h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A discussion on the BBC about the rise and rise of the superhero movie genre (25 planned for the next 4 years, I think) centred around whether or not people would get bored with them. Another question which could have been asked, is how superhero-overload could affect people; might it make people feel more/less empowered, would it help/hinder them engaging in reality, that sort of thing. Any thoughts?

I'm *already* bored by superhero films. That doesn't mean I won't go to see more of them, for the purpose of comparing them to previous ones and to movies in general. I wonder if most people realize how high the bar has been raised in animation and special effects in the last five to ten years? The average children's animated feature is simply *astonishing* these days. I would much rather see these children's movies than almost any live-action films [though I see plenty of those, too]. History is being made.

I chuckle every time I go to the theater and get senior-citizen rates to see a children's movie.

Since the ever-present, seemingly, popularity of Dare-devil.... I find a lot of my mates, have wildly unrealisitc expectations of me.... though I do try my best to live up to the .... expectations

Bored rigid by so many 'reboots'..and such lack of imagination from the film industry..Too many sequels as well.

I don't really see why people would feel less/more empowered by these than by your average action movie. They after all also tend to involve people doing some rather superhuman things.

I tend to steer clear of action movies unless they are likely contenders for the awards ceremonies at the end of the year. or unless they are musicals like "Blues Brothers" [how many hundreds f cars were destroyed in the filming of that movie? ]

I'm not a huge fan of gangster films, which might explain why my favorite in that genre is "Bugsy Malone," a musical . But when I took a film course in the golden age of Hollywood, I sawn two Cagney gangster films: "Public Enemy" and "White heat."

If superhero movies get nominations for awards, they tend to be in special effects or music soundtracks.

Are so-called superhero movies really any different from other types of action movie, or fantasy movie?

I enjoyed Batman on TV in my youth

*SOCK*

*SPLUNK*

(they don't write them like that any more)

But these guys were just crimefighters, albeit with weapons not available to regular law enforcement.


I also enjoyed Star Trek, who had similar technological advances not available to regular armed services, but did a pretty similar job (on a galactic scale).


And then there was Mission Impossible, whose agents fought crime and espionage using some very advanced techniques (rubber masks, lasers, secure messages).


I wouldn't call either of those three shows 'superhero', but they were essentially the same, weren't they?

You're right to ask, Icy, since the 'hero with special telents' aspect is common to both so-called superheros and regular heros alike. Perhaps a superhero is more specifically a character likely to have been derived from comic books, possessing outlandish and unlikely powers, and dressed in utterly absurd, camp outfits.

You make a good point, Icy. Extra speed, strength, cleverness, etc., while not superpowers, do give the characters something for audiences to focus on.

...also, world or even cosmos threatening crises (however mickle-maus*) to overcome!!!

Yes, but Star Trek faced such challenges routinely.

*https://youtu.be/X78i13q-atk

Many people think the phrase mickey-mouse is derived from the Disney cartoon character.

Actually, its from the German for 'Mighty Mouse', 'Mickle Maus'.

Oops!

http://youtu.be/X78i13q-atk

Was Walt Disney aware of the expression Mickle maus when he was naming his cartoon characters?

I think he was inspired by the shape of his stop action camera which had two large film reels sticking up from the body of the camers like mouse's ears.

Now that I think about it, I seem to remember that the mouse's original name was Mortimer Mouse. Disney then changed it to Mickey....

There wasn't much in the way of superhero movies when I was a kid but I would say I learned more about morality from superhero comics than from the bible.

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29389

Do you want to give us some information about that link?

"There wasn't much in the way of superhero movies when I was a kid but I would say I learned more about morality from superhero comics than from the bible." [Xanatic]

Some of the characters in the Bible were the superheroes of their day. I would also argue that both the Bible and the superhero comics present people doing things they perhaps should not do, or at least without taking into account changes in social mores. For instance, you could read about Jacob's four wives and imagine that, if he could have four wives you should been allowed to have4 four wives, too. Take both forms of literature with a grain of salt.

Frankly, some of the people responsible for writing the Bible couldn't do their math. If you add up the lifespans of the early characters in genesis, you can figure that Methusela was still alive 100 years after the Great Flood, yet no mention is made of his going on the Ark with Noah. I wouldn't be surprised if there were similar logical impossibilities in superhero comics.

But you don't read comic books to learn about physics. Neither should you expect valid science from the Bible.