Camp Crusaders! - Enter Batgirl, Exit Penguin

Batman, Season Three, Episode 1: Enter Batgirl, Exit Penguin

Personal Rating: B

(A relatively weak episode, but points for the arrival of Batgirl)

The appearance of Batgirl is set amidst constant reminders of the patriarchal order in which Barbara Gordon resides.  The Penguin is not only male, but aspires to the upper echelons of society, and even evokes FDR with that cigarette holder.  And what greater figure of a patriarch was there in mid-twentieth-century America than the President?  Penguin is the corrupted version of respectable society, and thus a suitable vehicle for representing the systemic subjugation of women.  “Welcome to the cage, my wild dove!” crows Penguin, as he abducts her in an elevator.

Robin observes, “By marrying your daughter, Penguin becomes the son-in-law of the police commissioner.”  Possible immunity could result.  Gotham City, it seems, still operates in a medieval world of marriage alliances and imprisoned women.  “Obedience,” Penguin reminds his captive, “That is the first wifely virtue.”

Fortunately, Barbara refuses to play the damsel-in-distress.  She’s not intimidated by the Penguin and escapes from her captor.  She activates the false wall behind the vanity in her bedroom – and picks up her mask.  Of course, there is a mirror on the superhero side of the wall, too, because Batgirl still wants to look good.

Batgirl’s power and independence, therefore, are all the more striking set against the marriage-plot through which Penguin seeks to entrap her.  “Here comes the bride, all bagged and tied,” sings Penguin when he thinks he has her wrapped up.  Yet Batgirl is on the loose, and fighting crime in high heels.

“Holy agility,” says Robin, after she helps them in a fight.

Interestingly, Batgirl doesn’t want to join the Dynamic Duo’s team.  After Alfred discovers her secret, she insists that he promise never to reveal her identity to anyone – even Batman!  Batgirl will fight alongside our heroes – but she’ll do so as her own woman, not a sidekick.

“I’m sorry to be so helpless,” says Barbara, after pretending to be rescued by Batman and Robin.  Alfred’s knowing look emphasizes the irony of her statement.  Of course, even her own theme song – revealed in a later episode – will try to infantilize her.  “Whose baby are you, Batgirl?”  A feminist crime-fighter’s work is never done.