I don’t understand how this news didn’t dominate national coverage yesterday, but sometimes stuff just falls through the LA news hole…
Batman got arrested. And not just Batman – Spiderman and Cat Woman, Scooby Doo and Elvis. LAPD has decided to crack down on the very dangerous superheroes and characters who hang out on Hollywood Boulevard and pose for pictures with tourists. (And me.)
One of the first people I met in LA two years ago was a city attorney who told me this was imminent – that the superheroes are business people who need to be licensed just like everyone else. I was just hoping it wouldn’t happen.
Just when you think LA doesn’t take itself seriously, it decides to get itself worked up and accomplish something that helps no one at all. Supposedly the characters are being too pushy when it comes to asking tourists for tips.
I have to think tourists know what they’re getting into when they come to LA and stroll Hollywood Boulevard.
It’s a shame to think of Hollywood without the art of what these guys bring to the Walk of Fame. No matter how many times I see Hollywood Boulevard, I still crane my neck when I drive by, trying to get a closer look at Captain America, Michael Jackson and Darth Vader. Gene Simmons was known to take his breaks at the Coffee Bean across the street and would sit outside, reading the paper as traffic streamed by.
I can only hope the cops soon will get distracted and forget their dedication to keeping Marilyn Monroe and Bart Simpson in the pokey.
Come on, LAPD, lighten up. Free your imagination. And Batman.
