Proctor writes , “ While it is incredibly difficult to pinpoint what Time Warner [ DC ’ s parent company ] actually paid attention to and the effect these discourses had on their response , it can be suggested that fandom played a crucial part in forcing Time Warner to rethink their approach to the Batman brand ” ( 159 ). So while the spirit of the Affleck protest echoes that of Bat-fan rhetorics past , the methods needed to be updated for the times . Batman , a character nearly eighty years old and whose controversial first film appearance was seventy-two years ago , has much material to draw upon . Continues Jamieson , “ Because a long-lived institution initiates a great body of rhetoric , a set of standardized forms for its rhetoric tends to evolve ” ( 165 ). One such form would take the dastardly shape of . . . the uni-name .
What ’ s in a Uni-Name ?: That Which We Call a Batfleck . . .
The concept of the uni-name , the combination of two names into a single abbreviated form , is not new . In fact , the 1966 Batman television series is infamous for its use of “ Bat- ” in front of any number of items from the Batphone , to the Batmobile , to the “ Batusi ,” Adam West ’ s ironically funky version of Batman dancing the “ Watusi .” Uni-names formed new , synthesized identities for high profile actors like Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball , who combined their names into “ Desilu ” for their production company ( which was responsible in part for the original Star Trek series , a contemporary of Batman ). In the 1970 ’ s , Watergate scandal reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein became known in the media as “ Woodstein ” as they unraveled the Nixon administration cover-ups . According to Damien Cave of The New York Times , during the 1980 ’ s , the names Ronald Reagan and Rambo were combined to make “ Ronbo ” ( Cave ). In the 1990 ’ s , and
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