Batgirl/Oracle: Unpopular Opinions/Hot Takes

Pulling Babs out of the wheelchair and having her be Batgirl alongside Cass and Steph is just not a very good idea.

Batgirl getting her mobility back was based off of real life medical-scientific breakthroughs help paralyzed people gain their mobility in real life.

I don't mind her as Oracle, it's just the messy circumstances that put her in that spot. Alan Moore did Barbara dirty in Killing Joke just to add angst to Jim and Batman.

Speaking as someone who uses a wheelchair, I always thought the fact Barbara’s disability was something that she had to struggle with, but not let define her ( even after the New 52 took her out of the chair) was great. However, I never needed her to be “ just like me” for me to be able to relate to her character. Companies forget that similarity and relatability aren’t necessarily the same thing. Visibility will always be important, but it should be incorporated with strong storytelling and good characterization, not pandering or box checking

Crazy you used the Arkham example of Oracle, because when I was commenting that’s the exact “guy in the chair” vibes I was thinking of. I feel Oracle just works better when she feels needed as opposed to conveniently present.

Unpopular Opinion # 1 - Barbra did Oracle (Her AI From Oracle Rising) Dirty. That AI Combat Machine is basically her child. Unpopular Opinion # 2 - I feel Barbra as Oracle is actually a bad thing because its somewhat the result of her character not being handle as equal as Batman to begin with.  In comics, Batman included, major heroes recover from their injuries eventually as a way to show their actions and the arcs that they go through and the situations they have since overcome. As Oracle however it was an endless lingering defeat that the writers kept coming back to. Ironically a writing weakness even. Her own Jason Todd without that Red Hood or Tim Drake flare. And something that a Joker or whoever else would then keep coming back to finish the job and or lead to Barbra having to prove to herself that she had overcome it time and time again. It was a loop that needed to change. Furthermore I feel that similar situations are handled too differently. During Batman Beyond Bruce becomes the chair guy because he had retired and got to choose to stop being Batman up until Terry stole his suit on some destiny mess. Within The Comics Barbra however just gets beaten up by Joker to test Batman and Gordon. She didn't chose to stop being Batgirl cuz of something she herself did, it was forced upon her by the circumstance. Barbra didn't get to make a mistake and make a new decision like Bruce did. Unpopular Opinion #3 - Another way of imagining Barbra's transition away from Oracle is the idea that how in real life there is still a chance one can actually recover from a time they also thought was impossible to get pass, which likewise has occurred before to people with the technology that we actually use today. What they needed to double down on is less of her recover but more-so the journey to it. But story wise writers were struggling to do that enough for some reason. Unpopular Opinion Number #4 - In order to resolve the issues with Starfire, Batgirl should be a regular member of the Teen Titans. So that if anything happens with either its all relative. Unpopular Opinion #5 -  Barbra should have stayed the age she was before the modern era because it made her less of a side kick and more equal force in the Bat Family above a Robin. Unpopular Opinion #6: I like else-world stories where Batgirl is the main focus of that universe because that's where one can see her more respected as a main character (sometimes) Unpopular Opinion #7 - They did Batgirl from Zero Hour Real Dirty. Best Hero There Unpopular Opinion # 8: Instead of Batgirl and Oracle existing as separate concepts Oracle should be more integrated into Batgirl's Persona and Suit. Well into Batman Beyond like Territory. And Barbra's Oracle Logo should exist within her Bat Symbol Instead. Unpopular Opinion # 9 The Prototype Suit Batgirl wore for her Burnside adventures, with the wide yellow bat symbol was her best look. Unpopular Opinion #10 - I think it matters less about who Batgirl is with and more-so how the relationship is written, and how stories around they don't always have to be some sort of Shakespearean tragedy for her. Unpopular Opinion #11 - Batgirl's mask should actually come in layers that allow her to look like any version of the character across DC and she should use each layer based upon the stories she's in, or what happens in the story. Like Battle Armor when Batgirl Rips of her cowl you should be able see her with an open Domino Mask underneath and have her eyes showing for stories more relative to her personally or story about her connections with others. Like how the  Flash as a super hero can both have an open mask (Barry) and a covered eyes (Wally) Unpopular Opinion #12 Batgirl (Barbra) should be the next in line to take over Gotham before anyone else. Because Barbra best matches Batman's Ideal Hero outside of Cassandra herself, is the second most experienced of the family and watches Gotham more than that the other heroes do anywhere else. (Versus Nightwing who protects Blood Haven.) And Finally Unpopular Opinion #13: In order to better develop Batgirl's Popularity she should have more a iconic Rogues Gallery from characters that fans can already recognize like Phantasm from the DCAU. As well as character's that her journey can personally heal. EDIT: Fixed some typos

Stephanie Brown should've been the Batgirl of the New 52. Okay, I get this isn't a Barbara Gordon hot take but whatever. It's always remembered by people who know Stephanie Brown that Stephanie was Robin for a time, but I barely EVER see people acknowledge that she was Batgirl which is a shame because she was GREAT as the character. That Batgirl series was one of the better series DC had in the late 2000s, a time when DC was basically falling apart at the seams, and here we had just a really charming series with Stephanie as Batgirl. It started with her having to earn that title as Barbara didn't fully approve but she saw how similar Stephanie actually was to her and finally approved, letting Stephanie thrive in a role that really fit her only for it to be wiped by the New 52 in order to bring Barbara back in the role. What really sucks is that by the mid 2010s, Barbara seemed to start developing a lot of Stephanie Brown traits, specifically in Batgirl of Burnside, and that story would've been a great story for Stephanie but with Barbara it just didn't feel right. Imagine just how popular Steph could've been if the New 52 just let her stay as Batgirl, a series showing what makes her a hero, showing her vulnerabilities, her sense of humor, her understanding of her own failings, her ability to openly accept help from others, and watching her evolve into the best hero she can be. A bunch of these traits were already shown off in her own Batgirl series but we needed so much more of it. Justice for Stephanie. Another hot take that is a little more Barbara centric is that DC should change how Killing Joke happened. Yes, it would change continuity but it wouldn't be the first time DC messed with continuity. The thing that made Barbara's crippling in Killing Joke so terrible is that Barbara was completely unimportant in that story, she was nothing more than just a pawn in Joker's goal of trying to turn Gordon insane. There's actually an easy way to change this, just make Barbara more involved in the story. Perhaps Gordon gets taken like in Killing Joke, Barbara finds out and helps Batman track down the Joker as Batgirl. When Joker's plan fails, he considers Gordon no fun and goes to shoot him to which Barbara responds by jumping in front of the bullet to save her father. Congrats, now Barbara has some agency in her story. Also, this may be a hot take to some, but let Dick and Barbara get married finally. It sucks that the only reason DC allowed Dick to propose is because they thought they were going to kill Dick in Infinite Crisis, but because they didn't end up doing that, they just cancelled the engagement altogether and only looked back once when the let Pre-Flashpoint Dick and Barbara get married in Convergence but never brought that into mainline like they did with Jon Kent.

They did say, when they did try to restore her ability to walk, it put strain on her. She wasn’t exactly the same as she used to be. It could only last for temporary amount of time.

Most times they’ve said her dad knows it’s her but acts like he doesn’t

I disagree with one thing. It wasn't her getting the ability to walk again, that made The Killing Joke meaningless, or just mean less. It was the fact, that every writer wanted it to be canon to their story, especially if they wanted to write a standard Batman story, which also goes for the mainline comics. You can't have that ending, where you think "did Batman actually snap?" and then have Batman be perfectly normal afterwards. Especially in the long run, The Killing Joke had more of an impact on Barbara than it did on Bruce, Jim or even the Joker and she was just a plot device Alan Moore put in, because he wanted to get fired. The Killing Joke works best as an elseworld story, that ends the way it ended, ambigious as to what happens next. If you want Oracle in your story, have her go out in a fight or something.

I have a huge issue with Bruce and Babs, in the Batman beyond tie-in comic, They would never do that to Grayson. It's just so out of character for both of them!

the Arkham games really made me realize why Oracle is important. I like Batgirl, and I like Barbara as Batgirl, I don't want her to be Batgirl anymore though. There are other females to be Batgirl now, Babs doesn't need to be in the suit

People forget that originally she was paired with Batman. She was a Congresswoman , making her older than Dick. A relationship with Dick makes a "cougar" now that's disgusting.

8:48 I think they mean that realistically, within ten minutes one of those characters could have helped heal her. She might have been paralyzed, but she would have been fixed up within ten minutes because there are so many options. I really like the idea of Barbara temporarily possessing a lantern ring, which would temporarily help her mobility. But when the arc is done, she goes back to being her Oracle persona. This would give us, and Barbara, something a goodbye to her pre-paralysis state, without disservicing the fact that most real paralyzed people won't be able to walk again.

10:22 Maybe it's just me but this is comics isn't this the same stuff we read about characters dying and ressurecting. World ending threats every tuesday. To expect them to keep things consistent is like expecting them to do the opposite of doing what i listed

Every time I think I’ve escaped the Bat and Babs relationship, someone always has to remind me of it.

While Oracle will always be the GOAT and I love her stories as Oracle. I DO find it really strange that as far as storyline go writers can't seem to even figure out what to do with her as Batgirl when she IS utilized. Beyond shipping her with someone else. Its like they can only figure out what to do with her if she IS handicapped, but if she isn't they're at a complete loss. Which definitely shows a lack of creativity on their part. If they're gonna use her as Batgirl, then they could use some new ideas beyond recycling the same stuff over and over again.

Amazing video, i just subscribed today after discovering your amazing channel, would love to see you complete the teen titans and do Cybrog and Starfire as the two next hot takes videos

I think Barbara should stay as oracle for the Batfamily except for Bruce and Tim as they are the detectives of the family. Barbara should also be the one to mentor the batgirls that come in also. I think it could be really cool to see Babs struggle coming to terms with being paralyzed and physically limited and maybe it causes her to live vicariously through the other batfamily members or have her explore life outside of having to dress up and chase criminals around the city. I do like the idea of having her become mayor in a future gotham and it could be cool seeing her face off against a commissioner who is corrupt or antagonistic to the batfamily.

#BARBARAFORPRESIDENT