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genre dissonance
Several 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
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
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. :)