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Adam West had this incredible response when a magazine took a cheap shot at his physique during Batman
You'd better be tough if you want to bully someone like Batman.
It's never cool to judge someone based on their looks, whether it's a stranger on the street or your favorite hero on television.
Playing the Caped Crusader was no easy feat, but Adam West made it look simple. Today, West's portrayal of Batman is a fan favorite among television audiences the world over. However, according to the actor's memoir, Back to the Batcave, a very small sect of viewers had an issue with West. Their problem wasn't to do with the way West walked or talked; rather, it was how he looked.
"To those fans who complain that we were obviously making fun of Batman because I didn't have a Mr. Olympia build like the guy in the comic books, and my costume had softer lines than those in the early stories, I must report that these were conscious choices made by Dozier [the show's creator], myself, and the costume designer," wrote West. "We felt that a real-life Batman would be supple and trim, but more like James Bond than like Steve Reeves' Hercules...If we'd thought that approach was wrong, I'd have pumped up the way Christopher Reeve did a decade later for Superman, or - since time was tight, I'd have worn a partially padded suit the way George Reeves did for Superman. But neither of those seemed the right way to go."
This clarification didn't stop magazines like Newsweek from taking cheap shots at West. According to his memoir, the platform called the actor "a 'flabby travesty of Muscle Beach,"
Sharp as a tack and proud of his body, West had an incredible retort. "After reading your story, I raced to the Batmobile to my friendly neighborhood physician who assured me that I have not an ounce of flab and offered to provide a notarized statement to that effect," responded West. "Granted, I am not Superman. But neither is Batman."
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