As all who are able to read this quote can tell, it is a clever play on words. This kind of sheer genius logic could only come from the old 1960s Batman movie, one of the finest cinematic masterpieces of all time. I'm not referring to the new Batman movies, even though some of them were indeed noteworthy, but to the old cheese-filled days when Adam West took up the role of the Dark Knight detective. Back in those days, the Batman and Robin would spend their time responding to every single call they received from Commissioner Gordon (and there were alot) and would then proceed to fight evil with the power of various sound effects on their side. I always liked 'Zowie', personally. You didn't see the new Batman sending Mr. Freeze tumbling with a 'BIFFF'! Not only that, the old Batman and Robin would find the criminals by solving infernal and often ridiculous riddles. They would then return to the Batcave, where all their high-tech equipment was carefully labelled (in case they should forget what all of it does) and find the location of the evil super-villain of the day. Of course, a story arc couldn't end without the dynamic duo being captured at least once. When this inevitably happened, the villains would stick them in some sort of overly complicated trap which was doomed to fail. These included exploding octopus, springboards and human-popsicle machines. Yes, the villains were original, but really not too bright. They certainly didn't believe in guns back in those days. Of course, it wouldn't have done them any good against the Batman and his allies. And by allies, I don't mean Robin or the police. I'm referring mainly to the man below, Alfred the Butler, who often disguised himself (successfully, no less) as an elderly Batman.
Now that I've given a bit of background to the old Batman TV series, I will now explain this specific quote and in so doing I will also expound on why the old movie was so great. This quote came up when Batman and Robin had just returned from investigating a disappearing yaht out at sea, at which point an exploding rubber shark had attempted to eat the Batman's leg. (Note that we're not supposed to realise the shark was rubber.) In any case, as Batman and Robin were assessing the situation back at police headquarters, they happened to use certain phrases to describe the situation, and these phrases alone led them to conclude which villain was behind the attack. This quote was one such line used. Another came from Chief O'hara, who concluded that, "It's all just a sinister riddle!" Naturally, Batman pounced on the words and intoned that the Riddler must be involved. At another point in the conversation, Gordon happened to say that, "This whole thing is very fishy!" According to the dynamic duo, that could only mean that the Penguin was involved! Finally, someone remarked on how the shark had been "Pulling Batman's leg!" Clearly the work of the Joker! The funny thing is that they were correct. Imagine if someone had used different words than the ones above. They would never have come to the same conclusions! The movie features many other great moments, such as bat-jogging, an outdoor mattress-selling convention and a noble, heroic porpoise who swam into a torpedo for no apparent reason. I could go on much longer, but I would surely leave much out, so instead I will merely suggest that you see the movie for yourself. It's well worth it.
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