LJ Idol Exhibit B Week 1 Chillin' like a Villain
One day my little grandson had a friend over for a play date. It was raining really hard outside so they were pent up in the house with all that energy that seven-year-olds are full of. They raced around the house going up the stairs, then down the stairs, giggling and yelling all the while.
I had been reading a great book about psychopathic killers in history but was distracted with their racket. Boys will be boys, I sighed. Needing to redirect them for at least a brief respite, I decided to try calming them down with an old fashioned ‘let me tell you a story…’
“Hey, guys, c’mon over here! Sit on the couch with me for a minute. I have a story to tell you.”
They looked at me with wide eyes, then at each other. I knew their curiosity got the best of them as they sidled up and politely gave me their attention.
“Did you know that once upon a time Batman and Penguin were actually good friends?”
The boys’ mouths opened incredulously. Again they looked at each other then back at me.
“There is no movie about this but I have my sources.” I said with as much mystery as I could muster.
The boys leaned in and I had them hooked.
I began spinning a little yarn about how Batman used to go down to the sewer to Penguin’s lair and order take-out pizza and watch Dracula movies with him on an old black and white TV.
“Yes, it’s all true. They would kick back and relax together over a pizza and plan the next big caper. All the stories about good guys and bad guys in the news made them realize that people like to be scared but they also like to feel safe. So Penguin said he would always be the bad guy and Batman would get to be the hero. All the comic books and movies about them were just a show. They actually were best friends, just like you two. What do you think of that?”
My grandson looked at me with his big blue eyes and said, “Grammy, I hope you won’t be mad… but Batman is like …really…old! You should tell us stories about Ironman. Yeah! Or the Avengers! C’mon, Nate. Let’s go play Skylanders on the Wii!”
The boys bounced off the couch and went to pursue their next mission. I picked up my book again and chuckled to myself. Batman? Old? Oh, I still have SO much to learn.