Monday, May 09, 2005
Secret Identities
Look, up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane! No, it's another profound cultural analysis by The New York Times: Does it get it? Or not.
In his Sunday analysis of how superheroes have taken over the Hollywood summer blockbuster slot (X-Men four years, Spider-Man three years ago, X-Men 2 two years ago, Spider-Man 2 last year, Batman Begins this summer, Superman Returns next year), movie critic A.O. Scott makes this observation:
"Simply put, a superhero is not a movie star, and vice versa. Indeed, one might go so far as to say that as a cultural figure, the superhero is the opposite - the nemesis, the secret alter ego, the evil twin, the Bizarro-world double - of the movie star."
Maybe it's just me and that I happen to work for a major city tabloid newspaper, but it seems that that statement could be made about a broadsheet newspaper (like, oh say, The New York Times) and a tabloid publication.
The Times is the movie star; the tabloid is the "pulp-ish" superhero? Maybe I'm just projecting. Hmmm....
Alas, the online link doesn't do justice to the very nice illustration that accompanies this lead story in the Times' special Summer Movies section.
On a related note, your humble blogger gets the "D'oh!!!" award for forgetting that Saturday was Free Comic Book Day! Please frequent your nearest retailer. Parents, comic books are good things. I read comic books all the time growing up (still do) and I turned out fine!!
Heh, heh.
At the end of this week, I will start a semi-regular feature (since I don't have a cat and my neighbor might freak out if I start blogging hers on Fridays) on some quality comics and graphic novels that some of you out there might want to peruse.
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In his Sunday analysis of how superheroes have taken over the Hollywood summer blockbuster slot (X-Men four years, Spider-Man three years ago, X-Men 2 two years ago, Spider-Man 2 last year, Batman Begins this summer, Superman Returns next year), movie critic A.O. Scott makes this observation:
"Simply put, a superhero is not a movie star, and vice versa. Indeed, one might go so far as to say that as a cultural figure, the superhero is the opposite - the nemesis, the secret alter ego, the evil twin, the Bizarro-world double - of the movie star."
Maybe it's just me and that I happen to work for a major city tabloid newspaper, but it seems that that statement could be made about a broadsheet newspaper (like, oh say, The New York Times) and a tabloid publication.
The Times is the movie star; the tabloid is the "pulp-ish" superhero? Maybe I'm just projecting. Hmmm....
Alas, the online link doesn't do justice to the very nice illustration that accompanies this lead story in the Times' special Summer Movies section.
On a related note, your humble blogger gets the "D'oh!!!" award for forgetting that Saturday was Free Comic Book Day! Please frequent your nearest retailer. Parents, comic books are good things. I read comic books all the time growing up (still do) and I turned out fine!!
Heh, heh.
At the end of this week, I will start a semi-regular feature (since I don't have a cat and my neighbor might freak out if I start blogging hers on Fridays) on some quality comics and graphic novels that some of you out there might want to peruse.
