From facebook and my blog. I am having to use the quote function to get paragraphs in the new version of blogger. Does anyone know another way?
What I'm wondering about superhero comics and movies is -- what is the social and emotional content? What grabs and hold people? The simple answer is wish fulfillment fantasy. But that's not adequate. The situation is more complex. The four movies I've seen recently tell different kinds of stories. Yes, they all end in smash! bang! boom! kapow! But that's kind of like the ballet in an opera. You know you are going to have to sit through it, so you grit your teeth. But the real story -- and the real joy -- is elsewhere.
I enjoy the action in comic book movies more than the ballet in opera. I still enjoy the stories in both more.
This is not entirely idle speculation. I am trying to figure out if there's a way to write science fiction/fantasy that has the appeal of a good superhero movie.
1 comment:
I think that part of the appeal of superheroes is that they behave in ways that we aspire to or desire.
The standards they adhere to are often absent in our real world role models. Compare Captain America to the majority of our politicians. Many of them are of less than stellar character, and the majority are not people that you look up to. The same is true in other venues.
As often as not, the hero shows you a side of yourself you have forgotten or sacrificed to the reality of success.
As to writing, while I do not think that SciFi/Fantasy has the same sort of pace, I think that those conflicts that make a hero who they are tend to be universals; the need to adhere to a standard, being true to their values, etc.
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