I have a confession to make: I don’t particularly care for comic books or the incredibly prolific filmography that have occurred as a result.
It took me a while to realize this, since most of my peers are all into them, and it seems almost expected that I am able to converse on this topic at least on some level.
But then I thought about it, and realized that of the past dozens of superhero films I’ve seen, increasing seemingly exponentially over the past several years, I’ve only enjoyed a small fraction of them.
That’s because they just aren’t very good.
I realize that this position makes me the antithesis of my generation, especially if box office ratings are any indication, but I just can’t get into it.
Don’t misunderstand me: there are some films that I like. The Dark Knight Rises was good, but it was good because it had elements that would make any film good.
The acting, writing, cinematography, and direction all came together into a great film. This is not the norm, however.
It seems as though what mostly goes on is that the production team will sit down and go over what comic book series hasn’t been turned into a movie yet.
They have two lists, the first one is a list of popular comic books, and the second is a list of which ones have been made into movies.
They go down the first list, and if a film hasn’t yet been made of that particular series, they go ahead and turn it into a film.
If one has been made, they start talking about how they can make a sequel, or a spinoff, or blend it with another one, or just make up a bunch of stuff on their own to make a movie anyway.
They need to pump out at least five of these every year, after all, and more recently three or four television shows on top of that.
The point is that they know that there’s a market for comic book nostalgia from all of those kids that grew up reading comic books and still haven’t grown up.
They’re out there, those post-pubescent Peter Pans, eagerly waiting to re-re-relive their childhoods and put off moving on with their lives in any meaningful way, at least for another year or two.
Producers know this, and are all too ready to oblige.
For them, it means that they don’t have to make an emotionally fulfilling or artistically mature film for that market to habitually buy into it.
It’s a smart marketing strategy, but a bad foundation for making a film.
As depressing it is to think about what the implications of this are for my generation of twenty-somethings, I take some small comfort in the fact that it isn’t specific to one demographic.
No, the fact that it works doesn’t so much say something about my generation of twenty-somethings specifically, but human nature in general. People love nostalgia, and it has always been capitalized on. Everyone romanticizes the “good ‘ol days,” and that’s fine, but I’m ready to move on.
