AWARD THIS 2023 NOMINEE! On the periphery of society, cataloged amongst the individuals no one notices are the collectors, the oldsters who focus on amassing a aspect of geek tradition. For some, it’s Star Wars paraphernalia. For different collectors, it’s Star Trek. For Darren Maxwell, his principal focus is Batman. Batman and Me, directed by Michael Wayne, is his story.
A loner searching for a neighborhood to belong to, Maxwell fell in with collectors of film memorabilia. While he possesses smaller collections dedicated to Dune and different science fiction properties, he realized in 1989 that nobody he knew was amassing objects from Tim Burton’s Batman, and that grew to become his area of interest. Over the course of 10 years, Maxwell collected all method of kitsch in assist of all of the Batman motion pictures ending with 1997’s Batman and Robin. In this deeply private and introspective documentary, he walks us via his huge array of toys, comics, and knick-knacks.
“…Maxwell collected all method of kitsch in assist of all of the Batman motion pictures…”
Since 2001, Maxwell has moved on from amassing Batman memorabilia to creating Star Wars fan movies. His collaborator in financing these shorts is Peter Sims, who can be a Batman collector. There is a sequence the place Wayne visually compares and contrasts each males’s acquisitions. Sims is intent on seeing the whole lot he has collected clearly. Every merchandise has been faraway from its field and positioned in a show case. For Maxwell, amassing an merchandise requires that it retains its pristine situation. The collectible have to be in its Aristotelian purest kind. Therefore, Maxwell by no means opens an merchandise he has collected. To achieve this is to transform it from being a collectible to a “toy.” Interestingly, we study that if he didn’t take pleasure in a movie, he doesn’t assist it by buying its memorabilia.
There are some fascinating anecdotes alongside that pattern unfold all through Batman and Me. One of Maxwell’s former girlfriends’ purchased him a package deal of Batman cookies per week previous to dumping him. After she broke up with him, he opened the package deal out of spite and ate the cookies. Being a collector, he then changed the cookies with a pristine, unopened package deal. In a second of weak point, Maxwell opened the Batman Forever board sport. To at the present time, he needs to exchange it with a duplicate nonetheless contained inside its mylar packaging. A selected merchandise has a tear in it. This gnaws at Maxwell’s psyche. While he has hidden the tear from view, it nonetheless exists. This is a nightmare situation for any collector.
While he’s featured in an additional documentary regarding Star Wars and its followers, The Phandom Menace, Maxwell and his room completely dedicated to Batman memorabilia is his declare to immortality. In the Melbourne collector neighborhood, he’s really referred to as the Batman collector. Batman and Me is an excellent deep dive into one man’s obsession. I extremely advocate it.
Batman and Me is a 2023 Award This! Pop Culture documentary nominee.
