Back in 2010, a fuss erupted when the MPAA initially penalized Blue Valentine for containing a scene in which Ryan Gosling’s character gives oral sex to his then-girlfriend, portrayed by Michelle Williams. This was a bizarre move because the scene didn’t even show nudity, and the effect was that it looked like censors wouldn’t allow women to orgasm onscreen. That’s also the vibe that — in a very giggly way — arose when Harley Quinn co-creator Justin Halpern related how, with the upcoming third season of the ultra-violent, raunchy animated HBO Max (previously DC Universe) series, Batman is not allowed to go down on Catwoman.
To recap, Halpern was reflecting upon how there’s more “leeway” with villain characters, and (as he told Variety) of the envisioned oral sex scene, “DC was like, ‘You can’t do that. You absolutely cannot do that.’ They’re like, ‘Heroes don’t do that.'” Halpern says that this wasn’t a case of heroes needing to be “just selfish lovers,” but rather, “It’s hard to sell a toy if Batman is also going down on someone.'”
Say what? Harley Quinn isn’t a kid’s show, not by any stretch of the imagination, and it’s pretty hilarious to fret over Batman being unmarketable for pleasing a woman, of all things to worry about on that show when it comes to crushing heroic reputations. Well, Twitter is enjoying this ruckus very much, and yes, the DJ Khaled jokes are flowing, among other things, like “Why would Batman’s whole bottom face be open if he didn’t do oral, ridiculous.” We don’t deserve these reactions, they’re so good.
Why would Batman’s whole bottom face be open if he didn’t do oral, ridiculous
— river buddy butcher 🤠 (@rivbutcher) June 14, 2021
#batman Best meme to come from the Batman/Catwoman scandal…. pic.twitter.com/dOFB3aywGN
— NootMcScairy (@GameRiffsGaming) June 15, 2021
BATMAN IN THE BEDROOM: pic.twitter.com/q7DhtJVZBU
— mat (@MatQBoes) June 15, 2021
All the different Batman incarnates who would go down on Catwoman pic.twitter.com/ztRBUapZLM
— Rachel Leishman (@RachelLeishman) June 15, 2021
Of course Batman eats pussy, why tf else would he cut his mask like that
— Iggy 💫🪐 COMMISSIONS OPEN :) (@Internet_Ghoul) June 15, 2021
My only contribution to this particular discourse is that Adam West Batman absolutely would pic.twitter.com/a5WE2qLB03
— David J Bradley but marked with a Recusant's Sigil (@DavidJBradley1) June 15, 2021
Sorry I was traveling yesterday and completely missed the debate but I always assumed Batman refused to go down on girls because that way nobody would realize he was actually famed cunnilinguist Bruce Wayne
— Myles Hewette (@MyleswithaY) June 15, 2021
And to answer the Batman question: pic.twitter.com/IbW0j925Lv
— Jean Claude Canned Ham (@kungfucornelius) June 15, 2021
https://twitter.com/MonkeyKingPaul/status/1404816227529338885
Wanna know what can Ivy do that Batman cant? pic.twitter.com/fZb59IY1wH
— Lạc (@peanutnom) June 15, 2021
When I saw Batman was trending, this was not the reason I was expecting… pic.twitter.com/5U0hR6vah6
— Andy (@ImACultHero) June 15, 2021
https://twitter.com/bihexualmess/status/1404816336300109831
Mark your calendars for this upcoming event, because noted chaos king Rob Pattinson might not be able to resist during The Batman press tour:
Looking forward to the part of THE BATMAN’s junket cycle where someone asks Pattinson if his Batman eats pussy and he laughs and says “Of course!” before the PR frantically attempts to shut the whole thing down. Content for DAYS. pic.twitter.com/5GxPuaPJ4k
— jof (@tweetbyjof) June 15, 2021
Also, another word from Justin Halpern: “So uhhhh watch Harley Quinn on HBO Max?” Listen to the man, you won’t be disappointed.
So uhhhh watch Harley Quinn on HBO Max?
— Justin Halpern (@justin_halpern) June 15, 2021