Now I will be honest; the majority of movies based on comic books are sub-par, do not follow the source material really well, and are too dumbed down for audiences due to a need to be overly generalized. Movie studios are too scared to invest time, effort, and heart into projects which could truly play out as our own modern mythology. People look at comic books and sneer as if this a juvenile form of entertainment without any literary value or merit. These tales are far more than simple entertainment. They are tales of action, adventure, and when written with respect for both the character and the content, capable of deep, emotionally rich stories. They can be progressive, such as X-Men, which symbolized racism and its harmful effects on society, and Daredevil, a comic which presented the ability of the blind to function in and contribute to society. They can be introspective, such as the brooding Batman or the alcoholic Tony Stark of Iron Man. They can be about the nobility of the human spirit, such as Superman and 300. And they can be about the darker side of man (Sin City, V for Vengeance).
Comic books are morality plays, insight into modern culture, views into human nature, and larger than life epics that help to make it all palatable because it attempts to prove to us the nobility of man. Like the tales of Greek gods and heroes, Celtic myth such as Beowulf, and the olden tales of Arthur and his knights, comics are our modern day legends.
The problem with the current studio system is that it does not recognize these tales for the rich characters and tales they have to tell. These are merely stories with explosions, excessive violence, over the top villains, and quirky jokes. The studios have glossed over the material and understood only the outlying plot but not the theme to what makes comic books such an endurable part of American, as well as world, entertainment.
One fine example is what became of the Spider-Man franchise. Whereas the first two movies did well in capturing the heart of the Spider-Man series, Peter Parker struggling to do what was right in a world that didn't always appreciate his efforts as he attempts to discover his place in it, the third movie simply crapped on story for more violence and mindless plot that served on to cram as many characters as possible into an already overburdened cast. Juvenile humor was used to deal with serious plot threads, such as how power can ultimately corrupt an individual (Parker with the symbiote which would eventually become Venom). Rather than show the inner turmoil of a character whose actions never seem capable of ever totally solving all of his problems (the more he helps the city the more he drives MJ away, whereas the more attention he spends on MJ and his own life the more the city suffers), they make it seem as if Peter's life is simple as can be. Having a full-time job in a precarious position as a photographer, attending college, trying to carry on a relationship, and being the sole champion of a city shouldn't come easily to anyone. Spider-Man 2 did well in showing how difficult it is to carry on so many responsibilities and the sacrifices that generally accompany having to make such choices of public service: when do the good of the many outweigh the good of the few. Spider-Man 3 completely crapped all over that dilemma by removing it and making being a superhero seem so easy. To put oneself consistently in harm's way, to sacrifice oneself for so many: to make it seem so easy is to completely undermine the heroic nature of being a superhero. Spider-Man 3 could have been about how the stress of doing so much finally led Peter into a gray zone where he began to take shortcuts (becoming violent, taking advantage of his powers to improve his own life versus those of others, etc.). Instead it became another mindless popcorn flick as Sony freaked over its declining profits and wanted to ensure its economic security.
Comic books are about the possibilities that lie within all of us. There is a reason the early heroes costumes were under there clothes, why these heroes were separate identities from who they really were. A hero can be anyone, anywhere, at any time. That possibility lies within all of us. It is not who we are but we we do, our actions, that define us as heroes. The real us is not important. It is the ideal, the hero that we seek to become, that is the truly super part about being a superhero. Likewise, the infamy that all of us are capable of, how readily we may slip into the abyss beneath that thin line we walk everyday are ready fodder for comic book tales.
Comic books are rich material. They are more than a child's early steps into novels. They are visual tales that captivate and illuminate the world around us. They are living, breathing art. They are us magnified. If only studios could realize this and put that heart into their translations to the big screen one could just imagine the amazing tale they could tell.
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