University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 11-1-2013 House of Cards Matthew R. Lieber University of Denver Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the Screenwriting Commons Recommended Citation Lieber, Matthew R., "House of Cards" (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 367. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/367 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. House of Cards ____________________________ A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of Social Sciences University of Denver ____________________________ In Partial Requirement of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts ____________________________ By Matthew R. Lieber November 2013 Advisor: Sheila Schroeder ©Copyright by Matthew R. Lieber 2013 All Rights Reserved Author: Matthew R. Lieber Title: House of Cards Advisor: Sheila Schroeder Degree Date: November 2013 Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to approach adapting a comic book into a film in a unique way. With so many comic-to-film adaptations following the trends of action movies, my goal was to adapt the popular comic book, Batman, into a screenplay that is not an action film. The screenplay, House of Cards, follows the original character of Miranda Greene as she attempts to understand insanity in Gotham’s most famous criminal, the Joker. The research for this project includes a detailed look at the comic book’s publication history, as well as previous film adaptations of Batman, and Batman in other relevant media. There are also narrative analyses of the prominent characters, settings and themes of Batman. These include Bruce Wayne/Batman, the Joker, Gotham City, feminism as it is represented in Batman, the recurring theme of broken families, and defining insanity in the Batman mythos. Also provided is the methodology for adapting these themes and concepts into a screenplay and a reflective essay analyzing the screenplay after its completion. ii Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction............................................................................................1 Chapter 2: History of Batman in Publication...........................................................8 Chapter 3: Batman in Modern Film.......................................................................18 Chapter 4: Batman in Other Media........................................................................41 Chapter 5: Batman as Character............................................................................48 Chapter 6: The Joker..............................................................................................55 Chapter 7: Insanity and Obsession in Gotham City...............................................63 Chapter 8: Feminism and Batman..........................................................................73 Chapter 9: Robin and the Broken “Bat Family”....................................................89 Chapter 10: Methodology......................................................................................98 Chapter 11: Proposal Conclusion.........................................................................112 Chapter 12: Post Thesis Final Thoughts..............................................................114 Chapter 13: End Notes.........................................................................................126 Appendix: House of Cards Screenplay................................................................130 iii Chapter 1: Introduction For my master’s thesis project for the University of Denver’s Media, Film, and Journalism Studies program, I wish to write an original screenplay set in the fictional world of the super hero and pop culture icon, Batman. From a young age, I have always enjoyed comic books. What appeals to me is the combination of fantastical elements with complex moral ideas. Like in X-Men, where you have complicated plots about xenophobia, civil rights, and the moral philosophy of an oppressed minority played out in stories about men with eye lasers and metal claws fighting giant robots. Comic books create a world that can be both thoughtful and ridiculous at the same time. As more and more comic books are adapted into films, I always find myself wishing that these films would take more risks with their source material. Action movies make sense when adapting a comic book, but I longed to see a film that would approach the adaptation in a different, telling a quieter story about complex characters and opposing ideals. So, I came to this project to prove that comic book film adaptations could be more than summer blockbusters. I came to this project after attempting a different thesis. I originally planned to do a short film based on a Batman graphic novel called The Killing Joke, by Alan Moore. My intention with that project was to focus on the nature of rivalry. Specifically, I wanted to focus on comic book rivalry as comics have 1 offered some of the deepest and most influential conflicts in narrative fiction. Iconic characters like Superman and Lex Luthor, Spider-man and the Green Goblin, and of course Batman and the Joker have always appealed to me, and I wanted to do a project honoring these interests. The more research I did into the world of Batman, the more interesting the topic became. I particularly enjoyed such elements as Batman as a critique of modernism, the emphasis on personal identity, and the nature of insanity and mental illness as it manifests in the characters. It reminded me of a psychological concept I had always found interesting: Carl Jung’s concept of the shadow self. In summation, every person carries in their mind a shadow, a place where dark feelings and weaknesses are repressed. It seemed to me that characters like the Joker, Twoface or even Batman himself represent this concept, as they’ve allowed these shadow aspects of themselves to run rampant. After spending several months attempting to produce this short film, I began to realize that it was a project that was increasingly unfeasible. The specific locations I would need to adapt from The Killing Joke, such as an amusement park and the Batcave, would be difficult to replicate in a student film. Furthermore, the costume, makeup, and special effects needed were beyond what I could supply with my budget and resources. When I decided to abandon producing a short film, I wanted to segue the research I had done into an original feature-length screenplay that focused on the elements of Batman I found interesting and appealed to my desire to see a 2 different type of superhero movie. Using Jung’s shadow self as a guide, I began work on an original story that primarily focused on Jung’s theories and how they manifest in the Dark Knight, such as the repression of identity, the emergence of dark forms of ourselves, and insanity as perspective instead of illness. My goal was to create a screenplay that pays tribute to the history of Batman’s world and characters, but also explores the concepts of identity and insanity as they have been presented in the narrative of Batman. The screenplay, titled House of Cards, is not canonically connected to any of the existing Batman films or adaptations outside of comic books. Rather, the setting of the script is closer to that of Batman’s comic book canon. Gotham City exists as part of the larger DC Universe. Other fictional DC cities, such as Metropolis and Coast City, are mentioned, as is Superman. This is to demonstrate that Batman is not the only major superhero in the world, and that Gotham is unique when compared to other major comic book cities. In order for the reader of this proposal to develop a sense of the story, characters and themes I will explore, I will offer the following synopsis prior to exploring Batman history, my literature review and my methodology. At the time of this screenplay, Batman has been active in Gotham for a little over fifteen years, placing him in his early to mid forties. Dick Grayson, the original Robin, is about thirty. He hasn’t worked directly with Batman in about five years, having left the moniker of Robin in favor of his new persona, Nightwing. 3 All the major antagonists of the Batman universe, such as the Joker, Twoface and Mr. Freeze, have all encountered Batman numerous times. Some specific events from previous Batman stories will be mentioned, but the screenplay is written to exist independent of these events. The audience will not be alienated if they are not familiar with these events in question, nor if they are unfamiliar with many of these characters. House of Cards does, however, assume that the audience is somewhat familiar with these characters. A person who has no concept of Batman or the Joker will have a hard time understanding the story, while a reader who is familiar with them—even superficially—will be able to understand the characters and conflict presented. The protagonist is Dr. Miranda Greene, the new Head of Psychiatrics at Gotham’s Arkham Asylum. Miranda has been making significant strides in a new field of psychology focusing on the mentality of super villains. She hopes that Arkham will provide new avenues for her research. She is especially excited about the idea of working with Gotham’s infamous Joker. Meanwhile, Batman is curious