The more I think about it, #OccupyTheGoddamnBatman is a necessary development or outgrowth of #OWS. For one thing, there’s such an abundance of (coincidentally linked but thematically relevant) material that’s just asking to be appropriated (i.e. occupied) and virally reproduced, such as the photos from the film shoot that Keith Olbermann referenced. (A lot of this work has been started, as the images and clips here demonstrate.) As one commenter remarks on the pictures of the film shoot (there’s been talk of using protesters as extras):
“This weekend Batman visited New York and shot a home movie called The Dark Knight Rises with his buddy Christopher Nolan. The Occupy Wallstreet people may not have a job, a place to piss, or any hope for the future, but at least they got to meet the Goddamn Batman. And Catwoman was there, too. Rawr.”
Meanwhile, Frank Miller, author of the series that gave us the famous “goddamn Batman” line — and the meme it spawned — recently came out with some “putrid false righteousness” concerning the #Occupy movement (those are his words, which he uses to describe #OWS). See Miller’s post here, if you must, for his full condemnation of the protesters, whom he calls “pond scum” and “schmucks,” and about whom he writes insightful things like this:
“Occupy” is nothing short of a clumsy, poorly-expressed attempt at anarchy, to the extent that the “movement” – HAH! Some “movement”, except if the word “bowel” is attached – is anything more than an ugly fashion statement by a bunch of iPhone, iPad wielding spoiled brats who should stop getting in the way of working people and find jobs for themselves.
In response to Miller’s blathering, digital illustrator Dane Cypel has begun the occupation of the goddamn Batman, recognizing that Miller’s “Batman’s not really the goddamn Batman, he’s also the goddamn one-percent”:
(“I’m the Goddamn 1%!”, from Cypel’s blog The Greatest Dane, here)
And here are some similarly themed images from around the Web:
#OccupyTheGoddamnBatman
medieninitiative 
Hey Shane, great posts! Which reminded me of a thing I read a couple of weeks ago, which can be found here:
http://io9.com/5849977/how-would-batman-respond-to-occupy-wall-street
http://io9.com/5858721/finally-frank-miller-reveals-how-his-batman-would-respond-to-occupy-wall-street
Apparently, the DC writers don’t see Batman on the side of the 1%. But somehow Batman is linked far more easily to OWS than other superheroes. Why is that?
Hey Felix, thanks for the comment and especially for the great links! I think your question is a really important one, and I’d be interested to hear if anyone has any ideas. After all, the general consensus has long been that superheroes — and this is seen as being related to the seriality of their medium — are defenders of the status quo. So why, beyond the obvious connection of Batman being the heir of Wayne Enterprises (i.e. part of the 1% by birth), does Batman keep popping up while no other superheroes are in connection with #OWS? Or does anyone know of any uses of other heroes?
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