Saturday, August 4, 2012

Movie super heroes.

I read a really good article in the paper about all the super hero movies they're making. I'm really glad that Joseph Bruck wrote it because I've said the same thing about movie super heroes. There aren't so heroic.  

 For instance, who could forget Superman's mission to secure 'truth, justice and the American way'? In our modern culture, however, the albeit campy but kid-friendly films of yesterday are being replaced with films showcasing a darker, more adult mindset – and the superhero characters are suffering as a result. 
Our heroes now are more relatable, which means they're more flawed. Far from being ideal, some "heroes" like Iron Man and the Green Lantern are shown as selfish, egotistical young men who treat women as objects. They only become virtuous as a result of their new powers, which force them to start thinking about others. 
The problem with such imperfect heroes is that they promote sin as being attractive, relatable and good. This message is like a clever ploy to make people feel better about their own promiscuity... after all, if Batman and Iron Man do it, why can't I?
I remember when I saw Iron Man and when he got drunk and peed in his super suit I thought the same thing, that super heroes don't act like that. I didn't want to see the new Spider Man movie because of one preview where Spider Man caught  a car thief. After he caught the thief he webbed him to a wall and then he shot a spider web at his crouch.  Heroes don't hit unarmed men.   

I just don't like the way the heroes act so arrogant in movies. When I think about heroes I think about noble knights from the King Arthur stories, St. Martin of Tours, or Blessed Jose Sanchez. St. Martin was a knight in the Roman army who gave half his cloak to a beggar who was cold and Blessed Jose was a boy in Mexico who was killed by the Mexican army because he didn't believe the government should outlaw being Catholic. 
And besides, if Spider Man were really half spider he would not be shooting his web out his wrists. I guess they don't have entomologists in Hollywood. 

2 comments:

  1. "And besides, if Spider Man were really half spider he would not be shooting his web out his wrists. I guess they don't have entomologists in Hollywood."

    Hahahahaha!!! True that.

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  2. Funny wrap-up! In the comic books, Peter Parker wasn't originally given the ability to shoot webs by the spider bite; he built web-spinners that went around his wrists under his costume. The occasional plot hook would center around him running out of web-fluid right in the middle of a desperate fight ... "TO BE CONTINUED!"

    Otherwise, I take your point. Hollywood tries to portray an ordinary Joe (or Jane) forced by circumstances to step up and become a hero; but they don't understand the secondary messages they pass out. Good post, Tom.

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