The Penguin doesn’t want to be normal – he wants to be heard. The goal of transition is not to not look trans, but rather to be at ease with the reflection of one’s self in the mirror. It is deeply dehumanising to experience shock and surprise from a cisgender person upon hearing that trans people can lead happy, normal lives. Narratives about trans people tend to focus on pain and misery, reinforcing the public perception that our lives are universally terrible. With so few trans journalists employed by prominent outlets, trans people do well to follow The Penguin’s lead when engaging the media, who often frame our lives in the most sensational ways possible. “The Penguin teaches us to cast aside the burdens of conformity in our pursuit of a meaningful existence.” Without that feel-good moment, Cobblepot’s story would be no different from any other homeless person who lived in the sewers. He turns a visit to his parents’ graves into a publicity event surrounded by cameras, Cobblepot earns the public’s adulation with his disingenuous conciliatory message of forgiveness. The Penguin similarly understands that the media’s sympathy for his story hinges on his ability to sell them a narrative worthy to print. Shreck not only participates willingly, he befriends Cobblepot and plants the seeds for The Penguin’s mayoral candidacy. He captures Max Shreck (Christopher Walken) in the film’s opening fight sequence, intending to blackmail the shady business mogul into assisting him with a staged kidnapping of the mayor’s baby in order to take credit for its rescue. Anti-transgender campaigners are frequently given media platforms denied to trans people, which they use to send a loud public message that we do not belong in their world.Įvery single one of The Penguin’s relationships in Batman Returns are transactional in nature.
Laws restricting access to public toilets or adequate medical care exist to reinforce our perceived status as second-class citizens, unworthy of basic human dignity. Transgender people are forced to live in a society that constantly belittles our own humanity. It’s not until halfway through the film that The Penguin even learns his real name. Deemed unworthy to live in ordinary society, Cobblepot spends the next few decades living among the penguins at Gotham Zoo, developing a warped perspective on morality along the way. The film begins with a flashback sequence where a newborn Oswald is cruelly rejected by his parents locked in a cage before being tossed over a bridge in a bassinet.
The common denominator across The Penguin’s 80-year existence is his resounding sense of ugliness.īurton largely sidelines Batman in favour of The Penguin as the emotional core of Batman Returns. Danny DeVito’s monstrous portrayal represented a sharp departure from his previous styling as an elegant aristocratic mob boss seen in the comics and in Burgess Meredith’s take for the ’60s Batman television series. Spearheaded by Tim Burton’s Batman Returns, the ’90s brought about many changes to the character in order to bring Cobblepot more in line physically with an actual penguin, including webbed hands. Created in 1941 by legendary comic book writers Bob Kane and Bill Finger, The Penguin operates more like an old-fashioned gangster than any of his costumed peers. Oswald Cobblepot is neither insane like The Joker or Two-Face, nor intent on transforming Gotham into a dystopian hellscape like Mr Freeze or Bane. The Penguin is an anomaly within Batman’s rogues gallery of baddies. Yet decades worth of comic book lore has also produced a number of villains who, despite their obvious treachery, are far more relatable to those of us who can’t see ourselves in the genre’s biggest names. Audiences are supposed to be inspired by the selfless acts of heroes like Superman, Batman, Iron Man, or Wonder Woman, individuals with the powers of gods or the bank accounts to buy them. The entire superhero genre hinges on the never-ending dance between good and evil.
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