I Kinda AM Batman
2014-10-10 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:54 · watch on YouTube
Topic: Pop culture · mode: Personal essay · tags: self promotion, civic or action cta
Hank answers John's anti-Batman video: Batman is a simplified reflection of all of us who do the good that makes the world work, but, built to represent everyone, blockbuster heroes keep under-representing the same groups and reinforce a white, male default.
What is said
The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).
00:00:00 — Reply to John: most disliked video ever; John got Batman wrong; Bruce Wayne does help Gotham
- ★ Hank thanks John, tongue in cheek, for making their most disliked Vlogbrothers video ever, apparently just by insulting a fictional vigilante. (playful) — 00:00:00 · Vlogbrothers
- ★★ Hank tells John he got Batman pretty much entirely wrong: Bruce Wayne does help the city's infrastructure as much as he can amid its deep-rooted corruption. (playful) — 00:00:07
00:00:27 — Batman reflects our values and anger at injustice; Gotham's evil simplified; we are all bat-people doing everyday good
- ★★★ Hank says John's video used Batman to argue individuals cannot and should not have the power to change everything alone; celebrating that idea in media is not odd, Hank thinks, but complicated. (hedged) — 00:00:27
- ★★★ Hank argues Batman's values and actions reflect our own desires to make the world better, packaged as entertainment; Gotham's criminals simplify the evil we know exists. — 00:00:47 · also in: BONUS: We Are All Bat People (Songified Batman Argument)
- ★★★ Hank says Batman reflects our anger, ambition and powerlessness, and simplifies all of us who do the good that makes the world work: we are all bat-people. — 00:01:15 · collective action
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★★ Hank says our vigilantism is everyday: building roads, teaching children, cleaning sewers, inventing light bulbs, caring for each other and bettering ourselves. — 00:01:41 · collective action
“the vigilantism of everyday kindness and hard work”
00:01:52 — Batman vs Superman; to sell tickets heroes are broad averages with a white, male default; mass-culture movies under-represent the same groups; comics do better
- ★★ Hank calls Batman a more complex simplification than Superman, who is too simple to be relatable; we see ourselves in Batman's anger, frustration and sadness. — 00:01:52
- ★★★ Hank says to sell the most tickets movie Batman must be broadly representative, an average of cultural values, with hot, buff, rich, white, male traits treated as desirable or default - where trouble starts. (hedged) — 00:02:05
- ★★★ Hank's biggest problem with Batman and other billion-dollar mass-culture movies: aiming to represent broadly, they keep under-representing the same groups and reinforce and create a male, white default. — 00:02:31
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★★ Hank says it's complicated, all simplicity is a lie, and we could do better; comics already do, because they don't cost $500 million to make and can take risks. — 00:03:04
“All simplicity is a lie!”
00:03:19 — Sign-off to John; time to think about P4A 2014; perks incl. a Nerdfighter music compilation album, contributions invited
- ★★ Hank says that on October 10th it is time to start thinking about the Project for Awesome; they are working on perks, including a compilation album of Nerdfighter music. — 00:03:21 · Project for Awesome, Nerdfighteria
- ★★ Hank invites anyone who wants to contribute Nerdfighteria-inspired music to the P4A compilation album to find information in the description. — 00:03:31 · Project for Awesome, Nerdfighteria
00:03:35 — Games with Hank clip and invitation to visit
Threads in this video
- restate · Do people achieve more together than as individuals? — Hank says Batman is a simplification of all of us who do the good that makes the world work, through the everyday vigilantism of kindness and hard work. (00:01:22) → refers to I Kind of Hate Batman
- restate · Does popular culture represent people fairly, or does it reinforce a narrow default? — Hank's biggest problem with Batman and billion-dollar mass-culture movies: they keep under-representing the same groups and reinforce a male, white default. (00:02:31)
- announced · P4A 2014 edition — Hank says it is time to start thinking about the Project for Awesome and that they are working on very cool perks. (00:03:21)
- asked · Hank asks Nerdfighters to contribute music to the P4A 2014 compilation album perk (2014) — Hank invites contributions of Nerdfighteria-inspired music to a P4A 2014 perk compilation album, with information in the description. (00:03:26)
Where the stories that moved here went next
- P4A 2014 edition — completed; last: outcome, 2015-01-13
Mentioned
Central: Batman (“I Kinda AM Batman”) · media representation
Also: Alfred Pennyworth · collective action · Gotham City · HankGames · Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg · Katie Holmes · Project for Awesome · Superman
Also centred on Batman: Is Hank Green Batman? · GIFs, JIFs, Whip Pans, Trivia, and BATMAN! · I Kind of Hate Batman · A Minor Crisis · 7 Weirdest Marriages (or Lack Thereof) From an Airport
Replies to
- corrects · I Kind of Hate Batman — “your video on Tuesday wasn't really about Batman”
Later videos replying to this one
- 2015-03-30 · BONUS: We Are All Bat People (Songified Batman Argument) (John) — imitates (variant on Hank's 'we are all bat-people' line, songified by the Gregory Brothers (2015)) — The Gregory Brothers make Hank's "we are all bat-people" line from the Batman argument the hook of a songified duet. (00:00:11)