Bat-mania
Batman flies off the shelves, walking down a highschool hallway it is still easy to spot some binders or backpacks with the yellow logo. “Holy Commodity Fetish, Batman!” The Political Economy of a Commercial Intertext,” by Eileen R. Meehan, places Batman in a context that explains the economic success of his popularity for Warner Communications Inc., and the masses. Meheen’s goal is to explain that, “another dimension must be added to our analyses of media generally and of Batman specifically,” (48). This article delves into the audiences that are being targeted, “Bat-materials” or paraphernalia, and the context that Batman is positioned in with relation to the audiences in the popular culture context.
Interestingly trying to focus on the Why’s of his success, “To understand Batman then, requires that our analysis of corporate structure, market structures and interpenetrating industries,” (49) because without funding or money, without proper advertising he would have been a flop in the market. In 1989 when the merger between Times and Warner Communication Inc. happened there was a change in the market. They became one of the biggest leaders in Entertainment, focusing on films, after there was a crash in the game industry. Companies found themselves floundering, and finding new ways to fit into a different popular culture. Meehan uses the history to better place Batman’s functionality in an expanding market. Expanding after they almost lsot everything and had to focus on the things that are worth investing in. It seems interesting that for things to make it, super-heroes. Their ideas stick in the hearts of kids and adults, but with Meehan it is easy to see that there have to be perfect conditions and timing in order to accomplish the creation of a mass produced icon. In her own way she suggests this with the idea of text and inter-text, the reality of information between the lines.
They switched up audiences in the 1980’s where the studios tried to test changes in the well-known super heroes on multiple playing fields, books, comics. They used sales and majority opinions within the masses, to actually give the audiences what they wanted. We can see this today in reality game shows that let the audience vote. An audience that does not necessarily have any book knowledge about comics, but are emotionally guided by the things that are popular. This article was a breath of fresh air when it comes to the reality of money and timing to impact the motivations and popularity of the character. Batman was a product of his environment. The audience basically created him, and he flew off the shelves. It does not seem like he will be going anywhere soon, because he is one of the characters that still resonates within the hearts of many (meaning he still sells) and his logo’s can be found in many stores, and online websites, “Word-of-mouth can break a film designed as a blockbuster, or elevate an obscure movie to the status of a cult film,” (61).
Batman flies off the shelves, walking down a highschool hallway it is still easy to spot some binders or backpacks with the yellow logo. “Holy Commodity Fetish, Batman!” The Political Economy of a Commercial Intertext,” by Eileen R. Meehan, places Batman in a context that explains the economic success of his popularity for Warner Communications Inc., and the masses. Meheen’s goal is to explain that, “another dimension must be added to our analyses of media generally and of Batman specifically,” (48). This article delves into the audiences that are being targeted, “Bat-materials” or paraphernalia, and the context that Batman is positioned in with relation to the audiences in the popular culture context.
Interestingly trying to focus on the Why’s of his success, “To understand Batman then, requires that our analysis of corporate structure, market structures and interpenetrating industries,” (49) because without funding or money, without proper advertising he would have been a flop in the market. In 1989 when the merger between Times and Warner Communication Inc. happened there was a change in the market. They became one of the biggest leaders in Entertainment, focusing on films, after there was a crash in the game industry. Companies found themselves floundering, and finding new ways to fit into a different popular culture. Meehan uses the history to better place Batman’s functionality in an expanding market. Expanding after they almost lsot everything and had to focus on the things that are worth investing in. It seems interesting that for things to make it, super-heroes. Their ideas stick in the hearts of kids and adults, but with Meehan it is easy to see that there have to be perfect conditions and timing in order to accomplish the creation of a mass produced icon. In her own way she suggests this with the idea of text and inter-text, the reality of information between the lines.
They switched up audiences in the 1980’s where the studios tried to test changes in the well-known super heroes on multiple playing fields, books, comics. They used sales and majority opinions within the masses, to actually give the audiences what they wanted. We can see this today in reality game shows that let the audience vote. An audience that does not necessarily have any book knowledge about comics, but are emotionally guided by the things that are popular. This article was a breath of fresh air when it comes to the reality of money and timing to impact the motivations and popularity of the character. Batman was a product of his environment. The audience basically created him, and he flew off the shelves. It does not seem like he will be going anywhere soon, because he is one of the characters that still resonates within the hearts of many (meaning he still sells) and his logo’s can be found in many stores, and online websites, “Word-of-mouth can break a film designed as a blockbuster, or elevate an obscure movie to the status of a cult film,” (61).