>>150455903
Bold take. Seems like it was crosspollinated with the Bruce Lee shit in the 70's. You still see it with people saying Batman is the master of like a billion super niche esoteric martial arts styles. Batman is efficient, he doesn't gaf about your pissing crane jeet cum doodoo style. In order to kick ass you need to master boxing, grappling, and muay thai, applied to use against weapons. Basically an elevated MMA curriculum. Asian mysticism was an orientalist fad that lasted way too long.
The proof of it all is the way Talia has evolved, which is part of the reason she is less compatible with Batman now than she ever was. Originally Talia was the Karamaneh to Ra's Al Ghul's Fu Manchu, basically a damsel in distress who is (mentally) enslaved to her superterrorist master (father). The Orientalism is laid on pretty thick.
But Talia in that version is pretty shallow, which is ironically the version where she's the *most* compatible with Batman, because she hasn't been corrupted.my her father. In subsequent interpretations, she becomes less of an innocent captive and more her father's right hand, completely absorbing his ideology, which is the far more popular version of the character. But this version of her creates more conflict with Batman, not less, to the point where they're not really compatible. Not compared to Catwoman at least.
