Superheroes

Today in class I've been furthering my Post-9/11 research, focusing on the recent (past decade, roughly) upswing in popularity of superhero movies. I found this really interesting article about the significance of the superhero genre in a Post-9/11 America, that made me really question some of the pre-conceived notions I went into my research with. The article is here: http://hopelies.com/2011/07/23/the-subversive-ability-of-popular-culture-superhero-movies-post-911/, and it heavily cites the (probably) more reputable essay on a similar subject located here: http://webdoc.gwdg.de/edoc/ia/eese/artic27/heinze/6_2007.html. The latter article was written much earlier, though, and doesn't include some of the more notable superhero entries in recent years, like The Dark Knight. For this reason, I will consult both articles in my research.

The superhero trend is certainly an interesting one and is definitely one of the most distinctive trends in this decade of popular cinema - not to mention, beyond. Superhero movies have also permeated the indie movie scene, with low-key superhero movies popping up at festivals over the past few years ("Defendor," "Super," "Chronicle"). I look forward to exploring their significance to Post-9/11 American culture in more detail over the next week. My original idea of why they might be significant was that people like to see relatively clear-cut representations of good and evil battle it out on screen, and good prevail because it allows them to escape and feel a little better about the world around them. However, the article rightly points out that the most successful (both financially and critically, interestingly enough) superhero movies of the past decade have all included more morally complex heroes and villains, with a deliberate avoidance of black and white conflict. Meanwhile, some notable failures (Fantastic Four, Superman Returns) present a much more noticeable black/white, good/evil dichotomy. Perhaps the relationship between audience and popular entertainment in this case is a little bit more complex than I thought. I find it fascinating and I'm excited to explore this issue further in the coming days.