CotW: What Are We Doing To Superman?

So, as I may have mentioned once or twice, I am a bit of a comic book nerd. And, like many of my ilk, I have a special spot in my heart for Superman, even though I would never place him in my top ten favorite characters. I just love the idea of him; he’s someone who uses his power for the good because it is right and that is enough. Despite having the power to crack mountains, he is humble and more than a little shy. He might be an alien from another world, but he sees himself as being as human as can be. When stories get him right, get those elements right, the result is beautiful. He may not be my favorite, but there is not denying the power of a well told Superman story.

So, I want for the guy to do well. Apparently, Leigh Scott from Big Hollywood does too, according to this Superman movie related post. Which is great…I love to agree with people. Unfortunately, he kind of loses me when he asserts that the Hollywood liberal media is ruining his excitement by “sliming” the film.

Okay, now I cannot speak for the Hollywood liberal media on this one. While I am one of those dirty liberal types, I’m not nearly rich or pretty enough to be included in that secret cabal. I mean, if there was such a thing. Which there isn’t. Because that would be crazy. And laughable. Hahaha (Please don’t kill me secret cabal.)

Anyway, my point is that despite my political leanings, I can’t tell you what they are saying or why they are saying it. I can tell you that I’ve spoken to plenty of people who are, generally speaking, not thrilled with the idea of Zack Snyder directing a Superman movie. Some have been liberal, some have been conservative, a lot have claimed to be libertarians. (Weird phenomenon: comics seem to attract more than its fair share of self-identified libertarians. It seems weird to me given comics emphasis on the status quo and muscle bound folks running around telling people how to live their lives, but there it is). All have been comic book fans who are notoriously difficult to impress and quick to assume the worst. But, hey, the liberal Hollywood media is just too damn fun an image so I don’t begrudge Mr. Scott singling them out as the engine driving disappointment about Snyder’s new gig. (Sidenote: is there a lot of disappointment about this out there? I mean, besides on places like Ain’t-It-Cool-News and the DC Message Boards?)

Zack Snyder: Blockbuster Director, Hollywood Outsider

To support his argument, he trots out the idea that these media types and “mid level executives,” including director Darren Aronofsky, specifically, hate the likes of Snyder and Christopher Nolan (who is producing the new Superman film) and assures us we can, “also toss Matthew Vaughn, Edgar Wright, and Sam Raimi onto that list.” I am not sure how this could be true. Until the release of The Social Network a few weeks ago,Inception had been more or less been the frontrunner for smartest/best movie of 2010. But hey, at one point, people pointed out that it was a risk, so they must have hated it. And let us also ignore the critically acclaimed Memento and The Dark Knight or the numerous stories about the incredible sleeper successes of 300 and the Dawn of the Dead remake.

And, to preserve the point, we’ll also ignore the copious love Raimi has received for his Evil Dead movies, Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 and his return to low budget horror Drag Me to Hell. Or the slavish devotion Wright’s films (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim) have produced. Of the ones listed, Vaughn probably has been given the hardest time critically, but even he has received great marks for the low budget Layer Cake and the recent Kick Ass. Still, my facts must be off somehow because Scott assures the reader that these directors are too maverick-y for Hollywood and, thus, despised.

(Oddly, he does not invoke Michael Bay, who most certainly would fit much better into this argument as he is a huge blockbuster director who produces hyper masculine, usually wildly pro-American, films that are generally hated by critics. Not sure how he missed that.)

The sole piece of evidence that he rests his assertions on is an anonymous source calling himself “Vulture” who had mean things to say about this nascent movie on a pop culture website, claiming that Warner Brothers is rushing the film and the script is bad. Sure, every super hero movie since the birth of the internet has had to deal with this. Yes, comic book fans have always taken a “hate it now, pretend like you were always onboard with it when it proves successful later.” And, of course, Warner Brothers does have to rush the movie because of a complicated court case involving the creators of Superman, the rights to him, and DC Comics. But ignore all that. This is clearly a case of hatred for conservatives.

The argument, at this point, is weird enough. But Scott…he does not half ass things. No sir, he has ambitions, baby, look in his eyes. This week it’s Superman, next week, well, we’ll let that be a surprise. (No, no. Please. No need for applause). Thus rather than simply say that liberal Hollywood hates Snyder because he directs blockbusters and loves Aronofsky because he does not (although, believe you me, Scott goes there, too), he discusses the plot that has Hollywood in a tizzy.

It is a movie that Scott would like to see. And, truth be told, so would I. It sounds kind of cool. I mean, I could without the overt, “see, this is what liberalism is doing to us” embodied by the film’s villain, General Zod. And yes, I would be a bit concerned what to do with Lex Luthor once he and Superman have defeated Zod and are back to being antagonistic. But hey, maybe that’s a readymade plot for the sequel. So yeah, liberal though I may be, I’m onboard for that film.

Unfortunately, however cool that plot maybe, it cannot overcome the fact that it is made up. It is Scott’s treatment for what he’d like to see in a Superman movie. The current script does not follow this plotline and there are no rumors that Snyder is pursuing such a plot either. Scott, not satisfied to blame the liberal Hollywood media with vague, seemingly inaccurate evidence goes the extra mile and concocts a plot that doesn’t exist and therefore is not being objected to by anyone. But damn it, if the plot did exist, you better believe that liberal Hollywood would be up in arms. As I said on my Twitter feed, never has outrage been so manufactured.

Darren Aronofsky: Indie Darling, Studio Man

Scott eventually works himself back to the issue of Darren Aronofsky, placing him in the middle of this conspiracy against Snyder and the perfect conservative Superman film, pretty much stating that Aronofsky is doing it because he is pissed he did not get the Superman job. Somehow, the rather independent director becomes a symbol of the Hollywood system, a studio man, who is directing a campaign against these other directors because they were successful “going outside the system.” Simultaneously, Scott says that Aronofsky must prove himself by…wait for it…directing a blockbuster film for a studio. Which, of course, makes perfect sense. In order to seal the deal, Scott has to write off what it means that Aronofsky is directing the next Wolverine film, claiming it is a lesser assignment. These days, Superman and Wolverine are probably about neck and neck for recognition in the US. And while Superman Returns did outearn X-Men Origins: Wolverine domestically and internationally, it had a smaller opening weekend, cost more (and thus failed to make a profit domestically and less of one overall), and spent less weeks in the top ten. My point being, if it is a lesser job, it is only by a nose.

"Who you calling lesser, bub?"

Again though, that would deny Scott the chance to rage against a liberal media. To acknowledge comic fans are often ridiculously quick to judge when it comes to adaptations, or that Snyder’s previous comic book adaptation effort, Watchmen, was largely disliked by comic fans undermines the chance to reduce even the making of a movie to partisan politics. That’s really why this story sticks out. We, as comic fans, can’t just be pissed that the X-Men aren’t wearing yellow spandex (and then change our minds when we see the movie was good) or all agree that Daredevil is a work of art anymore. Instead, yet another facet of our lives has become a chance to fight political battles, often armed with little to no facts, just an unerring sense that “I am right, they are wrong, I am oppressed, they are oppressing.”

No way would Superman approve of that.

As always Tim can be reached at parallax2 [at] juno [dot] com, followed on Twitter at UnGajje, or friended on Facebook. Please feel free to do so or comment below.