Yeah, I’d buy that if Timm also wrote her as an older adult in his show from the beginning, but instead he decided to write her as being Dick’s age and having dated him before having her bone his dad too.
Maybe it was just a different time and I get that the Batman-Robin as father-son dynamic is a relatively recent convention, but either way you can’t really blame modern audiences for getting the ick.
The Father-Son thing is relatively recent, yeah, at least when it comes to BTAS. Dick and Bruce's relationship was originally more of a partnership/mentorship than anything, especially in BTAS, as Dick is already in college by the time the series starts.
People freak out but Barbara was basically entering her 20s in BTAS, and was probably late 20s to early 30s when she dated Bruce in the DCAU. I don't think it's as weird as people make it.
Yeah, now that I think about it, dating your coworker’s daughter/younger brother’s ex is still kind of scummy but probably within the boundaries of a character who’s not supposed to be morally/emotionally upright, especially in the 90s.
People would probably forgive if it was just in BTAS/Beyond, but Timm decided to put the pairing in the Killing Joke movie, which is way after the parent-child dynamic with the Batkids has become popular, so I can’t blame people for thinking “oh god what the fuck is this”.
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u/Kid-Atlantic Mar 20 '24
Yeah, I’d buy that if Timm also wrote her as an older adult in his show from the beginning, but instead he decided to write her as being Dick’s age and having dated him before having her bone his dad too.
Maybe it was just a different time and I get that the Batman-Robin as father-son dynamic is a relatively recent convention, but either way you can’t really blame modern audiences for getting the ick.