An Appetite for Destruction

This came up when I Googled "Superman saves kitten." (courtesy of icanhascheezburger.com)

Throwing your words back atcha:

“And that formula is so sound, so secure, so firm and fixed in our culture that moviemakers need only touch on those bedrocks briefly and perfunctorily before we give them clearance to throw story, emotion, and plausibility out the window in a wild rush of specially effect action sequences that should – let’s be honest – require no justification … because they are, really, the thing people paid to see, no matter how much they protest that it’s story they’re looking for.”

I actually totally disagree with you – that the only reason people go see comic book movies is to see shit blow up (or, even more bizarrely, to fetishize all the gadgets and gizmos).

That said, I’ll indulge your line of argument. (Did that sound as assified as I think it did?)

So.

I’m a good liberal. I marched against the war, my ACLU card is buried somewhere in my wallet, and in my advancing age, I cringe more and more at wanton violence in film – the hyper-choreographed shootouts that take out innocent bystanders, the superstylized car chases that demolish cityscapes and leave fruit stands skittering in their wake.

But comic book movies? Totally guilt-free way to whet my appetite for destruction.

My pop gauges his interest in a new movie on how much sex and explosions the trailer teases. As much as I rib him about it, I get it, too. The sex aside (and there’s lamentably little in comic book movies – for one, because they’re targeted at families, and two, because a lot of these “superheroes” are losers without the tights), there’s a visceral thrill to watching things go boom, and comic book movies allow us to indulge that desire while placing the action in an alternate universe. Sure, the landscape might look like the world as we know it, but, dude, these are people in tights! And no matter what, THEY ARE GOING TO SAVE THE DAY. It’s like a liberal’s get-out-of-jail-free card. So I can enjoy the mayhem with a clear conscience, knowing that not only will Superman make sure no one involved will come to any harm, he’ll also stop to save the kitten up a tree.

I'm calling it a night. Looking forward to your 3am dispatch...