Can Aging Be “Queer”? Dystopian-Aging Readings in Batguano (2014)

Abstract

The objective of this article is to present a reading on dystopian and queer aging in the Brazilian film adaptation of Batman and Robin as a couple who experience changes in their bodies, in routine and in the world around them, living in a dystopian world (bad place) and pandemic, affected by the proliferation of a plague called Batguano, caused by the feces of bats contaminated with human feces, which is the title of the film by Paraibano filmmaker Tavinho Teixeira. However, living in a dystopia, superheroes found a particular way of living in, despite being confined, a homoaffective relationship, based on companionship and care, being free to be queer and express their desires. However, Batman is exhausted, sick, aged and with one of his arms mutilated, becoming an invalid superhero in his now dystopian body. This article addresses the intersection of the fields of film studies, queer studies and aging studies, in which we aim to analyze, in a reading of cinematographic narration, the aesthetic-narrative issues of superheroes (Batman and Robin) as aging queer subjects in the film Batguano (2014). In this way, the aim is to discuss whether aging can be queer by subverting the gender and sexuality norms that de-eroticize the elderly homosexual. Furthermore, an analysis of the film narrative was proposed as a methodological procedure, adopting the method of deconstruction of the text and images of the film.