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: 2019-04-30 02:56 am (UTC)