Showing posts with label comic books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comic books. Show all posts

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Marvel's Agent Mary Sue

In Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, it is said that drinking a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is similar in effect to having your brains smashed in by a slice of lemon wrapped around a large gold brick.

Watching Marvel's Agent Carter was like having your brains smashed in by a large gold brick inscribed with the words "PATRIARCHAL OPPRESSION! WHITE MALE PRIVILEGE!"

I really wish it were different. I really wanted this series to be good. But alas and alack.

My first warning was upon reading the series synopsis: "It’s 1946, and peace has dealt Peggy Carter a serious blow as she finds herself marginalized when the men return home from fighting abroad."

Uh-oh. "Marginalized" is a leftist buzzword, I thought. But perhaps it's just a quirk of word choice, I thought. Or perhaps that will be a minor point in character development. Hopefully, it won't be that bad.

It was not that bad. It was a hundred times worse.

The marginalization was not just a character development point. It was not even a theme. Instead, Marxist-feminist gender theory was the premise, point, and purpose of the entire show. It was not a comic book TV show about secret agents fighting bad guys. It was actually thinly-veiled agitprop about the evils of The Patriarchy™. In this way, the show violates the cardinal rule of the storyteller: art serves the muse, not the agenda.

Perhaps you think I'm exaggerating. I really wish I was. But upon reflection and discussion, I become more and more convinced that the show creators did not just include Marxist-feminist themes because it was their world view, but they deliberately and specifically made numerous plot, story, character, and dialog choices to browbeat the audience into accepting the Marxist-feminist narrative, from the first scene of the first hour to the last scene of the second. Come along with me and I will explain all.

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Marvel vs. DC

Comparison from a movie perspective, with scores based on Rotten Tomatoes' aggregate reviews.

DC:

Year Movie
Score
1978 Superman 94
1981 Superman II 88
1983 Superman III 24
1987 Superman IV 10
1989 Batman 71
1992 Batman Returns 79
1995 Batman Forever 44
1997 Batman & Robin 13
2004 Catwoman 10
2005 Batman Begins 85
2006 Superman Returns 76
2008 The Dark Knight 94
2009 Watchmen 64
2010 Jonah Hex 12
2011 Green Lantern 27

Average 52.73

Median 64

Standard deviation 33.63


Marvel:

Year Movie
Score
2000 X-Men 82
2002 Spider-Man 89
2003 Daredevil 45
2003 X-Men 2 88
2003 Hulk 62
2004 The Punisher 29
2004 Spider-Man 2 93
2005 Elektra 10
2005 Fantastic Four 27
2006 X-Men: The Last Stand 57
2007 Ghost Rider 26
2007 Spider-Man 3 63
2007 Fantastic Four 2 37
2008 Iron Man 94
2008 The Incredible Hulk 66
2008 Punisher: War Zone 26
2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine 37
2010 Iron Man 2 74
2011 Thor 77
2011 X-Men: First Class 87
2011 Captain America 79

Average 59.43

Median 63

Standard deviation 26.58

Independent average 78

Independent median 77

Independent std dev 10.22
Titles in red were independently produced by Marvel studios.

On average, Marvel's films tend to be a little better than DC's.

Lowest of the low: Superman IV, Catwoman, Elektra (10%)
Best of the best: Superman, The Dark Knight, Iron Man (94%)



Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Hm.

Joe Johnston, director of the new Captain America movie, on the costume:

"The costume is a flag, but the way we're getting around that is we have Steve Rogers forced into the USO circuit. After he's made into this super-soldier, they decide they can't send him into combat and risk him getting killed. He's the only one and they can't make more. So they say, 'You're going to be in this USO show' and they give him a flag suit. He can't wait to get out of it."

(Emphasis mine.)

Erm, why on earth would you think that you have to get around that, as if it is some sort of obstacle? Unless....