tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1975416078255909953.post2173286116376573449..comments2024-03-16T18:38:04.996-04:00Comments on Critics At Large : Snyder Shrugged: The Disturbing Politics of the Cape and CowlCritics at Largehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18073851963852030361noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1975416078255909953.post-6019562380492191372017-07-24T06:28:17.344-04:002017-07-24T06:28:17.344-04:00The batman quote you used as a complaint of americ...The batman quote you used as a complaint of american attitudes and comparison with the Iraq war doesn't really work since that line was pulled straight out of The Dark Knight Returns. (Which was written in the 80s.)Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17198229819329548233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1975416078255909953.post-61240485428437483822017-06-10T12:06:51.940-04:002017-06-10T12:06:51.940-04:00The story of 'Man of Steel' was conceptual...The story of 'Man of Steel' was conceptualized by David Goyer and Christopher Nolan. 'BvS' was written by Chris Terrio. So, you can place meaning in the themes that are being pursued here, but the words were written by other people. If you are going to examine them then you need to examine the people who wrote them, their careers, their perspectives, and try to determine how much of the writing process laid in the hands of Snyder. You are jumping to a shit ton of conclusions based on the fact that he likes 'The Fountainhead' and the perspective of that book. I love the 'Enders' books, which are highly political, and I find the politics in them very intriguing. However, Orson Scott Cards actual views on the existing world could not be more at odds with my own. I actually think he's an unbelievably shitty person, but I can't deny I love his books. You don't know Snyder. So, you can't take much from a statement and a book.<br /><br />What you can do is examine 'MOS' and 'BvS'. Which is where your entire world view and it's lack of nuance is clear. You see the character of Superman as black and white. He is not. He is been used in many ways. He has been violent in comics. He has been seen as an enemy by Batman in comics. Hell, the new Injustice game sees him as a figure who has given up on traditional justice and genuinely believes that killing Harley Quinn or the Joker is the only way to stop them. Which he might be right about. <br /><br />More important though, that's not what 'MOS' does at all. He doesn't selfishly save people when it only benefits himself. You clearly just picked out the pieces that you didn't agree with to make your case. Throughout the course of the film he saves workers from a burning oil rig, kids from a school bus, Lois from internal bleeding before he even knows her, a soldier that is thrown out of a helicopter, and his entire goal at the end is to save the people of earth as a whole. He could have just sided with Zod and teraformed the earth to make it his home. He cared about humanity. It's crazy to think that's not the case because his inexperienced battle at the end of the movie caused destruction. Which was likely more because it looks cool to watch cities get destroyed in big movies than because of any motives by the characters. <br /><br />Then you have the Kents being portrayed as actual human beings with nuanced thoughts processes. You latch on to the fact that Jonathan is scared for his son and how the world will react to him being on earth. Well, how do they react in the following movie. That's what 'BvS' is essentially all about. How would the world react to a god among them. They would certainly not all react like the Donner version with hero worship. Many would react with fear and violence. The world would be highly judgemental of every mistake. He would be judged all day on cable news. This is mostly examined through the eyes of Bruce and Lex. One sees him as a god that cannot be all powerful and all good. One sees him as a potential enemy that could destroy mankind with the slightest change of his mind. <br /><br />What Snyder, Goyer, Terrio, and Nolan are trying to do is examine a reality where Superman exists and how the world would react to real gods. It's pretty interesting shit to me. You could argue that they failed or that by doing so they alienated their audience or simply that the movies weren't made very well. But that is exactly what the stories are trying to do. I personally find the movies ballsy uses of the genre and despite the fact that there are issues, I think they are mostly well made films (directors cut of BvS clearing up some gapping plot holes in the theatrical version). However, regardless of my opinion on the quality of the films, it seems pretty clear what the intention was. Natehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17551751751188974872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1975416078255909953.post-90239578367513802042017-04-19T10:01:37.620-04:002017-04-19T10:01:37.620-04:00I agree that it's counter-intuitive, which is ...I agree that it's counter-intuitive, which is why I accuse Snyder of being muddled and confused with his messaging. It's not clear if he's unsure of his subtext, or if he wants US to be unsure, or if he's sure and he's just terrible at communicating it - none of which are a good look, considering the quality of the final product.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12991354892814269572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1975416078255909953.post-63231634746580669812017-04-19T09:56:32.581-04:002017-04-19T09:56:32.581-04:00I'm not ready to give Snyder credit for purpos...I'm not ready to give Snyder credit for purposefully crafting an oeuvre around those ideas - it's a bit of an Occam's Razor in that it's much more likely that he's a frat boy with a big budget - but holy shit, I love your analysis nonetheless. Thanks for sharing!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12991354892814269572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1975416078255909953.post-36224846961984900782017-04-10T16:06:52.840-04:002017-04-10T16:06:52.840-04:00I think what he's saying, is that if Batman is...I think what he's saying, is that if Batman is a Randian Roark analogue, and Snyder is attempting a pro-objectivist narrative, it's counter-intuitive to paint the position of the self made man as the wrong one. Batman in the end is moved by Superman's altruism. Bruce's actions, as well as his "carefully chosen words" are shown to be ill-founded by the film's end.ADHD Adventurerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07035034787034780489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1975416078255909953.post-32239549519848669212017-04-06T00:40:53.331-04:002017-04-06T00:40:53.331-04:00Yo, this is like saying that David Lynch literally...Yo, this is like saying that David Lynch literally enjoys Freudian rapey shit. like that's all he likes in his down time. He just crawls on the floor with a gas mask saying "Mommmmmmyyyy". Just because Snyder knows it's provocative to make a Superman that MAYBE(operative word) doesn't give a shit about the masses of humanity who only even created him(in an extra-diegetic sense, see you gotta think more meta) out of their own vanity, does not mean that snyder himself is an objectivist. He wants to make the Fountainhead because it's about a dude who thinks he's so cool cause he drops stone phalluses everywhere. He literally said "i want to make that book because i think it's a really cool thesis on the creative process and what it really is to create something". all of his movies are satires of creation as just being these (literally) masturbatory exercises in vanity. like man of steel is about earth giving birth to the idea of superman. 300 is about leonidas cementing his legacy by "forcing a bunch of dudes through a narrow gap", and leonidas literally 'conceives' the idea to go to war with persia by kicking their 'messenger' into a hole. he loves these freudian creation metaphors. superman penetrates batman in his dreams, then in reality superman rips open the leaves of the batmobile to get to batman, literally deflowering it. this prompts batman to insist that, in fact, superman is the one that bleeds(like a woman). zack snyder's such a master of this mock-establishment-propaganda tone that no one realizes he's being ironic.Brian Ballasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11295004239186008484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1975416078255909953.post-85069924524316845792017-03-01T14:58:59.672-05:002017-03-01T14:58:59.672-05:00I'm not sure what you mean. If you mean that i...I'm not sure what you mean. If you mean that it turns out that Superman isn't their enemy, then sure, he's proven wrong when Supes remembers he's supposed to be a good guy (which is triggered by the mention of his mother - a person who told him to shun the world). But whether or not Batman is wrong about Superman's intentions has nothing to do with the political statement that Snyder is making by putting those very carefully chosen words in the character's mouth.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12991354892814269572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1975416078255909953.post-11308751027006354402017-02-20T23:49:02.614-05:002017-02-20T23:49:02.614-05:00 “…if there is even a one percent chance that ... “…if there is even a one percent chance that [Superman] is our enemy, then we have to take it as an absolute certainty… and take him down.” <br /><br />You know Batman is literally proven wrong in the film, right?Zak Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18396185091720982493noreply@blogger.com