This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Mr Etaoin Shrdlu: I was just about to put this on YKTTW. Anyway, good article, someone may want to consider rewriting the description - the current version is directly lifted from The Other Wiki.
Matthew The Raven: Is this necessary?
- Your Mileage May Vary: A hauntingly brilliant insight into the inner psychology of Batman and his enemies, or a pile of shit that uses pretentious symbolism to make its overblown psychobabble seem deep? You be the judge. (For a long time, the opinion was that of the former).
Do we have to put one of these on every work?
Lynceus: Well, to be fair, YMMV -is- true of almost every work, but it tends to be used for examples that are especially polarizing, with Arkham Asylum falling well into that category. For instance, I was actually unaware that the general reaction to the comic was positive, if indeed it was. I myself, and the reviews I've read (admittedly only a couple), tend towards a kind of lukewarm-cool reaction to the comic as a whole, and a "...Seriously, WTF Grant Morrison?" reaction upon reading all the supposed symbolism that was in the script. Clayface is Batman's fear of sexuality? A psychotic version of Batman isn't a borderline schizophrenic adrenaline junkie, but rather a man so emotionally vulnerable that a simple word-association that reminds him of his mother's death can bring him to the verge of completely breaking down? Isn't the death of his parents, you know, Batman's main motivation? Hell, just look at the entry about the inmates insanity "echoing backwards in time." This troper thinks its good to acknowledge that there is a chunk of the population that finds the symbolism to be utterly pretentious in a Batman story, especially one that is somewhat lacking otherwise.
