Why everyone hates Anne Hathaway as Catwoman

Now I know what you’re thinking: “I don’t particularly care about the casting choice of Anne Hathaway in the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises movie.”

Or maybe you’re thinking: “I don’t hate that Christopher Nolan picked Anne Hathaway to play Catwoman.”

That’s enough, stop lying to me! You sound like me a few weeks ago with all that pretending not to care. You care and you also hate the idea of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman.

Artist’s Depiction of How You Think It’ll Be

Some people have been able to clearly explain why they don’t like the choice of Hathaway, and others are disappointed but can’t quite describe the reason. Among the verbal angry, are these reasons:

1) Acting

A Princess of the Night

It just seems odd to consider Anne Hathaway, an actress mostly known for over-the-top roles in “chick flicks” to be in the shadowy if quasi-realistic world of Nolan’s Gotham.

Possible Solution: Consider her work in the bizarre movie Havoc, where she plays a dark and twisted person in many ways. But it’s not such a great movie, so … watch Rachel Getting Married instead.
2) Appearance

Quotes of relevance: “She looks odd!” and “She’s not hot enough to play Catwoman.” People like to nitpick the minor flaws of the preternaturally attractive, of course, and this is especially true for celebrity targets. Of course, people have their own opinions on what makes someone attractive, and all the People’s Most Beautiful People inclusions won’t make a difference if you think she looks weird. Another common complaint: “This is Maggie Gyllenhaal all over again!” — this is a reference to the common opinion that Maggie Gyllenhaal replacing Katie Holmes for the character of Rachel Dawes was a mistake, because even though Gyllenhaal is a better actress, she wasn’t “as hot.”

There is this belief that Catwoman must be someone so attractive it is ridiculous to even comprehend. But compare the women who have played the character:

And then to how she is portrayed in other media where an actual human is not needed:

But then again, some people think Anne’s attractive enough on a superficial level but have a different issue altogether.

Possible Solution: Accept that no mortal woman could ever fully realize the artificial and wholly impossible character you’ve built up in your head.

3) Physical Disparity

In particular, this refers to the sort of slinky, catlike expectations of Catwoman’s physical presence. Anne Hathaway has a classy, prim presence that is at odds with the idea of someone sneaking across roofs or clawing a foe in the face. Perhaps someone with a dancing or martial arts background might be better. Unfortunately, you can’t change the underlying “feeling” of someone, although …

Possible Solution: Consider how effective training can be for actors to learn almost anything physical. Case in point: The Matrix

4) Comparison to the Past

Invariably, nostalgia rears its ugly head and people will say “<x> was already the perfect Catwoman.” This is most common with Michelle Pfieffer’s portrayal in Tim Burton’s Batman Returns, with her iconic and ridiculous black latex costume. First of all, the costume looks silly and Tim Burton-y like everything in that movie, and it doesn’t actually look that flattering. It’s also not skintight, so perverts, stop complaining about that aspect. Also, she plays a pretty ridiculous character, although I’m not complaining about that — I am one of the very few that liked Batman Returns in general, but even I acknowledge that the movie is nuts.

“She’s not as hot as <x>” — I have heard this comment in reference to literally all other actresses that have played Catwoman. For this one, see Reason 2 above.

Possible Solution: Take off your Nostalgia Blinders and think about whether or not Anne Hathaway is good for this movie’s Catwoman. Really, otherwise it’s a pretty silly reason.

5) Why Catwoman At All?

This is a bit of a different reasoning than the rest; instead of complaining about Anne Hathaway’s deficiencies in some way, people will say that Catwoman isn’t a good character for the Dark Knight Rises movie at all. But why? It could be more Tonal Misplacement, a character that seems too fantastical to fit in Nolan’s Gotham. Or perhaps you don’t like Catwoman as a character, ruined by Halle Barry’s terrible movie Catwoman. You may even be worried that the film will succumb to “Far Too Many Villains Syndrome” like Spiderman 3. All fair points. But the truth is, all people really care about is whether the character will make sense in the story and be enjoyable to watch. So …

Possible Solution: Hope for the best, and be prepared for the worst.

These all are all legitimate reasons, in a certain way, because they all involve some subjective opinion that can’t really be argued with other than “I disagree.” But then there are the other reasons:

The Stupid Reasons:

1. “The ears look stupid”This sort of comment is meaningless until we’ve seen the actual movie — a photo without context is utterly pointless to make any judgments.
2. “I don’t know why, she’s just … I don’t know”If there is no reason you can adequately put forth for your opinion, maybe you shouldn’t voice that opinion at all. Or perhaps you’re just prejudiced against Anne Hathaway.
3. “I’d prefer … <x>”Perhaps someone else could have been a better choice, but it’s too late now for that — at least for this trilogy. It’s more constructive to decide what you think of Anne’s portrayal this time around after you’ve seen the movie than arbitrarily decide who could have been a better choice. I’ve seen quite a lot of “alternatives,” such as:
   Yeah, so… wait, is that Tilda Swinton? Um, okay…
4. “I don’t like you”Well, there’s no need for you to be so insulting!

In conclusion, does it really matter? Should we really “trust Nolan?” That’s a big question, so perhaps that should wait for another time.

Clacked by Jeremy Fogelman
on Jan 11, 2012 @ 12:00 EST5EDT