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Started by Solomon Zorn, November 20, 2016, 10:08:34 AM

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Gawdzilla Sama

Quote from: trdsf on April 20, 2017, 12:55:43 PM
It's easier to do a series about lesser-known characters because you don't have decades of canon to wallow through that creates cliques of obsessive fans bitching that THEY'RE DOING IT ALL WRONG!!!11!1!!
"Fuck you" would work for me in that case.
We 'new atheists' have a reputation for being militant, but make no mistake  we didn't start this war. If you want to place blame put it on the the religious zealots who have been poisoning the minds of the  young for a long long time."
PZ Myers

Munch

Quote from: trdsf on April 20, 2017, 12:55:43 PM
It's easier to do a series about lesser-known characters because you don't have decades of canon to wallow through that creates cliques of obsessive fans bitching that THEY'RE DOING IT ALL WRONG!!!11!1!!

Unlesssssss, they make a kind of elseworlds version of the character, like how they made justice league gods and monsters, where batman is Dr. Kirk Langstromand a vampire, superman is Hernan Guerra, and in that timeline harley is a full on psychopath who uses the corpses of dead people for her puppet show.
'Political correctness is fascism pretending to be manners' - George Carlin

Cavebear

Quote from: Hydra009 on May 09, 2017, 07:28:27 PM
There are ways to read them now.  *winks with both eyes*
I have some computer disks of years of FF, Spiderman, and Avengers.  is that what you mean?
Atheist born, atheist bred.  And when I die, atheist dead!

Solomon Zorn

Quote from: Cavebear on April 21, 2017, 05:16:01 AM
I wish I had every "comic" book Marvel every produced...
An unabridged Marvel library...pardon me while I wipe up the wad I just shot, thinking about it...
If God Exists, Why Does He Pretend Not to Exist?
Poetry and Proverbs of the Uneducated Hick

http://www.solomonzorn.com

SGOS

Marvel seems to be on a roll.  At times I wonder why.  A lot of people wouldn't miss a Marvel movie.  I could name some of the reasons I think they are so popular, but why wasn't someone in Hollywood doing this before?  It's odd that the new kid on the block should dominate the movie theaters and Box Office revenues.

Great actors?  No, these guys have been around for a long time.
Great special effects?  No, those have been around for years.
Better story telling?  They do seem to have something here that isn't as readily available in Hollywood, IMO

But there must be more.  Basically, they are just making movies.  Why are they so good at it at a time when Movie gurus like Speilberg, and another guy... John Cameron???...  have been predicting the end of the movie industry?

Hydra009

#200
Eh, I think a lot of the reason is the special effects.  Doctor Strange probably wouldn't look nearly as good if it came out in 2004.

Another part of the reason is that superhero movies have slowly but steadily garnered public interest.  After a lot of successes and failures, the genre has finally taken off.  And because of this surging popularity, superhero films are finally able to command huge budgets, which tend to be better received, making the genre even more popular.  It's a feedback loop.

Marvel in particular has also been putting maximum effort into their movies, trying very hard to make sure as few of their movies as possible flop.  You can tell that they care about their movies, and they've had remarkable success in getting people to love characters they had previously never even heard of.

And the final reason could be that current real-world problems lend themselves to superheroic escapism.  The early 2000s really did a number on the national psyche.  Chaos, terrorism, war, etc.  And the people in charge never really seem to have a handle on the situation.  People love a hero, especially during dark times.  Also, superhero movies contain themes of compassion, justice, freedom, and equality that really resonate with people, now maybe more than ever.  After all, the X-Men movies happened to hit at the same time gay rights was a huge issue in the US.  Very interesting timing for a franchise that arguably has a lot of parallels with the gay rights movement.

Bottom line, it's a lot of factors all lining up to create a perfect storm of superheroism.

SGOS

Hydra,
Well said.  I've always loved superheroes, even if I wasn't an expert on all of them.  Marvel just tapped into an interest that was probably always out there, but they didn't just make more superhero movies.  They took it to the next level and added excellence to the formula, with the best directors, scripts, graphics, and actors, and they put the effort in to carry it beyond the somewhat stale Hollywood formulas.  Yeah, it takes some money to do that.  They've done it well.

Hydra009

One thing I considered for the earlier post but didn't write down till now (it sounds kinda out there and I'm kinda skeptical of this claim myself):

People have had flagging confidence in their social and political institutions for a while now.  Political leaders, military, police, church leaders, celebrities, etc.  Rallying behind fictional superheroes might be a way for people to signal a commitment to virtuous societal values without tying themselves to disappointing real-world institutions and people.

Munch

Quote from: Hydra009 on May 17, 2017, 04:58:16 PM
One thing I considered for the earlier post but didn't write down till now (it sounds kinda out there and I'm kinda skeptical of this claim myself):

People have had flagging confidence in their social and political institutions for a while now.  Political leaders, military, police, church leaders, celebrities, etc.  Rallying behind fictional superheroes might be a way for people to signal a commitment to virtuous societal values without tying themselves to disappointing real-world institutions and people.

could say that about any fictional character really. We escape into fantasy and its characters just for the reason, because we can feel more protected from the scorn in real life that fictional characters can overcome stuff in their stories.
'Political correctness is fascism pretending to be manners' - George Carlin

SGOS

Quote from: Hydra009 on May 17, 2017, 04:58:16 PM
People have had flagging confidence in their social and political institutions for a while now.  Political leaders, military, police, church leaders, celebrities, etc.  Rallying behind fictional superheroes might be a way for people to signal a commitment to virtuous societal values without tying themselves to disappointing real-world institutions and people.
Like Munch, I wouldn't be too skeptical about that.  It's part of the appeal.

SGOS

And speaking of superheroes, I see a new one shows up next month.

QuoteCaptain Underpants: The First Epic Movie

Based on the worldwide sensation and bestselling book series, and boasting an A-list cast of comedy superstars headed by Kevin Hart and Ed Helms, DreamWorks Animation brings audiences the long-awaited global movie event, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie. This raucously subversive comedy for the entire family tells the story of two overly imaginative pranksters named George and Harold, who hypnotize their principal into thinking he"s a ridiculously enthusiastic, incredibly dimwitted superhero named Captain Underpants.

Run Time: 90 Minutes
Genre: Animation
Opening Date: Friday, 02 June 2017

Hydra009

#206
Quote from: SGOS on May 17, 2017, 09:49:30 PMLike Munch, I wouldn't be too skeptical about that.  It's part of the appeal.
Yeah, it's just that I might be reading too much into it.  For all I know, the superhero fan that I'm ascribing all this complex stuff to might just want to see some nazi get punched in the face.

Cavebear

I go back in comics too far.  Started buying them in 1963.  Even at age 13, Marvel was much better than DC.  Marvel was for college students and DC was for high-schoolers.  Marvel had characters with problems, DC had aliases.  Marvel had angst.

The biggest difference was that Marvel had real people hiding their superhero peronas, and DC had superheroes trying to pretend they were real people.
Atheist born, atheist bred.  And when I die, atheist dead!

Baruch

Quote from: Hydra009 on May 17, 2017, 01:05:13 PM
Eh, I think a lot of the reason is the special effects.  Doctor Strange probably wouldn't look nearly as good if it came out in 2004.

Another part of the reason is that superhero movies have slowly but steadily garnered public interest.  After a lot of successes and failures, the genre has finally taken off.  And because of this surging popularity, superhero films are finally able to command huge budgets, which tend to be better received, making the genre even more popular.  It's a feedback loop.

Marvel in particular has also been putting maximum effort into their movies, trying very hard to make sure as few of their movies as possible flop.  You can tell that they care about their movies, and they've had remarkable success in getting people to love characters they had previously never even heard of.

And the final reason could be that current real-world problems lend themselves to superheroic escapism.  The early 2000s really did a number on the national psyche.  Chaos, terrorism, war, etc.  And the people in charge never really seem to have a handle on the situation.  People love a hero, especially during dark times.  Also, superhero movies contain themes of compassion, justice, freedom, and equality that really resonate with people, now maybe more than ever.  After all, the X-Men movies happened to hit at the same time gay rights was a huge issue in the US.  Very interesting timing for a franchise that arguably has a lot of parallels with the gay rights movement.

Bottom line, it's a lot of factors all lining up to create a perfect storm of superheroism.

We saw this in the late 1930s, but the drawing was better then ;-)
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Baruch

Quote from: SGOS on May 17, 2017, 10:04:24 PM
And speaking of superheroes, I see a new one shows up next month.

My best friend's superhero.  I just can't get on-board that.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.