Watched a video of Serbian pro-democracy protests this week, mostly young college kids, and saw multiple examples of them using Superman as an icon of freedom. Got a little lump in the throat
Grab hold of whatever does it for you, because shitbird is flying over with a lot ammunition. Finding something to hold us up is a day to day grueling job.
I loved the overall message here, Eric. As a big fan of Superman and not much of a fan of the Marvel multiverse bullshit, I was very excited about the new Superman. Then, I read reviews and heard about a superdog, and other superheroes, and possibly dinosaurs or dragons. My excitement quickly waned. My kid saw it, and said it's still quite good. With her view and yours, I may yet take this on.
Some interesting thoughts on the new Superman. It's better than Zack Snyder's take on the character and I liked it with some significant reservations I've written about elsewhere, but I must say, I think you should see the new Fantastic Four film. I liked that one a lot more (though it's still hardly a masterpiece).
You know, as someone who grew up with superheroes, I was fed up with these movies constantly eschewing actual heroism, the characters trapped in Event after Event when the comics themselves had plenty of lulls to address and interrogate the idea of justice. I took my girlfriend to Thunderbolts, one of her first MCU experiences -- I myself noticed moments where they went out of their way to save innocents, but I otherwise agreed with her surprising complaint that the "heroes" weren't virtuous or heroic or aspirational in any single way.
In fact, what I noticed was that the one movie to address this, surprisingly, was "Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania". In that film, it's Scott's daughter Cassie who is full-on ACAB, blasting her father for not being a hero, just someone standing around and waiting for an alien to show up so he can punch something. Her argument was that heroism is proactive, not reactive, which works for these movies considering the heroes are always waiting around for someone to show up to indiscriminately shoot lasers everywhere. It's not a surprise she's close to Michelle Pfeiffer's Janet -- at one point, someone in the quantum realm celebrates Janet as a "freedom fighter" and she cheerfully cautions, "Or terrorist!"
For the record, the heroism in the new "Fantastic Four" was enjoyable, but admittedly (and sort of interestingly?) indebted to an old-fashioned sense of fascism baked into those simpler Silver Age comics.
Oof, relatable. I share a lot of these sentiments re: struggling to invest in comic book lore anymore. I’m glad to hear Superman still connects, even if we have to use it as a baseline means of keeping our spirits up. I’ve been focusing a lot on that lately, it’s fkn rough out here 🥴
Watched a video of Serbian pro-democracy protests this week, mostly young college kids, and saw multiple examples of them using Superman as an icon of freedom. Got a little lump in the throat
That's incredible!
Kindness is a superpower! I love it and couldn’t agree more!
Grab hold of whatever does it for you, because shitbird is flying over with a lot ammunition. Finding something to hold us up is a day to day grueling job.
I loved the overall message here, Eric. As a big fan of Superman and not much of a fan of the Marvel multiverse bullshit, I was very excited about the new Superman. Then, I read reviews and heard about a superdog, and other superheroes, and possibly dinosaurs or dragons. My excitement quickly waned. My kid saw it, and said it's still quite good. With her view and yours, I may yet take this on.
Thanks, Arpad! Hope you enjoy it! It's a fun time. 🤓
Some interesting thoughts on the new Superman. It's better than Zack Snyder's take on the character and I liked it with some significant reservations I've written about elsewhere, but I must say, I think you should see the new Fantastic Four film. I liked that one a lot more (though it's still hardly a masterpiece).
You know, as someone who grew up with superheroes, I was fed up with these movies constantly eschewing actual heroism, the characters trapped in Event after Event when the comics themselves had plenty of lulls to address and interrogate the idea of justice. I took my girlfriend to Thunderbolts, one of her first MCU experiences -- I myself noticed moments where they went out of their way to save innocents, but I otherwise agreed with her surprising complaint that the "heroes" weren't virtuous or heroic or aspirational in any single way.
In fact, what I noticed was that the one movie to address this, surprisingly, was "Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania". In that film, it's Scott's daughter Cassie who is full-on ACAB, blasting her father for not being a hero, just someone standing around and waiting for an alien to show up so he can punch something. Her argument was that heroism is proactive, not reactive, which works for these movies considering the heroes are always waiting around for someone to show up to indiscriminately shoot lasers everywhere. It's not a surprise she's close to Michelle Pfeiffer's Janet -- at one point, someone in the quantum realm celebrates Janet as a "freedom fighter" and she cheerfully cautions, "Or terrorist!"
For the record, the heroism in the new "Fantastic Four" was enjoyable, but admittedly (and sort of interestingly?) indebted to an old-fashioned sense of fascism baked into those simpler Silver Age comics.
Fromtheyardtothearthouse.substack.com
Well said. I'm hoping the next Spider-Man, which reportedly leans into the neighborhood protector role, is more about everyday heroism.
Oof, relatable. I share a lot of these sentiments re: struggling to invest in comic book lore anymore. I’m glad to hear Superman still connects, even if we have to use it as a baseline means of keeping our spirits up. I’ve been focusing a lot on that lately, it’s fkn rough out here 🥴