Rebuilding Rob

This weekend, while I was perusing Amazon Prime Video for some Batman related content to watch, I stumbled upon Batman and Me a 2020 Australian documentary. It tells the story of Darren Maxwell, a man who spent years, and thousands of dollars, establishing a reputation as “The Batman Collector” of Australia.

From the title and Prime’s thumbnail, I thought this would be a documentary focusing on Batman’s impact on popular culture, as seen form a super fan’s perspective. To my surprise, Batman and Me is somewhat depressing look at the lengths people will go to to feed their collecting addictions.

The main focus of the move is Maxwell’s “Batman Room” – a room in his house dedicated to his Batman movie collectibles – covering the 4 movies Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin. As the movie goes on, we learn about Maxwell’s other collectibles, his shopping addiction and his desire for a sense of belonging; which he seeks out on the pop culture fandom community. 

To be honest, its a depressing story. As Maxwell tries to convince the cameras he is “over” his collecting addiction, the filmmakers make it obvious he isn’t. But that is what addicts do: convincing the world that they are okayy when they’re not. Incidentally, this documentary ties in a bit with my response to today’s WordPress prompt.

FINAL TAKE: If you’re interested in the shopping/collecting/fandom addiction, this may be worth your time. But if you’re just looking for something Batman related to watch, its not worth your time at 1:24. The Batman collection was just a result of much bigger problems for Maxwell. 

Batman and Me is currently available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier related posts:

• The O.R. Virgin
• A Day in the Life of Rob
• Rob Reviews: The Acolyte. Am I missing the boat here?
• Rob goes green
• The nicest, coldest drink ever

The article “Rob Reviews…Batman and Me” originally appeared on Rebuilding Rob