Thread by @samuptonn

*New Batman movie spoilers ahead*

So I watched the new Batman movie yesterday and was disgusted at the blatant harmful stereotypes of care experienced people in the movie. I read a bunch of reviews before seeing and so far that I’ve seen, no one is talking about this.

*Spoilers ahead*
It’s well-known that Batman is care experienced - his parents died in a tragic accident and he is raised by their butler Alfred. In the film, it’s told that Catwoman and the villain the Riddler are also care experienced and this motivates them in different ways.

Towards the end, the villain relives his experiences in an orphanage and tells them to Batman as a justification for his graphic and violent serial murdering of several high profile figures in the movie.

The film is set in present day as the villain used an Instagram like platform to send out posts on social media, yet discusses being tortured in the orphanage and that “each Winter a baby died because it was so cold.”

Equally, Catwoman is seen working for her drug king father as a dealer and club associate after retelling Batman her backstory growing up in care after her mother dies.

These stereotypes of care being used as a tragic yet compelling backstory, justification for violent and murderous behaviour, and descriptions of abuse within homes are damaging and hurt #CEP who have been working tirelessly for our community

This is not just a throwaway couple of lines: the three main characters of arguably the biggest movie of this year are all care experienced and feature extensive dialogue discussing so.

We need better representation. We deserve it. I was visibly upset after the movie, but even more so that no one is talking about this.