51 GREATEST FICTIONAL BAD GUYS

#29. SELINA KYLE/CATWOMAN from BATMAN RETURNS

I was in my early twenties, and as guys in their early twenties are wont to do, I became smitten with a girl. This was the thunderbolt one: the one that made all crushes and girlfriends beforehand just insignificant blips on the radar. To my 20-something self, she was perfect — but when you’re in your 20s you’re only half-way cooked, so judgment on matters of the heart is rough estimates at best. Of course, it went sour. There was a shadow that was consuming her. Not the usual early-20’s bullshit that made us find solace playing R.E.M. full blast on our disc-men (the ‘90s!), but inescapable moments from her past that dictated where she sent her thoughts and how she got through her day. Try as I might, I was young and didn’t have any of the tools that could make matters better. I had no recourse other than to detach. Every person has to figure out on their own what relationship they have with their personal demons: whether to embrace them, bury them or fight them tooth-and-nail.

And this brings us to BATMAN RETURNS and the greatness that is Selina Kyle. Michelle Pfeiffer’s version of the character is a deeply tormented character: shat on at work, marginalized by suitors (who break up with her via an answering machine), thrown out the window by her boss (literally!). Before her metaphorical death, her life is a facade of pink and dollhouses. What comes after is a complicated and conflicted personality. She’s dangerous, unpredictable and almost certainly psychotic — but on allegorical terms, it’s healthy. The pretense is over and (good or bad) it’s time to deal with the shadows head-on.