PM
Clyde said...: What was wrong with Christian Bale? Why didn't they bring him back?; 8/24/13, 3:35 PM
Gahrie said...: What was wrong with Christian Bale? Why didn't they bring him back?

Different franchise. Bale was contracted to the Dark Knight trilogy, this is for a Superman/Batman crossover movie.; 8/24/13, 5:45 PM
glam1931 said...: It's simpler than that...Christian Bale simply didn't want to do it again. He made it clear after the last film that he was done.; 8/24/13, 10:46 PM
spudchuker said...: Why not a black bat man? Will Smith would be prefect.; 8/24/13, 11:03 PM
Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...: Overkill. Ben Affleck? Really didn't need another reason to not see a new Batman movie.

At the insistence of our grandson, who was visiting at the time, we saw "Dark Knight" in a theatre.

Mostly a senseless collage of visual bites, less than a second each, close-ups of some body part being struck by a fist or some other object.

The whole thing was literally so dark it was difficult to make out what was happening.

So - that's what film making has become? Senseless violence, all done in a studio, close-up, dim lighting, blurred background. Bunch of cheap movie tricks.

And it's sunny and warm outside the theatre. I could be at the range with a pistol for a relaxing, mind-focusing, session of Zen and the Art of Target Shooting.; 8/25/13, 7:41 AM
Mitch H. said...: What was wrong with Christian Bale? Why didn't they bring him back?

His "Batman"'s story is complete, finished. There isn't really any room in the Nolan trilogy for another movie, which is one of the few things Nolan and his brother did right with The Dark Knight Rises, which otherwise I found scattered and disappointing.

As for Affleck - I wasn't going to see the movie, as I can't stand the live-action Superman franchise, and this doesn't change matters. I dunno, the feckless rich playboy archetype is starting to get a bit archaic. Billionaires these days are either self-made men, retiring and uninterested in the public eye, or hard-working types. The closest we ever get to the rich layabout socialite of yore is Paris Hilton.

Hey, there you go. Screw Batman, bring back Helena Wayne/Huntress or wasserhername, Kate Kane, the new Batwoman. Oh, yeah, that's right - supposedly women can't carry action movies, according to the Hollywood borgmind.; 8/26/13, 4:32 PM