I think the class decided parody of the superhero genre is having two tired genres become one fully embodied genre. However I also think that "invincible" superheroes make better parodies because they emphasize flaw in superhero identity. Batman is a great example of how the flawed superhero becomes favorable in specific moments in history.
Look at this in relation to Batman vs. Superman.
For example: Today we are a skeptical America, but we don’t need to hope for a better America because American government is popular (Obama Administration): This leads to Batman (the vigilante) being the preferred superhero.
1978: Superman the Movie was made, popular because its moment in history (after Vietnam skepticism)-America needed something to believe in. This is talked about in relation to the Six Million Dollar Man which was televised after Watergate (epic government fail!): ‘‘In this era of public scandal and cynicism,’’ said executive producer Harve Bennett, ‘‘I felt the time was right for the old-fashioned idealistic hero—like the Lone Ranger or Gary Cooper—who comes along to fight evil’’ (qtd. in Cohen 26) (98).
So basically, we're always looking for the opposite of our state of affairs?
ReplyDeleteValid argument, but let's complicate it:
The Spiderman films actually matched our state of mind as we grew, matching it (for a while), not countering it:
The first film was a quasi-idealistic "I can pull off this superhero thing" film, which as young-uns, we thought was awesome. Then we got emo and decided that "reality's much harder than that man!" and we got Spiderman 2.
Spiderman 3 tried to capitalize on the actual emo phase of pop culture as a whole though, but for us at that point we realized it was stupid cause we'd grown out of it. It also didn't help that it used more obvious emo iconography, which got too obvious.