1989 in movies: Batman fever and Hollywood solves racism again (and not for the last time)

Here's the back of my Batman laserdisc, though I didn't pick this up from a library sell-off until many years after I'd worn out my VHS copy.

Coming into this "number one guy" movie in 89, of course I was aware of many saying that Michael Keaton was a bad choice for Batman, but I guess that didn't phase me because I wasn't reading much Batman at the time, so I all I had to go on for Dark Knight portrayals was Adam West and the Super Friends cartoons, and in either of those cases it seemed that Keaton would fit in just fine.

For whatever reason, I was pretty late actually getting to the theatre to see this, though I can't remember how long it took or why, because I was clearly interested in it. I'd already picked up the novelization so I knew the story going in, and that's hard for me to reconcile with the strict spoiler avoidance I've adhered to in the years since.

There was also the good fortune of getting back into Prince at about this time, so I was listening to the album before seeing the movie. In short, I knew most things about the plot and the vibe before even seeing it, and while you'd think that would take some of the thrill out of it, the movie simply piled on to my fascination and I still love it.

From multiple viewings to a first-time watch, here's Driving Miss Daisy to provide a very, very light look at entrenched racism and how, even in 1989, we were obviously doing so much better than forty-something years prior.

I knew going in that this was not a well-regarded Best Picture winner in the years since and hadn't stood the test of time all that well. Freeman's performance, laden with "Yes'm" and high-pitched chuckles, is hardly a testament to how he and Daisy, and thereby all of us, are more alike than different (presuming that was the goal here), because it's hard to relate to a caricature. 

Besides the ever-present casual racism (easily accomplished with several variations on "people like them" comments), the film's lone moment that tries to drum up tension occurs as Daisy and Hoke are approached by Alabama troopers, ask for their ID and registration, stare at them sternly for a moment, and then let them go. I'm not saying that this is the type of movie that should have, for example, shown the troopers laying a beating on Hoke, but the fact that their prime example of overt racism is a momentary stand-off that resolves itself peacefully and immediately just means that they're not really trying to shine a light on any dark corners. 

So, instead, Hoke and Daisy become friends and we're left with the safe feeling that everything will be all right, and the Oscar goes to that reassuring idea more than to the movie.

An interesting tidbit picked up from the film's trivia: this was, as of 2026, the most recent PG-rated Best Picture winner.