Article by Adam Poncharoensub
Apparently, trending events are… trending? Yeah, I will gladly accept a spit-stained letter to my PO Box for that, but I couldn’t NOT do it. Personally, I never knew that they could be organized as such, but I guess it’s a great way to show support or connect with someone over a common topic all over the world. At the heels of the #ReleaseTheAyerCut trending event last Monday and likely more so because of JusticeCon this weekend, a new trending event was organized. This time, it was just to show support for Ben Affleck’s portrayal of Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, and Justice League. The hashtag was a very simple #ThanksBatfleck.
On Friday, July 24, fans of Batfleck took to social media, tagging Ben Affleck with the hashtag #ThanksBatfleck. It encouraged fans to post a 30-second video of his portrayal or just pay tribute in some way and it was pretty wonderful.
Take a look at the initial Tweet:
TODAY IS THE DAY
Let’s show @BenAffleck how much we love his Batman, how much that role meant to us and how much we look forward to seeing him back in the cowl ?#ThanksBatfleck pic.twitter.com/GhAA7MRlET
— •BatMax• ZSJL’s Associate Producer #GBTZ (@SupesBatsy) July 24, 2020
Kind words.
Comicbook.com rounded up some great Tweets that paid homage to the actor, some of which I’ll post below:
There’s a radical dualism between the observed nature of man and man’s moral nature.
JUSTICE#ThanksBatfleck“Power Art can heal, bring awareness, and create change.”
–@ZackSnyder
The Lengend Continues pic.twitter.com/NyXXWu12z5— AtpzA #AssociateProducer #ZSJL (@HereForZack) July 24, 2020
We’re always with you @BenAffleck.#ThanksBatfleck ?? pic.twitter.com/F5zavq2Sxa
— Catt (@ChicCattLady2) July 24, 2020
This Tweet likely took a clip from a YouTuber who interpreted the infamous MARTHA! scene in a way that makes sense:
Ben’s portrayal of PTSD in the Martha scene is exceptional and one of the reasons it works so well. I’ll never stop defending it. Most people don’t get it but this guy does… #ThanksBatfleck pic.twitter.com/yCTSKhdJlG
— -/George\- (@kryptonscodex) July 24, 2020
Thank you, Affleck.
While Ben Affleck may well continue to mask his true feelings, we can likely interpret that it wasn’t the best experience for him… likely because of the fans. So this is all pretty nice, considering how divisive those movies were. Of course, there were the occasional negative Nancies who felt the need to express their displeasure with his Batman and those movies. However, reading up on some of those comments, I feel like they missed the point of the event. It was an appreciation of his performance, not the accuracy of the character or opinions of the movies.
Personally, while his version of Batman written out for BvS and JL wasn’t very good, I really enjoyed his portrayal, and, get your saliva ready, folks, because you’re going to be angry with my opinion; I prefer his portrayal over Christian Bale’s, and actually consider his performance the best among the live-action Batmen. To me, it felt like his portrayal was the most layered, with so much subdued anger that the other actors lacked. There was just a lot more going on underneath that cowl. I missed the movement, but I suppose better late than never, right? What else is there left for me to say other #ThanksBatfleck.
How do you feel about Batfleck? Is his performance worthy of the praise? Or was he the worst Batman actor ever? Let me know.