Cecil Castellucci's Batgirl: Love in the Time of Corona

Cecil Castellucci's Batgirl: Love in the Time of Corona

March 27, 2020

Margaret A. Robbins, Ph.D

“The fear of love not being returned lives in the deep recesses of our imaginations and torments us until we lose all faith. In stories, hopelessness burns like a fire through a heart. And hope in love is the gentle sudden rain that soothes” (Cestellucci, Batgirl, Volume 43) 

Unrequited love is like a hunger that isn’t fed, and one that can cause great pain. Most of us have experienced this feeling at least once, some of us more than once, to the point where we feel, as Bilbo Baggins said in Lord of the Rings, “like butter scraped over too much bread.” Butter scraped over too much bread is a feeling a lot of us have during the age of the Coronavirus, just for different reasons. For the person looking for a new job, a parent trying to manage schooling kids at home while still working full time, the educator learning to teach online for the first time, the restaurant owner wondering how long he/she/they can keep things afloat, the outpouring amid uncertainty is draining. 

Cecil Castellucci's Batgirl: Love in the Time of Corona Kinoclub313.com March 27, 2020