After reading today's article, I think I have determined a major thing (for myself at least) that comes into play when analyzing certain areas of pop culture. It can be summed up in two words.
Ready?
It depends.
The author of today's article talks about how some researchers claim that the superheroes of today promote fighting and aggressive behavior. As a comic book reader of close to 20 years, a host of a comic book centered podcast, and an employee of a local comic book shop for 3 years I have to say...it depends.
It depends on what you're talking about specifically. There are so many different eras and writers and types of books out there. The researchers in the article single out Iron Man and Spider-Man as two of the culprits, and more specifically, the movie iterations of these characters. This was a little mind-boggling to me, since both the Iron Man and Spider-Man films have very strong character arcs in the characters showing that ultimately they changed into better people and only resort to violence when they absolutely have to. Spider-Man in particular always tries to find a better way first. One researcher claims that Iron Man, when out of costume, "exploits women, flaunts bling, and conveys their manhood with high-powered guns".
This in particular I had an issue with. It sounds like this researcher didn't finish the movie and instead watched the first 20 minutes. Those of you who have seen the entire movie know that Tony Stark changes completely by the movie's end, and this is a vital part of his story.
This is getting pretty geeky on my part, so I'll stop there. I'm sure there will be much more discussion for me to geek out over in class today.
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