Pamela Isley (Batman & Robin)

Pamela Isley, commonly known as Poison Ivy, is a fictional character who appears in Joel Schumacher's 1997 superhero film Batman & Robin. Based upon the DC Comics character and supervillain of the same name, she was played by American actress Uma Thurman.

Pamela Isley
Poison Ivy
Joel Schumacher's Batman character
Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy
First appearanceBatman & Robin (1997)
Last appearanceBatman & Robin (1997)
Based on
Adapted by
Portrayed byUma Thurman

Character arc

Dr. Pamela Isley is a botanist, working for Wayne Enterprises' arboreal preservation project in South America. She is experimenting with Venom to create animal-plant cross-breedings capable of fighting back and protecting the world's plants from "the thoughtless ravages of man". However, her senior colleague, Dr. Jason Woodrue, steals some of her Venom samples in order to transform a prisoner into Bane. Isely is outraged that her research has been corrupted, and when she rejects Woodrue's advances, he tries to murder her by sending her crashing into shelves lined with beakers containing Venom and other animal-plant toxins and chemicals. She is transformed into a poisonous hybrid of human and plant. Replacing her blood with aloe, her skin with chlorophyll and filled her lips with venom, making her kiss poisonous. She kills Woodrue by kissing him with her poisonous lips, and vows to establish botanical supremacy over the world. At a charity ball, she unexpectedly appears in order to get the Heart of Isis diamond necklace. Blowing around a wisp of pheromone dust in order for the males to feel attraction to her, she offers the auctioneers present a night with her. Batman and Robin, also hit by the pheromone dust, get in on the auctioning action themselves. Poison Ivy also uses her pheromones to make Commissioner Gordon fall in love with her in order to get the keys to police headquarters and the Bat-Signal, and almost kills him with her toxic kiss before changing her mind because of him, "being too old for her".

She allies herself with Bane (who now serves as her who serves as the bodyguard/henchman) and Mr. Freeze, and plans to freeze the Earth with a giant freezing cannon, which will destroy the human race and enable Poison Ivy's mutant plants to "overrun the globe". She ensures Freeze's cooperation by pulling the plug on his cryogenically frozen wife, and convincing him that Batman had done it. Ivy then lures an infatuated Robin to her garden hideout by altering the Bat-Signal it to a "Robin-Signal" to lure Robin into a trap. She then tries to kill him with a venomous kiss; the attempt fails, however, as Robin had coated his lips with rubber. A furious Ivy throws Robin into her lily pond and entangles Batman in her vines, but they are able to free themselves when Batgirl unexpectedly arrives and traps the villainess in her own floral throne. After Batman, Robin and Batgirl foil the villains' plan, Ivy is imprisoned in Arkham Asylum with a vengeful Freeze as her cellmate.[1]

Background

Demi Moore, Sharon Stone, and Julia Roberts were considered for the role. Uma Thurman took the role because she liked the femme fatale characterization of Poison Ivy.

Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman drew inspiration from Neil Gaiman's revised origin story, Poison Ivy: Pavane. First published in January 1989 in Secret Origins #36, Pavane is where Jason Woodrue's murder attempt in the film comes from, as well as the name Pamela Isley. Prior to this her name was Lillian Rose. Ivy's last scenes in Arkham Asylum notably resemble her comic counterpart's appearance[2] in Secret Origins, particularly with how her hair is arranged. Thurman as Poison Ivy wears two flamboyant spandex catsuits in Batman & Robin.

Atsuko Tanaka provided Japanese dubbing for Thurman on the 2000 TV Asahi edition of Batman & Robin.

Connections to the comics

Isley makes her public debut as Poison Ivy at a charity auction featuring Batman and Robin. Batman and Robin's comic book counterparts also attended these kind of social events such as a beauty contest in ‘Batman’s Marriage Trap’ (Batman #214, August 1969). Meanwhile, the Poison Ivy of the comics, first appeared in ‘Beware of -- Poison Ivy!’ (Batman #181, June 1966) she like Uma Thurman in Batman & Robin, made her debut at a weird pop art display showcasing models with peculiar names. Isley's gorilla dance at the fundraiser in Batman & Robin is based on Marlene Dietrich's 'Hot Voodoo' number from the 1932 film Blonde Venus.

Later on in the film, Isley disguises herself in the backseat of a car with a wig in order to maneuver in public without being recognized. A similar scene occurred in ‘A Sweet Kiss of Poison’ (Batman #339, September 1981). Soon afterward in the story, just like in the film, she is able to get close to Bruce Wayne and cast her influence over him. This particular story arc is finally resolved in ‘Monster, My Sweet!’ (Batman #344, February 1982). As was the case with Bane Batman & Robin, the Poison Ivy of that story also a chauffeur (here, named Ivor, who was mutated as part of Isley's experiments to try and create a plant/human hybrid) who is slavishly devoted to her, communicates in short simple sentences, and attacks Batman on command.

Batman #339 featured Isley setting vines on Batman to crush/strangle him to death. This is similar to when Batman and Robin fall into Ivy’s trap in Batman & Robin. The subsequent confrontation between Ivy and Batgirl in the film showcased the Pamela Isley's skills at unarmed combat as also shown in Batman #344. Likewise, this particular issue also shows her using a vine like a whip and snaring an opponent’s ankle the way she did in the film.

The story ‘Hot House’ (Legends of the Dark Knight #42-43, 1993) like in Batman & Robin, also ends with Ivy playing he loves me/he loves me not in her cell.

Reception

Uma Thurman's performance was largely highlighted upon the film's premiere; the Houston Chronicle remarked that "Thurman [...] sometimes seems to be doing Mae West by way of Jessica Rabbit",[3] and a similar comparison was made by The New York Times: "[L]ike Mae West, she mixes true femininity with the winking womanliness of a drag queen".[4] She obtained a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Best Sci-fi Actress and was also nominated for Favourite Movie Actress at the Kids' Choice Awards. Uma Thurman was also nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress but loss to her Batman & Robin co-star Alicia Silverstone.

Legacy

Meshell Ndegeocello covered the Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller song "Poison Ivy" for the Batman & Robin soundtrack, with slightly altered lyrics. Her cover featured the villainess Poison Ivy as a main character.

See also

References
  1. Janet Maslin (June 20, 1997). "Batman and Robin". The New York Times.
  2. "Comic Book references in movies Part IV: 'Batman & Robin'". Gotham Alleys. August 3, 2011.
  3. Millar, Jeff (June 19, 1997). "If you like them busy, this 'Batman' is for you". Houston Chronicle. Texas. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  4. Maslin, Janet (June 13, 2005). "Holy Iceberg! Dynamic Duo Vs. Mr. Freeze". The New York Times. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
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