America's sweetheart Anne Hathaway first fumbled into our hearts as Princess Mia in Princess Diaries. She spent most of her early stardom in princess-like films, such as Ella Enchanted, in addition to reprising her role as Princess Mia in Princess Diaries 2. What's more, her role as Ella was action-packed, an uncommon element in princess films. Hathaway has since spent her acting career showing off her fair share of skills that led to her casting in other iconic films. After her role as Catwoman/Selina Kyle, she was an essential entity in the all-women-led Ocean's 8 alongside other acting legends such as Cate Blanchett and Sandra Bullock. Yet despite being a talented, Oscar-nominated actress at the time of her casting as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises, she received an inexplicable amount of backlash.
Catwoman is one of Batman's more formidable foes turned lovers. She's been portrayed by Michelle Pfeiffer next to Micheal Keaton's Batman and, most recently, by Zoë Kravitz next to Robert Pattinson’s Batman. Halle Berry had a standalone film that also underwent scrutiny, though for its writing and not necessarily Berry’s portrayal.
Considering the history of the role, only Hathaway seemed to experience reprehensible hate prior to The Dark Knight's release. It's clearly not a distate for the role, considering Catwoman has been repeatedly re-imagined in live-action and animation. As such, other factors are at play with Hathaway's csting. The foundation of the backlash is from the ever-passionate fanbase of men who are protective of their beloved comic book characters, arguably to a misogynistic degree. Every other piece of the backlash stems from that base. Here's our breakdown of what happened.
Comic Book Fanboys
Much of the pushback on Hathaway’s casting was laid down by comic book fanboys. Comic book culture can be a uniting space, but it quickly brews racism and misogyny. The Anti-Defamation League calls misogyny the connective tissue between the many incarnations of white supremacy. Fanboys are the perfect intersection of misogyny and racism as they feel entitled to these characters and quickly send or post hateful messages across social media and in comment sections when studios cast certain actors. In fact, studios now warn actors of color about the potential backlash, as was the case most recently with Moses Ingram and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Hathaway wasn’t so lucky when she received backlash; Action Flick Chick, in fact, compiled many of the negative responses. A leading cause of misogyny in fanboy culture is that many women comic book characters are created for the male gaze and are immediately sexualized by fanboys, as Entity Magazine points out. Many fanboys, as a result, felt entitled to how Catwoman should have been portrayed in The Dark Knight Rises because she was their fantasy and Hathaway didn’t fit.
Hatha-Hate
The crux of discourse surrounding women in Hollywood is the perpetual dislike of actresses who seem annoying, try too hard, or are obnoxious theater kids. For time in her career, Hathaway was the subject of what pop culture media dubbed "Hatha-Hate." The underlying reasons for the hate are due to people perceiving Hathaway as "trying too hard" or "being cringe" simply based on her interviews. Of course, many actresses endure this type of hate, especially when they cross over into comic book or science fiction films.
Being an actress is more than portraying characters and promoting movies, it’s enduring the constant scrutiny of fans and society. Individuals who venture into Hollywood and make it big like Hathaway are already under a microscope, but women in Hollywood are under the microscope’s highest magnification. When asked about the hate she received on the internet, Hathaway responded in the most magnificent and inspiring way, according to The Sun: “I really don’t want to dredge up the past, but I did have my monster out there, I did have the internet turn on me and hate me, and it was like a whole big thing. And it was a really good thing for me personally. You can be incredibly empowered because of those things. So I guess what I’d say is when the bad s**t happens, don’t fear it — just go with it, flow with it.” Despite the spin on her name, Hathaway doesn’t hit ‘return to sender’ when she receives hate. While she could bite back, Hathaway delivered a performance in The Dark Knight Rises that speaks to the multitude of women comic book fans.
Romantic Woman Lead
Another branch of the backlash Hathaway received was the perception that her tenure as a Disney princess turned queen wasn’t enough for an action-packed superhero film. In Hathaway’s case, many fans had type cast her as a Disney princess without realizing how many actresses and actors’ breakout roles are merely a stepping stone for their careers. While typecasting is far too rampant in Hollywood and among fans, the roles actors take should challenge the idea that they can only successfully play one role. In Hathaway’s case, playing Catwoman was her chance to prove she could be in a major franchise without disappearing into the background. Her portrayal of Catwoman is so remarkable and memorable that the true villain of the film, Bane, is forgotten! The ultimate cherry on top: once The Dark Knight Rises released, it was Hathaway's performance as Catwoman that scored unanimous praise from critics and fans alike.