Why did the "Martha" line fail?

[Slowpokeking]

I mean I could understand what Zack Snyder was trying to show, but the whole plot was handled badly and too rushed. Batman being a jerk and Superman needs THAT to save himself? It lacks of enough setup to lead to this climax, so it became a big meme.

Honestly such trope would work much better against Aquaman and Ocean Master since they do have the same mother.

[Michael Watkins]

the Martha line failed because the story, tone, and direction failed. they never convinced me that Superman was a symbol of hope. so I didn't care that Batman was trying to kill him. and Batman's reasoning for wanting to kill Superman was so stupid that I couldn't root for him, either. given how easy it was for Lois to track down Superman's dual identity, Batman should already have run across the information that Superman does, indeed, have a mother (and her name). they should split these characters up and stop attempting to copy Marvel. Superman should have a different tone than Batman. I don't want to see him wallow in misery at how he's misunderstood by humankind. this isn't live-action Charlie Brown. and Lex Luthor shouldn't be a muppet.

[Jackalope89]

It was meant to show the now disillusioned Batman that Superman, despite his powers and origins, had a lot of human elements to him that Bruce had been/blinded himself to.

It just wasn't executed the best way. Rather than one little scene, there should have been other things hinted throughout the film. That rather than a callous and uncaring god-like being that fought in the middle of a city like it was nothing, it could have been shown that Superman went out of his way to protect the people of Metropolis, showed that he cared, etc. But with the Batman-lite kind of story/personality Supes had been given to that point, with a world that more reflected X-Men's world (hating or worshiping powered beings), that was all but impossible and a big part of why I didn't like Man of Steel, and didn't care for a good part of the Superman bits in the film.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

It's like the whole "Dexter became a lumberjack" meme. It was too nuanced for the material around it. It works better if you build it up better, but because it wasn't it became an easy target for a joke. It made sense. Batman dehumanized Superman as an alien/weapon, and never considered the human aspect to him and being shocked by a similar connection and love for a mother is what made him realize how off he was.

[Buried Alien]

I can't tell you; it worked for me.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Comic-Reader Lad]

The line worked really well for me. It served a dual purpose: it humanized Superman in Batman's eyes, but first it was a splash of cold water in Batman's face. Only hearing the name of his parent could have snapped Batman out of his murderous rage and really stopped him in his tracks to make him realize how he betrayed his parents' memory by becoming a killer -- which was a betrayal of everything Batman was supposed to stand for.

It was a kind of "Good Lord, what have I become?" moment without beating you over the head with it.

[Michael Watkins]

The line worked really well for me. It served a dual purpose: it humanized Superman in Batman's eyes, but first it was a splash of cold water in Batman's face. Only hearing the name of his parent could have snapped Batman out of his murderous rage and really stopped him in his tracks to make him realize how he betrayed his parents' memory by becoming a killer -- which was a betrayal of everything Batman was supposed to stand for.

so you're good with Batman not having done enough research on his target to discover the existence of a mother? just hearing the name 'Martha' clued him into the events of Man of Steel?

[Buried Alien]

so you're good with Batman not having done enough research on his target to discover the existence of a mother?

That was sort of the point about Batman in that movie: he was so overwhelmed by fear that he wasn't thinking straight. His objective wasn't to find out who the alien was, but to kill the alien before Gotham ended up like Metropolis. Fear makes people, even Batman, behave irrationally.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

so you're good with Batman not having done enough research on his target to discover the existence of a mother? just hearing the name 'Martha' clued him into the events of Man of Steel?

You mean because Batman didn't know Superman's identity?

[Midvillian1322]

I'm guessing this is coming up again now because of the Joke in Deadpool lol. Surprised everyone in the theater got that joke it seemed.

[Star_Jammer]

I think the most absurd part, for me, is that Superman says "Save Martha," as if Batman was supposed to know who Martha was. Thus, the necessity to construct the line to further the plot becomes that much more apparent. The sheer convenience of their mothers sharing the same name just compounds things, but is not (on it's own) the worst.

Secondly, how would Batman suddenly be more effective at finding Martha than Superman. Like...LOL?

Thirdly (lastly? IDK), fear-driven "I must kill the alien"-Batman works even less for me than "I win at everything"-Batgod but, admittedly, I am not the biggest Batman fan to begin with.

[Slowpokeking]

How would it be if it was Aquaman saying "Atlanna, she's my mother, but also yours!" to Ocean Master?

[MindofShadow]

I think the most absurd part, for me, is that Superman says "Save Martha," as if Batman was supposed to know who Martha was. Thus, the necessity to construct the line to further the plot becomes that much more apparent. The sheer convenience of their mothers sharing the same name just compounds things, but is not (on it's own) the worst.

Secondly, how would Batman suddenly be more effective at finding Martha than Superman. Like...LOL?

Thirdly (lastly? IDK), fear-driven "I must kill the alien"-Batman works even less for me than "I win at everything"-Batgod but, admittedly, I am not the biggest Batman fan to begin with.

Yeah, with his dying breath he calls his mom... by her first name lol.

riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight

Also, him having a "human" mom doesn't contradict Batman's thinking. He was willing to spear superman to death just in case he was bad. If there was even a 1% chance he was bad, Bats wanted him dead because nothing could stop. Having a mom named martha doesnt' make that 1% zero lol

[Star_Jammer]

Yeah, with his dying breath he calls his mom... by her first name lol.

riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight

Also, him having a "human" mom doesn't contradict Batman's thinking. He was willing to spear superman to death just in case he was bad. If there was even a 1% chance he was bad, Bats wanted him dead because nothing could stop. Having a mom named martha doesnt' make that 1% zero lol

Yeah. I mean, every human being who's done any number of "bad things" has...a human mother.

[PyroTwilight]

I can't tell you; it worked for me.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

Same. I thought it was a bit cheesily handled but an AMAZING moment.

So I was really surprised when folks started making a joke of it and treating it so negatively.