When the first Iron Man movie came out, it was novel. They finally had the CGI budget to pull off some neat stuff, and it was fresh and interesting, compared to everything else.
The trouble was that it proved to be popular, and nothing kills novelty and freshness like having to crank out enough slop to keep the money coming in. Marvel now needs to make money for the Mouse, forever.
For me, it's almost entirely nostalgia. Comics and superheroes were a big part of my childhood and teenage years, and I still dabble in reading comics. But as I get older and my worldview gets more coherent, the stories are becoming less meaningful and more, "What will the good guys do to get out of THIS jam?" There are still some gems, but I admittedly mostly consoom capeshit for the sole purpose of seeing my favorite characters working together to overcome the conflict.
When you spend most of your waking hours alienated and powerless, it's nice to let the imagination wander, and that's exactly to what these stories cater. Unfortunately, too many people start believing in the bullshit.
Even as someone who likes it...It is pretty wild to sometimes contemplate how effective superheroes have been as a counterrevolutionary force. They have essentially not only served as a framework for the concept of "great man theory" of history, but also taught multiple generations of people that the truest morality is having absolute power and doing as little with it as possible.
Exactly; there's a reference to Nietzsche's master/slave morality in there somewhere, but I'm too much of an uneducated pleb to articulate it.
As long as I'm at the lathe, though, I'm guessing that there's a non-zero chance that Breitbart-loving CHUDs eventually deem Captain America: The First Avenger to be "too political" and/or "glorifying Marxist totalitarianism" because Cap punches Hitler, culminating in a Twitter panic wherein a bunch of boomers tweet videos of themselves smashing their Rokus and Fire sticks to protest a Marvel movie made in 2011. Many liberals are scratched during the incident.
Done well it can do what any sci fi does; hold a mirror up to society and explore ideas and concepts in a new and interesting way. I loved Xmen growing up because of the politics and how it explored how a demonised minority can be persecuted, not to mention how powerful people manipulate fear of the other and basically institute a massive surveilance state and bring in something like fascism. It seemed quite relavent around about the first few years of the millenium. Stuff like Alan Moore's watchmen is also good for exploring similar ideas but in a significantly more complex way - for instance the comedian kind of got me reading up on Latin America and Contras. Worldbuilding is also usually pretty interesting too... how the world works when you have actual superheroes etc. I quite liked the worldbuilding in Worm for instance.
There is also the power fantasy aspect. With superhero stuff, you can kinda think about what it'd be like to have that kind of power. Also, at the end of the film or comic, you know that however bad things look they will be resolved. Even if someone gets killed you can be fairly sure they will be back so in that way it is safe I guess?
The thing is, comics in the US can't really deviate from the superhero medium like other countries (France, Japan, Brazil, the UK, etc.) so practically every story that's actually interesting has to fit into the superhero mold. Alan Moore's Swamp Thing run is one of the greatest works of gothic fiction of all time, but to sell the comic it still has to be about a "superhero." So you end up having to sort out the cliche from the actually profound.
Honest question: Why do people like the supehero genre?
I have no interest in such things
When the first Iron Man movie came out, it was novel. They finally had the CGI budget to pull off some neat stuff, and it was fresh and interesting, compared to everything else.
The trouble was that it proved to be popular, and nothing kills novelty and freshness like having to crank out enough slop to keep the money coming in. Marvel now needs to make money for the Mouse, forever.
For me, it's almost entirely nostalgia. Comics and superheroes were a big part of my childhood and teenage years, and I still dabble in reading comics. But as I get older and my worldview gets more coherent, the stories are becoming less meaningful and more, "What will the good guys do to get out of THIS jam?" There are still some gems, but I admittedly mostly consoom capeshit for the sole purpose of seeing my favorite characters working together to overcome the conflict.
I mean, if they keep cranking out Goofy Himbo Chris Hemsworth flicks, I'm gonna keep watching them. It's one of the laws of physics.
It's power fantasy. Honestly...I sometimes fantasize about what I would do if I had force powers or if I had a healing factor.
It's juvenile I concede...but it is a real thing I think and experience and like to believe I'd do something with.
When you spend most of your waking hours alienated and powerless, it's nice to let the imagination wander, and that's exactly to what these stories cater. Unfortunately, too many people start believing in the bullshit.
Even as someone who likes it...It is pretty wild to sometimes contemplate how effective superheroes have been as a counterrevolutionary force. They have essentially not only served as a framework for the concept of "great man theory" of history, but also taught multiple generations of people that the truest morality is having absolute power and doing as little with it as possible.
Exactly; there's a reference to Nietzsche's master/slave morality in there somewhere, but I'm too much of an uneducated pleb to articulate it.
As long as I'm at the lathe, though, I'm guessing that there's a non-zero chance that Breitbart-loving CHUDs eventually deem Captain America: The First Avenger to be "too political" and/or "glorifying Marxist totalitarianism" because Cap punches Hitler, culminating in a Twitter panic wherein a bunch of boomers tweet videos of themselves smashing their Rokus and Fire sticks to protest a Marvel movie made in 2011. Many liberals are scratched during the incident.
Done well it can do what any sci fi does; hold a mirror up to society and explore ideas and concepts in a new and interesting way. I loved Xmen growing up because of the politics and how it explored how a demonised minority can be persecuted, not to mention how powerful people manipulate fear of the other and basically institute a massive surveilance state and bring in something like fascism. It seemed quite relavent around about the first few years of the millenium. Stuff like Alan Moore's watchmen is also good for exploring similar ideas but in a significantly more complex way - for instance the comedian kind of got me reading up on Latin America and Contras. Worldbuilding is also usually pretty interesting too... how the world works when you have actual superheroes etc. I quite liked the worldbuilding in Worm for instance.
There is also the power fantasy aspect. With superhero stuff, you can kinda think about what it'd be like to have that kind of power. Also, at the end of the film or comic, you know that however bad things look they will be resolved. Even if someone gets killed you can be fairly sure they will be back so in that way it is safe I guess?
The thing is, comics in the US can't really deviate from the superhero medium like other countries (France, Japan, Brazil, the UK, etc.) so practically every story that's actually interesting has to fit into the superhero mold. Alan Moore's Swamp Thing run is one of the greatest works of gothic fiction of all time, but to sell the comic it still has to be about a "superhero." So you end up having to sort out the cliche from the actually profound.
why do people like fantasy or sci fi?