Batman Returns is NOT a Christmas Movie...BUT...

 Every Christmas season on my podcast, my associate Michael and I consider a movie that may - or may not - be a Christmas movie.  We considered Die Hard and came to the conclusion that it IS a Christmas movie.  Next, we considered Lethal Weapon.  When you have a car chase through a Christmas Tree lot it has to be a Christmas movie!  Which brings us to our movie of choice this year:  Batman Returns.  This 1992 superhero movie has the backdrop of Christmas in Gotham City - decorations, Christmas trees, and even snow for good measure.  Surely this MUST be a Christmas movie…but alas, after a thorough consideration of this film, we can only conclude that it has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas.  BUT…that isn’t to say this movie doesn’t have an important message for you and me to consider.

The director, Tim Burton, has a habit of making movies that challenges the viewer to consider with softer and gentler lenses the odd, the misfit, the freak of society and how they exactly fit in to the whole.  Just consider some of his previous works:  Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Dumbo, and most recently on Netflix, Wednesday.  In each of these productions the main character is considered an outcast, different, abnormal, and outside the boundaries of the society.  And yet he presents these characters in such a light that the character become relatable, understandable, and dare I say lovable.  

Let’s face it:  Batman is an odd-ball.  But didn’t his circumstances dictate that? A young Bruce Wayne witnesses his parents murdered in front of him.  He becomes a recluse armed with money, an incredible imagination, and filled with a sense of justice.  Thus, Batman is released on the world to serve as the glue that holds an ever-broiling society together.  And even the villains he faces are not too different from himself.  In the movie the Penguin is an outcast living in the sewers of Gotham - relating more fluidly with penguins than with people.  And Catwoman?  I think it’s safe to say that she  is truly the first crazy cat lady.  Yet, in each of these characters we see glimpses of ourselves.  Some of those qualities and characteristics are comforting…while others are reflective of the darkness that shades our souls.

In the book of Isaiah the prophet writes:  “…Let the outcasts of Moab sojourn among you; be a shelter to them from the destroyer…” (Isaiah 16:4).  Maybe we need to be a little more accommodating; a little more patient with those who march to a different drum beat.  Maybe Batman Returns is a bell call to be kinder, gentler, and more open to those are a little different from ourselves…and for society to be open to us as well.  

And even though we came to the conclusion that Batman Returns is NOT a Christmas movie, maybe it does have a Christmas message at heart - be kind and compassionate to one another - loving those who are distinctively different from ourselves.  Because when we do this we are truly reflecting the heart of the one who took on flesh and lay in the manger of Bethlehem.  After all, Jesus came for the odd, the misfit, and the freaks of society- that is the joy of Christmas:  Jesus came for everyone…even you and me.

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