But yeah, that observation about what they'll do with a female Two-Face is very interesting, especially since so many writers have either ignored or retconned Bruce and Harvey's friendship over the years, despite it being something that goes back all the way to the latter's first appearance. It's almost enough to make me wonder if writers are disinterested in (or even put off by) writing about deep friendships between men, but now it's "safe" to explore those in the context of a man trying to save his unstable girlfriend.
I doubt that this was intentional by Johns, but considering how often people overlook the Bruce/Harvey friendship as being one of the most interesting things about Two-Face as a character in favor of just making him a boring gimmick villain, it does kinda raise a skeptical eyebrow to imagine it being explored in depth here with Jessica.
I would argue that writers these days - at least at DC - seem uncomfortable with friendships in general, given that they seem to go out of their way to subvert them whenever possible. Take Superman and Batman, for instance - a classic friendship; goes back decades. Even after it was partially derailed by the Crisis and the changing nature of the characters, they had a clear mutual respect for each other. Maybe they weren't best buddies anymore, but they were still friends. Now? They tolerate each other, and that's about it. Name me a recent Batman/Superman story that hasn't resulted in a fight. Heck, we're about to get a movie with both of them in it for the first time, but is it called 'Batman and Superman', or 'World's Finest' or anything like that? No, it's 'VS'. 'Batman VS Superman', because the gods only know we can't have our two flagship characters in a relationship of mutual respect.
Or for something a little more subtle, let's take Superman and Wonder Woman. Ever since the two characters first met, people were saying that they should hook up - and yet they didn't. Despite fan-pressure, the two stalwartly avoided becoming a couple. Why? Because they didn't need to be. They both had their own romantic interests already, and while they did share thematic similarities, they were mainly surface-deep. As Alan Moore put it, it would be "too predictable". And so for many years, they were simply friends - in fact, after Bats no longer filled the position, they were best friends. And now, suddenly, they're lovers. Now, one could argue that the best relationships are ones where you're lovers and best friends, but clearly DC isn't treating them like that - they're lovers, period, because that's sexier. The message? DC doesn't do 'platonic friends'. You can be lovers, or you can be enemies, but 'friends' is too difficult to market.
I personally prefer Dent as someone who's not friends with Bruce but only has a relationship with Batman. BTAS did the opposite which is why I've never understood it's praise in the Harvey Dent department.
But yeah, that observation about what they'll do with a female Two-Face is very interesting, especially since so many writers have either ignored or retconned Bruce and Harvey's friendship over the years, despite it being something that goes back all the way to the latter's first appearance. It's almost enough to make me wonder if writers are disinterested in (or even put off by) writing about deep friendships between men, but now it's "safe" to explore those in the context of a man trying to save his unstable girlfriend.
I doubt that this was intentional by Johns, but considering how often people overlook the Bruce/Harvey friendship as being one of the most interesting things about Two-Face as a character in favor of just making him a boring gimmick villain, it does kinda raise a skeptical eyebrow to imagine it being explored in depth here with Jessica.
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Now? They tolerate each other, and that's about it. Name me a recent Batman/Superman story that hasn't resulted in a fight. Heck, we're about to get a movie with both of them in it for the first time, but is it called 'Batman and Superman', or 'World's Finest' or anything like that? No, it's 'VS'. 'Batman VS Superman', because the gods only know we can't have our two flagship characters in a relationship of mutual respect.
Or for something a little more subtle, let's take Superman and Wonder Woman. Ever since the two characters first met, people were saying that they should hook up - and yet they didn't. Despite fan-pressure, the two stalwartly avoided becoming a couple.
Why? Because they didn't need to be. They both had their own romantic interests already, and while they did share thematic similarities, they were mainly surface-deep. As Alan Moore put it, it would be "too predictable". And so for many years, they were simply friends - in fact, after Bats no longer filled the position, they were best friends.
And now, suddenly, they're lovers. Now, one could argue that the best relationships are ones where you're lovers and best friends, but clearly DC isn't treating them like that - they're lovers, period, because that's sexier.
The message? DC doesn't do 'platonic friends'. You can be lovers, or you can be enemies, but 'friends' is too difficult to market.
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