Gotham Knights dev responds to criticism about ableism surrounding Batgirl
The team of developers behind Gotham Knights has responded to criticism about ableism surrounding the portrayal and storyline of Batgirl, aka Barbara Gordon.
Earlier on this month a fan posted Barbara Gordon’s biography from Gotham Knights on Twitter, stating “still not over the terrible backstory they gave to Barbara in Gotham Knights, just terrible.” The “terrible backstory” mentioned in the tweet is that of Barbara seemingly training herself to “overcome” her disability so she could fight for justice. The biography quickly caught the attention of DC fans, with several expressing that the change to Barbara’s backstory in Gotham Knights was steeped in ableism and offensive tropes.
“Guess all you have to do to recover from a life-changing injury causing disability is.. to just work out realllly hard,” one Twitter user commented, a sarcastic sentiment that more than a few other fans shared after reading the biography.
In Batman: The Killing Joke, Barbara Gordon (the daughter of Jim Gordon and apprentice of Batman) gets shot in the spine by The Joker – leading her to using a wheelchair, hanging up her mantle as Batgirl, and becoming the Oracle. While it’s unclear whether Gotham Knights will reference The Killing Joke, Batgirl’s biography does mention her being in a wheelchair and in the reveal trailer we do actually see a wheelchair in her room.
However, in a recent Q/A it was reported by Eurogamer that the developers of Gotham Knights has taken onboard the criticism regarding the depiction of Barbara Gordon’s disability and, as such, have made some changes. For example, the previous biography has been changed to say “with extensive training and rehabilitation, she recovered from her wounds, and returned to active duty as Batgirl.”
Creative director behind Gotham Knights, Patrick Redding, also mentioned that they had worked with Ablegamers in order to “learn about different types of spinal injuries and the potential for someone to regain mobility.”
How Barbara received her injuries in the first place hasn’t been confirmed, but Redding did clarify that much like many of the characters and plot elements within the game, Barbara’s injuries do differ in ways that have been portrayed in comics and that her ongoing rehabilitation will be addressed over the course of Gotham Knights. Redding also added that both Barbara’s Batgirl costume and everyday clothes will have “back bracing integrated” into it.
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