informed ” (“ Blame Bennifer ”). Clearly , the backlash against Affleck ’ s casting was orchestrated by people who felt smart , informed , and obviously opinionated ; the negative use for the uni-name became co-opted by the movement which used this antecedent rhetoric to create a new “ identity ” against which Batfans could rally . Affleck , already a victim of the uni-name genre with “ Bennifer ,” had to contend with “ Bennifer II ” and “ Garfleck ,” the combination of his name and that of his ex-wife , Jennifer Garner . Soon after the announcement of Affleck ’ s casting as Batman , the online outcry quickly commandeered the antecedent genre of the celebrity uni-name for its own purposes , combining “ Batman ” and “ Affleck ” to make “ Batfleck .” As in the case of “ Billary ” or “ TomKat ,” the uni-name was not designed to be friendly . According to Bob Thomson , professor of popular culture at Syracuse University , regarding Affleck ’ s uni-name with Lopez , “ Ben and Jen didn ’ t leave any children , but they did leave us Bennifer , something they were completely unable to control .” More than a decade later , Affleck would be equally unable to control the “ Batfleck ” protest . In “ Antecedent Genre as Rhetorical Constraint ,” Jamieson identifies the concept of the “ chromosomal imprint ” of an “ ancestral genre ” ( 412 ). Much like how the murder of Bruce Wayne ’ s parents creates a superhero in Batman years later , “ Bennifer ” and “ Garfleck ,” fearsome foes from Affleck ’ s past , provide the chromosomal imprint for the “ Batfleck .”
Batfleck Begins
As fan critics are acutely aware , Affleck is no stranger to playing superheroes on film , and the public ’ s long memory of both his personal and professional lives , the details of which prove to possess a trajectory of emphatic online counterpublic response , fuel the Batfleck
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