Caroline’s been watching the old “Batman” TV series on the Hub. She’s only a year or so younger than I was when I was watching it the first time around, so it’s been interesting to see it from her point of view. I have to tell you, her POV is way more advanced than mine was, and possibly is.
We were watching a third season episode featuring Catwoman (Eartha Kitt). Now Catwoman is hands down Caroline’s favorite villain. She was not the least bit put off by the fact that Catwoman had not only changed actresses but skin color; in fact, she thought it was hilarious when she recognized the voice as being that of the villainess in “Emperor’s New Groove.” As the plot unfolds, it’s revealed that Catwoman has not only gotten involved in crimes in the fashion world, but her ultimate goal is to snare the prized Golden Fleece, valued at–as Doctor Evil would say–one millllllion dollars.
And Caroline impatiently says, “This is wrong. It’s all wrong.” I said, “What do you mean?” She said, “Catwoman only cares about cat crimes. She doesn’t care about fashion. She doesn’t care about a golden fleece. She just only does things with cats.” I realized that she was absolutely right. Batman and Robin routinely would try to anticipate her next move in past episodes by seeing what cat-related events or treasures happened to be in Gotham that might be a target. The golden fleece would hold no allure for Catwoman, as portrayed in the TV series, whatsoever. So I told her, “Well, complain to the writers.” To which Caroline replied, “Who are they? Where are they?” I said, “Well, honestly, by this point, probably dead.”
Turns out I was right. The episode in question was written by one Stanley Ralph Ross, who passed away in 2000. It’s kind of a shame. Because if he were still with us, he would have been the recipient of a letter from an angry eight year old informing him that he had totally screwed up in an episode of “Batman” written forty-five years ago.
The thing is, not only had I not realized just how wrong the story concept was when I was a child, I didn’t even realize it now. Not until Caroline pointed it out. She’s got chops, this kid.
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