In, “Holy Commodity Fetish, Batman! The Political Economy of a Commercial Intertext,” by Eileen R. Meehan, Meehan illustrates Batman’s booming popularity through multiple mass media outlets. Something I found interesting within this article was the concept of underground comixs, apparently, “their explicit portrayals of drugs, sex, violence, political corruption, and the ills of capitalism” became popular (52). The underground comixs developed a line of comics specifically for adults by, “mixing neoconservative ideologies with vigilantes, victims of child abuse and explicit violence” (52). I can understand the appeal of violence in comics but not the victims of child abuse concept. After Warner Communications Inc., was granted the film rights for Batman, they became active in building a fan base. By releasing The Dark Night Returns series in book form, having people vote on whether or not to kill Robin off then releasing “A Death in the Family” illustrating Robin’s death, soundtracks being released and Prince’s video of his song “Batdance” using dialogue from the film lead to the release of the movie. By doing that, WCI created a fan base as well as tested the waters to see how people react to the idea of a Batman movie. To me, it seems like WCI utilized all their mass media outlets to get people excited for the movie. However, by doing so, people expect a lot for how the movie should be and that can lead to negative feedback. I’ve experienced seeing a movie because the advertisements were hilarious, only to be disappointed while watching the movie because I thought it would be funnier.
The advertising and licensing market need to work together to manufacture superhero merchandise which helps get people excited for the movie. I can see the difficulty with worrying about what people will think of a product, especially a movie. Millions of dollars went into the production of Batman as well as the advertising to target not just one audience but multiple. With the use of clothing, music, comics, books, and toys, any superhero can become a multimedia sales campaign. I don’t think products can succeed without being advertised and Meehan demonstrates how Batman was advertised in more than one multimedia outlet. I watch a lot of movies and I probably wouldn’t have watched any of the movies I’ve watched before if they weren’t advertised. Advertisements are what draw people in and get them to watch movies. I’m in shock at how much money is invested in making a movie but I didn’t know those costs included the presumption of a sequel as well as being “the seed money for a line of Bat-media” (55). For some reason, I assumed the money invested was for the production of one movie.
I feel that WCI was very smart in their advertising technique leading up to the movie and even during the movie being played in theatres. By carrying the entire line of Bat-products in the theaters, if people enjoyed the film they could buy merchandise which results in even more money for WCI. However, I don’t like how they targeted young children by placing visuals from the film hidden in Topps’ magazine considering the movie was PG-13. Since children aren’t allowed to watch without their parents, advertisers found a loophole because children can buy movie-related products without their parents’ permission. I just think it’s sneaky and if it’s not appropriate for children to view, children shouldn’t be looking at those images. Selling products to children isn’t wrong but showing images from the movie in children’s magazines is.
The advertising and licensing market need to work together to manufacture superhero merchandise which helps get people excited for the movie. I can see the difficulty with worrying about what people will think of a product, especially a movie. Millions of dollars went into the production of Batman as well as the advertising to target not just one audience but multiple. With the use of clothing, music, comics, books, and toys, any superhero can become a multimedia sales campaign. I don’t think products can succeed without being advertised and Meehan demonstrates how Batman was advertised in more than one multimedia outlet. I watch a lot of movies and I probably wouldn’t have watched any of the movies I’ve watched before if they weren’t advertised. Advertisements are what draw people in and get them to watch movies. I’m in shock at how much money is invested in making a movie but I didn’t know those costs included the presumption of a sequel as well as being “the seed money for a line of Bat-media” (55). For some reason, I assumed the money invested was for the production of one movie.
I feel that WCI was very smart in their advertising technique leading up to the movie and even during the movie being played in theatres. By carrying the entire line of Bat-products in the theaters, if people enjoyed the film they could buy merchandise which results in even more money for WCI. However, I don’t like how they targeted young children by placing visuals from the film hidden in Topps’ magazine considering the movie was PG-13. Since children aren’t allowed to watch without their parents, advertisers found a loophole because children can buy movie-related products without their parents’ permission. I just think it’s sneaky and if it’s not appropriate for children to view, children shouldn’t be looking at those images. Selling products to children isn’t wrong but showing images from the movie in children’s magazines is.