Batman Extravaganza

In May of 1986 I was involved in a school program that tried to support children who demonstrated intellectual or creative potential. It was in this class that we did special art projects and it was in this class that I had the opportunity to put on a play. I wrote or gave significant input into the creation of a play based on the disappearance of a butterfly that required the assistance of Batman and Robin to help locate the missing insect. I of course made Batman while Brad Kittle, I believe, made and performed the puppet Robin. We made our crude puppets out of paper, plaster and paint as our art teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson, helped us with decorating them. We performed the show for the kindergarten class below us to rave reviews in a one day only performance that had as much historical relevancy as the Apollo 11 moon landing of 1969. I still have that puppet and one day it just may be on loan to the Smithsonian.

I wish I could find the pictures of me holding the puppet after the show so you could see me in my white jacket, gray pants and pink shirt- guess who I wanted to look like.

The pictures of me dressed up in my first Batman costume sweating profusely from the forehead are missing as well. The purpose of all this is to demonstrate my excitement over the latest installment to the Batman franchise.

I can remember watching television on the floor of my grandmother's house when I first heard the news that Micheal Keaton was to play Batman. I was peeved, that role was to be mine. I cursed Michael Keaton and this director Tim Burton for taking away my chance to play the role I was born to play. In 1989 my father took Keith and I to see that movie and during dinner at Red Lobster before the show my father taught my brother and I how to flirt by demonstrating this to us with the help of the young waitress waiting on our table. He seriously said, "I'm going to teach you how to flirt." I've never needed coaching since then. Score one for Jim on the parenting skills list please. I loved the first two Batman movies and the rest, like most people, I could go without. Then, in 2005 that mastermind Chris Nolan got a hold of the franchise and turned it around making it good again. My disappointment at the realization that I wouldn't play Bats came flashing back to me. I've dreamed of being an actor since I was young and I always had the hope that I'd be discovered like Christopher Reeve and given the role of a lifetime, so when my second favorite character was picked to be in the next movie I was again crushed knowing I'd never play the part of the Joker. At least the part went to a deserving and incredibly talented individual like Heath Ledger. When I heard that he had the part I knew he would smash it out of the park spanking Jack Nicholson on the buttocks while he rounds the bases. Tomorrow I go see the movie with my father and I'm as excited as I was at ten years old standing in line in front of Movie World waiting to see my favorite superhero come to life on the big screen.