There has been an absence of The dark Knight rises news of late so we're left to our own little grey cells to solve the mysteries of the plot Nolan has so far managed to keep from us and the paparazzi. While everyone is too busy nitpicking at bane's voice or his appearance people have been ignoring one of the more fascinating characters introduced in the newest batman film: Selina Kyle.
Now before I start this I want to make it absolutely clear that I have total faith in Anne Hathaway's performance, especially since I've seen that she can play emotionally complex and serious characters in "Rachel Getting Married" and "Borkeback Mountain". The purpose of this article is more or less a suggestion as to what the purpose of her costume. is going to be in the film.
First of all, I have to say it has grown on me, especially since her "cat ears" sometimes look like devil horns, which I think is just cool and adds to the mystique of the character. While she dos not have a whip I could see how that would look silly. I like Michelle Pfeiffer but she never was catwoman, even though she had all the accessories of the character. She was more or less a psychotic woman brought back to life by cats...go figure.
It seems that Hathaway's interpretation has a beef with rich people creating an economy favouring only them and leaving everyone else to pay for their mistakes and scrambling for what's left...so not like the US at all then lol. it would seem that social and especially economic inequality are going to play an enormous part in this last batman film, notably because they expose the weakness of the batman: the futility of his war against crime, since there will always be crime and unless people want to live in a fascist dictatorship that prevents crime by criminalizing thoughts Bruce wayne had better use his money for other purposes, such as employing the poor, giving to charity and fighting poverty in general. That's where catwoman obviously comes in; She seems like the anti-rachel in a sense because she likes to go beyond the law to accomplish her goals but she still seems to have feelings for batman, while being disgusted by Bruce wayne (from what the most recent trailer shows us) and she seems to know a lot of what's going to happen to Gotham, especially where Bane is concerned who just manages to blow up a whole football field.
What has all of this to do with her costume? I will tell you: if Bane is indeed a revolutionary mercenary who turns dictator once he gets rid of the police then would he not destroy the old laws to impose his own (as was the case in Knightfall)? And would Catwoman, who seems to be working with him (or otherwise she would not know about his plans), even need to disguise her identity if she's on the winning side (at least temporarily)? Who would prosecute her if the police are rendered powerless? The fact that her face is mostly visible does not even matter at that point because she is on the side of the lawmaker, i.e. Bane. I know that there is a sense that Nolan has not given the fans the costumes that they'd like to see but, frankly, this is not their movie. If Nolan gives us a minimalistic catwoman costume then he has to show why it looks the way it looks and why it reveals so much of the person behind the mask and I believe he has done that. If Bane indeed strips away any kind of law and order (which in Gotham is not saying much) then there's no need for the freaks to hide because they will not be prosecuted, seeing as Bane will make sure that "Gotham is ashes". In that sense he might not even care whether people recognise who Catwoman is.
Also, catwoman in the comcis has always been a pretty reckless individual who enjoys the thrill and the risks of going out into the night to steal from wealthy people. This could also explain why the Nolan interpretation of the character shows so much of her real identity: it's simply too much fun.
The costume and disguise provide a contrast to another character, miranda tate, the second love interest of this story, who apparently does not need to hide anything. Maybe you can disguise yourself without putting on a mask, as bruce wayne is sure to find out.
Another point are the high heels. As far as I know in a description of a scene given to us a while back it said that the heels were supposed to leave cat-scratch-like marks on the opponent's face, which is a neat idea and it has not been done with catwoman before. Also, the idea of the goggles transforming into cat-like ears is interesting. Both these changes provide the fetish-side that is inevitable with a character like catwoman.
In conclusion, I have always found aestetics of comicbookmovies to be secondary to the characters and story. As far as I can see there is nothing wrong with this catwoman. She is being palyed by a competent actress (who often chooses bad projects but still can act pretty well), her costume pays hommage to the 1960s TV series' Catwoman (which is also a legitimate interpretation of the character, mind you) and so I cannot stand it when people trash this version as if it was heresy. You haven't seen the film and the only reason you keep on complaining is because you have seen set pictures and an official photo that was released because the studio realised that if they didn't release it, it would have been spoiled by set photos. the overreaction by the fans was an embarassment because it shows that "change" is not a word appreciated by comicbook fans and it betrays the close-minded approach to comics and their adaptations("my interpretation is the only right one and all shall kneel before Zod..aehm my interpretation and if i don't get what i want all the time i am going to say the film sucks, even though i haven't seen the whole thing yet"). I hope this article could disspell some of the doubts some people have about the catwoman costume. I firmly believe that, if the plot summaries whe have been given are true, then the catwoman outfit would make sense, at least the fact that it does not hide Selina Kyle very much. This is so because she might frankly not even need to hide her identity anymore. Maybe batman might also have to come out of the shadows eventually and reveal himself?