Batman vs. the Joker's Boner

I once came across Orson Welles discussing the way the meanings of words he'd grown up using had changed over time. In particular, he mentioned the word "gay" whose meaning is certainly a bit more charged than when it was more or less a synonym for "happy". Another word whose meaning has shifted gears over the years is "boner", whose current scatological meaning is pretty far removed from its previous life as a colorful substitute for the word "mistake".

While some may lament the loss of innocence symbolized by that dissonance between past and present usage you'll get none of that from me. Language inevitably evolves and if it does so in a way that appeals to my inner-adolescent I'm all for it. Which brings me to the Caped Crusader. As anyone familiar with Dr. Frederic Wertham's infamous book Seduction of the Innocent knows, Batman is no stranger to curious interpretations. It's not surprising, then, that some Batman stories from the 1950s are entertaining for different reasons than the original creators intended.

A classic example is the 1951 story "The Joker's Comedy of Errors" (from Batman #66) which features the Joker basing his crimes on famous historical mistakes. There isn't enough time to list all the times that mistakes are referred to as "boners" throughout the text, and DC Comics (as owners of the intellectual property) probably wouldn't like me posting the entire story online. Fortunately, the brief (and legally acceptable) excerpt below gives you the general idea.

Even Grant Morrison can't write Batman this way anymore. It's even better than the story from the same era about Batman marrying Vicki Vale whose splash-page features an onlooker observing that he never thought he'd see the day Batman would fall for a girl.

There was a time when superhero characters were an endangered species with many characters vanishing as the 1950s progressed. Having handled both Frederic Wertham and the Joker's boners with his dignity intact, it's no surprise that Batman turned out to be one of the survivors.

Democracy is Messy

On the one-year anniversary of the passage of the health-care reform act, many things may have changed but the rhetoric certain hasn't. As often happens when they accomplish something, the Democrats aren't doing quite enough to highlight the benefits that have already taken effect. For their part, the Republicans continue to insist that the majority of Americans have an unfavorable view of the law, despite polls showing that said "majority" includes many people who think the law doesn't do enough.

All this is a reminder that this law, like the democratic process of governing itself, is a messy business. Rather than lament that fact, though, I think we should embrace it, because it shows that our democratic process is alive and well. The GOP really has no business complaining about the law passing without their input. The Democrats tried numerous approaches to get Republican support, before finally deciding that their responsibility to govern was more important than holding out for a token showing of bipartisan support to give themselves political cover for the tough re-election fights many of them knew were coming. Those congressional Democrats are true patriotic heroes for doing the right thing, even knowing they would pay a political price.

In the movie Touch of Evil, when responding to another character's complaint that a policeman's job is hard, Charlton Heston's character points out that a policeman's job is supposed to be hard and is only easy in a police state. The same is true of governing. Dictating laws without public accountability is simple, but working in a system where you have to explain your actions to constituents is a much trickier proposition.

The essence of a democracy isn't that elected officials should only do things the majority likes. That approach may be less messy and more beneficial for individual politicians but not so much for the whole country. Democracy demands breaking the mold for the common good. It isn't always pretty, but that's how we know it's working.