DC TV and tiny cells

[Umbran]

Lack of a bed is an issue.

But, folks, in heroic fiction, nobody ever needs to use a toilet. They are biologically unnecessary for people in such universes, and serve only as occasional dramatic or humor value.

 

[Janx]

COnsider that the problem isn't the writers but the people building the sets and such.

As with the Hanibal reference, at some point, don't they put him in the center of the room and guard him.

That's the money shot for "imprisoned guy" so the other guy can talk to him. It looks controlling and fool proof. He's in the center of the room, you can film me walking around him, taunting him. There's no way he can escape...

 

[Scott DeWar]

Toilets are expensive, ceramic or stainless steel.

 

[Umbran]

COnsider that the problem isn't the writers but the people building the sets and such.

Or maybe the "problem" is more simple - a mismatch of expectations. For superhero fiction, should the writers or set designers *expect* the viewers to consider the implications of lack of fixtures in a jail cell? Are the viewers even expected to *notice* the lack? Or, are the viewers expected to be focused on whatever speechifying is going on in the scene?

How often are comic-book panels drawn such that the lack of a detail in the background is actually relevant to the action? Isn't relevant stuff usually made a foreground element in a panel? The art style has implications on how the story is told and structured, such that such subtlety isn't the comic-book-superhero genre forte.

We never see a toilet in the Batcave either. There's no Batcommode. Now, we can either figure that the folks making the movies just figure, really, we aren't all that concerned about where and when Wayne uses the toilet, or that the real reason for the voices used for Batman are due to his excessive constipation. Which are you going to go with?

 

[Scott DeWar]

. . . . .edit . . . . .We never see a toilet in the Batcave either. There's no Batcommode. Now, we can either figure that the folks making the movies just figure, really, we aren't all that concerned about where and when Wayne uses the toilet, or that the real reason for the voices used for Batman are due to his excessive constipation. Which are you going to go with?

I am going with the constipation theory.

 

[Morrus]

We never see a toilet in the Batcave either. There's no Batcommode. Now, we can either figure that the folks making the movies just figure, really, we aren't all that concerned about where and when Wayne uses the toilet, or that the real reason for the voices used for Batman are due to his excessive constipation. Which are you going to go with?

We don't see the entirety of the Batcave, and it's not 5' across, though. There's one thing not showing the parts of the spaceship where the toilet is; it's another to clearly show that there is no toilet.

But that wasn't really my point; it wasn't just the toilet I was raising, and like you say, that's explainable. It appears that these people are kept there for years at a time, and there's not so much as a blanket, a chair, or a book. Nothing. And this is done so casually to them - and even the prisoners seem to think it's perfectly normal!

For superhero fiction, should the writers or set designers *expect* the viewers to consider the implications of lack of fixtures in a jail cell? Are the viewers even expected to *notice* the lack?

I can't speak to what they expect; I can only speak to the fact that *I* noticed it and considered the implications. Maybe I'm the only one! I don't think I'm that special though.

 

[ccs]

Well, I guess it sets up plausible escapes.
Afterall, if there's no toilet you've either got to take your prisoners to such facilities OR clean their cells.
Wichever way, now the escape proof cage is open.

Probably not what the show creators ever intended us to imagine but....
(It'd be really funny if one of these shows used that escape idea though)

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'm thinking...batbidet.

 

[WayneLigon]

In the Comics, it's expected that supercriminals are constrained in special prisons, usually ones specially built for them to contain their powers and abilities. This hasn't had time to appear in any of the shows, so... what else are you going to do with someone who can turn into poisonous gas at will or who has mind-control powers? Unwilling to outright kill them, containment is the only solution. The Flash people happen to have that capability, so they use it. The only other alternative is killing the prisoner, because otherwise you're going to simply turn them over to the cops to escape again in seconds.

For Supergirl: secret Government facility, and prisoners who are not US citizens. They should probably be glad they're allowed clothing.

 

[Morrus]

In the Comics, it's expected that supercriminals are constrained in special prisons, usually ones specially built for them to contain their powers and abilities. This hasn't had time to appear in any of the shows, so... what else are you going to do with someone who can turn into poisonous gas at will or who has mind-control powers? Unwilling to outright kill them, containment is the only solution. The Flash people happen to have that capability, so they use it. The only other alternative is killing the prisoner, because otherwise you're going to simply turn them over to the cops to escape again in seconds.

The only alternative to giving them a blanket and a book is to kill them? I don't agree with your logic there. Although "blanket or death!" is kinda catchy.