genre dissonance
Apr. 29th, 2019 08:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deird1Several years later, I've realised one of the reasons I grew tired of the MCU: because they're not superhero movies.
And yet they look like superhero movies at first glance, so it took me a long time to understand this.
What I Mean By "Superhero"
So, my go-to examples of superheroes are Superman, Spiderman, and Buffy.
Superman:
- has a secret identity
- has to conceal his secret identity
- has to occasionally screw up Clark Kent's life to be Superman (for instance, by standing Lois up on a date because he's busy rescuing a crashing plane)
Spiderman:
- has a secret identity
- has to conceal his secret identity
- is constantly screwing up Peter Parker's life to be Spiderman
- is hated by the popular press
- is dirt poor
Buffy:
- has a secret identity
- often has to screw up Buffy Summer's life to be the Slayer
- is hated by the popular kids at school (in the early seasons)
- is dirt poor (in the later seasons)
In my mind, your classic superhero story is the story of an Average Joe with a slightly crummy life, who also happens to be a super-powered protector of the innocent. And one of the major points in the story is the conflict between their ordinary life and their superhero life.
...and then there are the MCU movies.
The main characters:
- do not have secret identities
- have no conflict between their ordinary lives and their superhero lives, because everything they do is about their superheroing
- are super wealthy
- basically have no problems until we're in the middle of the movie plot*
* Not that they have no problems, but the movie arcs tend to be "Everything is fine and awesome... and now the bad guys have attacked... and now my life is back to being awesome in every way."
They're... not exactly standard superheroes – but more like the Gods of Mount Olympus. In that they are up there, having lives that we the audience simply do not have.
I'm sure that genre is still capable of producing good movies. But they're not so much superhero movies – and I miss those.
And yet they look like superhero movies at first glance, so it took me a long time to understand this.
What I Mean By "Superhero"
So, my go-to examples of superheroes are Superman, Spiderman, and Buffy.
Superman:
- has a secret identity
- has to conceal his secret identity
- has to occasionally screw up Clark Kent's life to be Superman (for instance, by standing Lois up on a date because he's busy rescuing a crashing plane)
Spiderman:
- has a secret identity
- has to conceal his secret identity
- is constantly screwing up Peter Parker's life to be Spiderman
- is hated by the popular press
- is dirt poor
Buffy:
- has a secret identity
- often has to screw up Buffy Summer's life to be the Slayer
- is hated by the popular kids at school (in the early seasons)
- is dirt poor (in the later seasons)
In my mind, your classic superhero story is the story of an Average Joe with a slightly crummy life, who also happens to be a super-powered protector of the innocent. And one of the major points in the story is the conflict between their ordinary life and their superhero life.
...and then there are the MCU movies.
The main characters:
- do not have secret identities
- have no conflict between their ordinary lives and their superhero lives, because everything they do is about their superheroing
- are super wealthy
- basically have no problems until we're in the middle of the movie plot*
* Not that they have no problems, but the movie arcs tend to be "Everything is fine and awesome... and now the bad guys have attacked... and now my life is back to being awesome in every way."
They're... not exactly standard superheroes – but more like the Gods of Mount Olympus. In that they are up there, having lives that we the audience simply do not have.
I'm sure that genre is still capable of producing good movies. But they're not so much superhero movies – and I miss those.
no subject
Date: 2019-04-28 11:38 pm (UTC)Yes, exactly. I love that quiet example of heroism -- doing the right thing / saving others even when it means that you're own life is less comfortable / still crummy. I feel like heroics should involve some kind of sacrifice/compromise, it shouldn't come as easy as the MCU seems to make it.
the movie arcs tend to be "Everything is fine and awesome... and now the bad guys have attacked... and now my life is back to being awesome in every way."
Yes, that's it exactly. I mean, hmmm, one of the reasons Capt America and Winter Soldier work better for me is that you get the impression that Steve's life isn't easy. He gets/has superpowers, sure, but in the rest of his life he's just trying to figure out how to get through it.
But the MCU ensemble movies feel like a whole bunch of super powers thrown together just because it looks cool. It doesn't inspire me like Buffy does.
no subject
Date: 2019-04-30 02:56 am (UTC)you get the impression that Steve's life isn't easy. He gets/has superpowers, sure, but in the rest of his life he's just trying to figure out how to get through it.
Exactly. And I love him. :)
no subject
Date: 2019-04-28 11:38 pm (UTC)(though since you like Buffy, I suspect favorable?)
because if you are not opposed, I wish to introduce you to Miraculous Ladybug
because reasons
no subject
Date: 2019-04-30 02:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-04-29 07:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-04-30 02:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-04-30 01:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-04-30 02:57 am (UTC)I have many thoughts on the subject of the MCU and why it grates, but this is a new one for me.
no subject
Date: 2019-04-30 03:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-04-30 02:27 am (UTC)Captain America actually is an average Joe, from Brooklyn, who was beaten up a lot as a kid. Had no money. And just wanted to enlist in the War effort. He volunteers for the super solider program and voila, no longer average Joe.
Thor is from another planet where he is a God, sort of similar to Kai-el aka Clark Kent aka Superman. The point of Superman, is Clark Kent is the disguise.
Also Batman is a DC superhero who is super-rich and funds his whole enterprise, while Tony Stark got captured ended up having his heart critically wounded and had to put an electronic device inside it to keep it ticking and armor outside to protect it -- Iron Man sort of comes out of his need to protect his weakened heart. He's basically Batman but with a bit more of a twist and more science involved.
Black Widow isn't wealthy -- she's a Russian spy, who is trying to redeem herself and got conscripted at an early age.
The Hulk was Bruce Banner, a scientist trying to find a cure for disease through gamma ray technology and well -- it back-fired on him.
Ant-Man is a struggling single Dad and had been a thief, but is trying to get out of that. And got selected by the original scientist Dr. Henry Pym.
Captain Marvel is a pilot who dreamed of being a pilot since birth and ended up accidentally getting embued with super strength -- she wasn't rich to start.
I don't think you know these superheros well enough to make a judgement? The MCU like the DC verse and Jossverse is rather multi-faceted.
And I guess you don't think of Wonder Woman, Superman, or Batman as heroes -- because all three are, I hate to break this to you, super-wealthy.
no subject
Date: 2019-04-30 02:54 am (UTC)I am quite familiar with the characters, and agree with your assessment of them. In this post, though, I'm not talking about the characters so much as the film plots.
The films are not films about everyman types struggling to reconcile their daily life with their superheroing – they're about the characters not having that struggle. I know they weren't rich, but right now they are all very well funded. They're all basically approved of by the establishment (with the exception of things like Tony Stark being asked to help the establishment more and the whole Hydra issue). And none of them have a secret identity (with the exception, in his first movie, of Thor... kinda).
The characters might qualify as superheroes, but the film plots are not the kind of plots I would expect to see in the superhero genre.
no subject
Date: 2019-04-30 02:59 am (UTC)And Thor? That's a Shakespearean dram about hubris. His father takes away everything from him to teach him to value life.
Doctor Strange? He's dead broke by the time he seeks out mystic arts, has no money, no funding. And gives up his dream of regaining his hands to protect the mystic realm.
Iron Man -- he's captured by terrorists.
The problem is you're trying to watch the Avengers as a stand-a-lone and it's not. You really have to look at all the movies together as a whole. I was referencing the film plots not the comics. It would be like watching and judging Buffy as a hero based on well Chosen or one isolated episode.
Or Spiderman based on his role in the Avengers solely.
no subject
Date: 2019-04-30 03:07 am (UTC)At the start of his film. And by the end, he's not in that position.
Iron Man -- he's captured by terrorists.
At the start. But it's not a film about Tony Stark having to deal with the fact that he's regularly kidnapped by terrorists, and being a superhero while regularly struggling with his weekly kidnappings... It's something that happened to him – not his life that happens.
I'm not sure you understand what I'm trying to say. I'm not saying these characters don't struggle. I'm saying that they don't have to fight for a balance between superheroing and their daily lives. (Batman, for instance, is constantly trying to be Bruce Wayne and Batman, and having each one of those lives affect the other one.)
ETA:
You really have to look at all the movies together as a whole.
Which... is also something I dislike about the MCU. They should work as a whole, but that shouldn't be at the expense of the standalone films.
no subject
Date: 2019-04-30 12:21 pm (UTC)Then you just don't like ensemble superhero pictures? And only like superhero flicks that focus solely on one character?
Got it.