Which city was the best Gotham City? (fit in, chapel)
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In it, Nolan says Chicago represents Gotham of the new millennium better. Gotham was originally based off New York, and New York was initially a better setting for it in the 60's when it was a live action show and cartoon.
But now, for 2008 and beyond, Chicago's architecture is amazingly different and beautiful, it has dark, gloomy, and steamy alleys. In the wintertime, much of the life in the city goes indoors and in dark corners. The city is corrupt, has a crime problem, and is looking for better leadership. The people are down to earth and feel connected. It's dense, cold, and grey much of the year. It's very industrial, plus, it has an outdoor train station. Chicago is the NEW Gotham City.
New York is no longer as corrupt, crime ridden, and gritty as it once was when it was meant to be Gotham. Chicago has taken it's place, and is still a hub for gang activity and criminals.
So, you see, there is a reason more than cost why Chicago was chosen to be Gotham City. Nolan managed to pull it off and FINALLY, Chicago was presented in a way where it will leave a fingerprint on the American film industry.
Who the heck cares what Nolan says, he is just the current director. The only important opinion that matters is the original writer of Batman. It matters what he thinks Gotham is and he said it was New York. There will probably be four or five more directors, writers or whatever regarding Batman movies and where there made in the next twenty or so years. I guarantee you that they will all share a somewhat different vision from their predescessors of what Gotham is or should be. Their opinions will mean as little to me as that of your mister "nolan". Only the origninal writer's opinion of this matter really means anything to me since it is them who wrote about Gotham.
anyone who thinks otherwise doesn't read enough comics.
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Originally Posted by Angel713
Nope. Superman's city was always suppose to be NYC. Gotham meant to resemble Chicago. There is a reason why both of the new Batman films (especially Dark Knight) was filmed in Chicago.
Writer Bill Finger is credited with the creation of Gotham City. Finger commented on the naming of the city and reasoning for changing Batman's locale from Manhattan to a fictional city: "Originally I was going to call Gotham City 'Civic City'. Then I tried Capital City, then Coast City. Then I flipped through the phone book and spotted the name 'Gotham Jewelers' and said, 'That's it', Gotham City. We didn't call it New York because we wanted anybody in any city to identify with it."[1]
Being a fictional city, Gotham is whatever the artists make it to be. Bob Kane originally conceived of it being analogous to New York. The artist for the comics in the 60s and 70s said he always considered it to be Chicago, specifically mentioning that Chicago and Gotham both had miles of dark alleys, unlike New York. Nolan clearly thinks that Chicago is more like Gotham.
For the movies, the Burton movies were not meant to be either, the Schumacher movies portrayed it as New York, and the Nolan movies portrayed it as Chicago.
In the comics, both Chicago and New York are specifically mentioned at times as separate cities. That means that Gotham is not directly meant to be either one. However, whichever city that evokes the feeling of Gotham is entirely dependent on how the artist portrays it. The truth is that there is no singular Gotham City because it borrows elements from different cities.
As far as the question of the thread, I voted for Chicago because I thought it was shown in a better way. Nolan portrayed Gotham in a more relatable manner than Burton, and more realistically than Schumacher. Plus, Chicago has a more notorious history and reputation of corrupt politicions, gangsters, and mobsters. Al Capone is still the most infamous mobster domestically and internationally. In fact, Capone is pretty analogous to Carmine Falcone. Visually I also agree that Gotham needs to have the dark alleys in which both criminals and Batman operate.
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indeed
