WHY BATMAN MATTERS MORE TO BOOMERS

Why Ben Affleck Matters More To Batman.

via glogster.com

Baby boomers met Batman up close and personal. He wasn’t the first super hero, but he seemed the most like us.

His powers didn’t come from space, or a science accident, but from his own devices.

Bruce Wayne had more than a little Iron Man, though Batman’s birthday is 1939 and Iron Man’s in 1963.

Call him the uncle of many super heroes, a man who witnessed horrible violence as a boy and turned into a crime fighter.

Boomers can relate. For many the years the boomer youth era was so turbulent that the only choice was fighting back.

Or checking out. Cue Timothy Leary’s call to turn on, tune in, and drop out. If that didn’t work, back to the fight.

If only from the television, boomers saw the fights. From civil rights to campus riots, the culture wars inflicted the sort of damage only a country like America could absorb.

The tanks didn’t roll, but the National Guard opened fire. If folks in the south didn’t do what they were told they found dogs, and clubs, and water cannons reminding them.

This is where Ben Affleck’s Batman gets interesting.

Here’s a movie star set to fade into the background. He got Hollywood and Hollywood got him. Why not enjoy the time out of the limelight? He wouldn’t be the first Oscar winner to never be heard from again.

Instead, he geared up after going through the studio wash and rinse cycle a few times and came out with Argo, a game changer.

What made Argo great is what will make his Batman turn great. Trust. When Ben told his hostages he’d get them out, they trusted him. More importantly, the audience trusted him.

When we learn that Ben will be the new Batman, we still trust him. He’s earned it.

No one makes a better target than a big man, and Ben’s big.

He’s taken the shots, the slings and arrows of fame and fortune, and not quit.

We don’t need a quitter Batman.

His life behind the scenes felt full enough of the wrong people at the wrong place at the wrong time.

It was time to fade away, and who’d complain.

Rising from the ashes doesn’t mean shedding everything that weights you down, but more in finding the strength to try and get up.

Do that and the things that weigh you down have to find the strength to hang on.

Those lucky enough to find a good mate and have kids together understand the strength in those uplifting bonds. So does Ben.

And so will Ben Affleck’s Batman.