Today is Mother’s Day, a day where we take the time to celebrate the women in our life that brought us into this world. Some of us are lucky enough to have moms that shaped us into the fans we are today. Seeing as how I have the unique opportunity to speak to a wide audience, I’d like to share with you how my mom contributed to my raging dorkiness.
My generation was perfectly poised to become enormous Batman fans. Between the enormous impact of Tim Burton’s Batman and the insane quality of Batman: The Animated Series, kids from my era were bombarded with Bat-mania. I was a little more intense with my love of the Caped Crusader though. At the age of four or five, my mom asked if I wanted to put out cookies and milk for Santa. With the utmost seriousness, I said I wanted to leave cookies and milk out for Batman. When asked why, I presented the argument that Santa only has to work one night out of the entire year, but Batman never gets to take a night off.
That’s right, Batman was just as real for me as Santa was at that age. The next morning, the plate of cookies was empty, the glass of milk had been drunk to the last drop, and a note was sitting in between the two. Batman thanked me for my help in the fight against crime and signed the note was a big Bat-symbol. Looking back, there’s no way my dad had the kind of well-constructed handwriting that was on that note. By process of elimination, I have to believe that my mom was Batman.
That wasn’t the only bit of Bat-fan indulgence my mom was involved in. The earliest birthday that I can remember was Batman themed — I have a distinct memory of playing “pin the Bat-symbol on Batman” because donkeys were lame — and my mom arranged for Batman himself to make an appearance. I was dumbstruck with genuine fear, but eventually warmed up to the Dark Knight. I’m sure she had an in with him seeing as how my mom’s name is Robin.
But it’s not just supporting my fandom that made my mom a great parent. She also has her own passions that she follows with unfettered fervor. Her favorite film is The Wizard of Oz and you’ll certainly know that if you enter her home. Not only does she have an entire cabinet full of “her pretties” (figurines and Oz memorabilia), but she’s even done up her guest room with Oz photos and merch. She fondly remembers the first time she caught the movie on television as a young girl, and that wonder and magic has never left her.
You can’t even escape the geekiness around Christmas thanks to my mom going out of her way to put nerdy decorations on the tree. When I was younger, it was placating me with a Dragon Ball Z.ornament. Now, there’s at least two Batman ornaments and even a Jaws one that plays the theme from the movie. In case you were wondering, Jaws is my absolute favorite movie of all time.
It’s moms like mine that make us proud of the things we become fans of. Never once when I was growing up did my mom ever discourage me from pursuing what I loved. When Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera came touring through town, I wanted to dress up as the Phantom when we went to see it. My mom didn’t even bat an eye, and before you knew it I was decked out in perfect Phantom garb.
So here’s to all the moms that sewed us costumes, took us to conventions, and passed on their enthusiasm down to us. We wouldn’t be fans if it weren’t for you.
And Happy Mother’s Day, Mom! Hope this makes up for not getting you a card. I’ll be over for Game of Thrones tonight!
