So there's a Batman day, but what about a Joker day? I'm thinking October 4th. Why you ask?
Batman Online just shared this on Facebook.
(https://www.batman-online.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi58.tinypic.com%2F16bei39.jpg&hash=cd808021620163d66c7edb84bf2452fedd3bf61f)
We get a LOT of information here about our friend, Jack. The most interesting to me is the birthdate: 10/04/64. The movie is very ambiguous as to an actual date (which is to its credit). Though if we were to take this literally, the Batman movie would have to take place far into the future. The exact year (according to Nicholson's age)? 2016.
Whoa.
Jack Napier could have been younger than Jack's actual age, just aged by stress, late nights, boozin' and snoozin', etc. Just a thought.
Quote from: Slash Man on Fri, 27 Mar 2015, 01:11
So there's a Batman day, but what about a Joker day? I'm thinking October 4th. Why you ask?
But I thought The Joker was a Pisces?!? ;D
Yeah, this is wrong if Joker is a Pisces. Pisces runs from about February 20 to March 20. But the Joker is crazy and not credible. In some versions of the character he can't even tell you how he got scarred.
I see this movie as taking place in another world in which we can't really put a date on it. I see all four movies this way actually. There's an article on Gotham Alleys which studies newspapers seen in Batman '89 and reveals dating information that contradicts this poster. I think we should take it as meaning that it's a timeless world. Another dimension.
Let me see if I can find that article. It's fascinating.
Here it is. Fascinating article. And fascinating website too.
http://gothamalleys.blogspot.com/2011/11/when-does-batman-take-place.html (http://gothamalleys.blogspot.com/2011/11/when-does-batman-take-place.html)
I love the old quote that goes something like "If I'm going to have an origin story, might as well make it multiple choice."
Quote from: JokerMeThis on Fri, 27 Mar 2015, 04:02
Here it is. Fascinating article. And fascinating website too.
http://gothamalleys.blogspot.com/2011/11/when-does-batman-take-place.html (http://gothamalleys.blogspot.com/2011/11/when-does-batman-take-place.html)
This is interesting. The 'date prepared' is actually the present in 1989. Which would make Joker 24 (being on the same poster and all). Clearly, dates were intentionally misleading. It's like some kind of dream world.
These four movies are definitely surreal. That's part of their charm for me. According to that news paper Harry Truman is president and yet Gotham has modern cars, color television, and yet old-fashioned clothes, cameras and microphones, at least in the Burton movies. In the Schumacher movies I think Gotham seems more modernized. It's like a whole other world with a blending of different eras and history is different. Since Truman is president maybe World War II occurred in the 1980's.
Quote from: Slash Man on Fri, 27 Mar 2015, 16:08
Quote from: JokerMeThis on Fri, 27 Mar 2015, 04:02
Here it is. Fascinating article. And fascinating website too.
http://gothamalleys.blogspot.com/2011/11/when-does-batman-take-place.html (http://gothamalleys.blogspot.com/2011/11/when-does-batman-take-place.html)
This is interesting. The 'date prepared' is actually the present in 1989. Which would make Joker 24 (being on the same poster and all). Clearly, dates were intentionally misleading. It's like some kind of dream world.
Wow my brain switched off. I was thinking 34, not 24. Me and math never were very good friends but gah. lol
Quote from: JokerMeThis on Fri, 27 Mar 2015, 20:12
These four movies are definitely surreal. That's part of their charm for me. According to that news paper Harry Truman is president and yet Gotham has modern cars, color television, and yet old-fashioned clothes, cameras and microphones, at least in the Burton movies. In the Schumacher movies I think Gotham seems more modernized. It's like a whole other world with a blending of different eras and history is different. Since Truman is president maybe World War II occurred in the 1980's.
The more I notice these things, the more I respect the world the filmmakers created. How do you adapt a series that has a rich 50-year history? They did the impossible and linked it back to the beginning. To make a comparison, Batman could have been like the 60s show - an excellent adaptation confined to the decade its in. But it went beyond that to become timeless. Really, the only thing that can really be pinned on Batman as being "80s" is Prince.
Returns was a different Gotham, but had much the same feeling to it. Forever through TDK have held up well for the time being, but like you said, it's easier to see clear time period it its design.
Quote from: JokerMeThis on Fri, 27 Mar 2015, 20:12
These four movies are definitely surreal. That's part of their charm for me. According to that news paper Harry Truman is president and yet Gotham has modern cars, color television, and yet old-fashioned clothes, cameras and microphones, at least in the Burton movies. In the Schumacher movies I think Gotham seems more modernized. It's like a whole other world with a blending of different eras and history is different. Since Truman is president maybe World War II occurred in the 1980's.
If Truman was President during the events of Batman 1989, does that mean Eisenhower was in power during the events of Batman Returns?
I see the Gotham of Batman Returns as representing a very conservative, fiercely anti-Communist environment akin to the early nine-fifties and the 'Red Scare' which coincided with the transition from Truman's presidency to Eisenhower's.
In Batman Returns Bruce mentions Ted Bundy and the fictional character Norman Bates. Alfred mentions "The Love Connection" and Max mentions Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew. But this just makes the paradox all the more fascinating when you remember that Harry Truman is president or was recently president and some of the other elements reflecting different eras.
I've never noticed it myself but someone once said he saw that some of the birth years of Gotham's firstborn on either Penguin's lists or the records he was reading were in the 1920's. If true this is yet another delightful paradox.
I think it's very possible Dwight Eisenhower was president during Batman Returns in its universe. Maybe the McCarthy era occurred at the same time in this fictional world as well.
Max mentions Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew but maybe they were president and vice president before Truman and Eisenhower in this world. And perhaps someone else is Vice President during the Eisenhower administration rather than Richard Nixon.
Doesn't one of those pictures showing Max meeting celebrities include one of him meeting President Reagan? Or maybe it was President Nixon. I don't remember for certain. If it was Reagan perhaps he was president prior to Truman's and Eisenhower's administrations in this movie's world as well.
Apparently, it does offer one concrete instance of dates, despite contradicting itself in the instances you've mentioned. The first infants of Gotham were born in 1950/51:
http://screencaps.us/199/2-batman-returns/full/batman-returns-disneyscreencaps.com-4112.jpg
http://screencaps.us/199/2-batman-returns/full/batman-returns-disneyscreencaps.com-4118.jpg
http://screencaps.us/199/2-batman-returns/full/batman-returns-disneyscreencaps.com-4123.jpg
So going back to the 1947 timeframe, Batman Returns would take place four or five years later. I forget if it was actually officially given how many years Returns takes place after the original.
So it's possible that Batman Returns takes place in the winter of 1951, or maybe 1952/1953 if the children are older.
Maybe. But it's not the 1950's we remember. It has color televisions, television remote controls, modern cars, Ted Bundy, Norman Bates and "The Love Connection." It's another world.
Some people might find this interesting.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RetroUniverse (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RetroUniverse)