June 2013
“Later, when Superman joins the fray, the movie turns into an orgy of gratuitous building-battering as Zod and Superman punch each other through several giant high-rises. It recalls a similar Metropolis fight between those two characters in 1980’s Superman II, only there, when Superman knocks a baddie into a building — an act that sends the skyscraper’s spire tumbling towards a crowd of people on the ground — Superman actually halts the fight to grab that spire before it lands, a quaint moment that still reminds us that the lives of innocent citizens are at stake. In Man of Steel, however, the superhero seems mostly unfazed by the people of Metropolis who are surely collateral damage to his big battle; similarly, director Zack Snyder seems to have waved it off. There is no acknowledgement that all of the buildings that are being destroyed might have people in them. It’s a bloodless massacre of concrete, 9/11 imagery erased of its most haunting factor: the loss of life.”
—
Over at Vulture, Kyle Buchanan talks back to the major post-9/11 blockbuster trend of using massive, violent destruction of cities and faceless, nameless innocent bystanders as backdrop for superhero, action and various other Michael Bay-esque films. It’s a great takedown of the casual nature of the approach to destruction, where collateral damage is common and rarely fully acknowledged (how much of NYC died in The Avengers? how many died in the last Star Trek?). The connection to 9/11 imagery and the cheapening of the fear that accompanies the images of crumbling buildings in a terror-struck metropolitan setting is important, too.
(The point is not fully “ugh, violence in movies” although there’s that. It’s more about the fact the violence is actually largely ignored, unacknowledged and has surprisingly little long-term impact on plot. Once over, Earth or wherever usually seems to be restored. Just minus a few thousand or more people.)
Hmm. Something to think about this morning.
(via notnadia)
My only addition to this though was Steve’s order to keep it to a 3 block radius and the short commentary at the end with the “who are these guys and who is going to pay for the damage they caused?” on the TVs. So it isn’t completely unaware.
“… the socialization of boys regarding masculinity is often at the expense of women. I came to realize that we don’t raise boys to be men, we raise them not to be women (or gay men). We teach boys that girls and women are “less than” and that leads to violence by some and silence by many. It’s important for men to stand up to not only stop men’s violence against women but, to teach young men a broader definition of masculinity that includes being empathetic, loving and non-violent.”
—
Don McPherson, former NFL quarterback, feminist and educator (via weonlytriedtodrownher)
For many trans women, when we are forced into this hazing process we are taught to not exist.
(via amydentata)
do you ever go through your own blog and just smile because even though as a blog it is objectively terrible it’s, like, the only space in the world that is 100% tailored to you and your interests
Tatiana Maslany once attended a Halloween party wearing no mask, no makeup, and a T-shirt with “NOT TATIANA MASLANY” printed on it.
Her disguise was so convincing that she won first prize in the costume contest that night, even though they weren’t having a costume contest.
why is this whole website suddenly obsessed w/ cotton eyed joe
Yeah like where did it come from where did it go
Superman was created by two Jewish kids of Eastern European descent in the ’30s. Do you understand why Krypton had to be destroyed, do you understand what an illegal immigrant God-man who turns into the ultimate American and whose mortal enemy is a nativist industrialist and who protects and (arguably) betters his adopted home would have meant to two Jewish kids of Eastern European descent?
people totally lose sight of the fact that superman was written at a time when european-american immigrants were not part of the white hegemony. the superman narrative only makes sense in 2013 if he’s latino or middle eastern but nobody’s going to do that
one time i got a sample from the tea store at the mall and as i walked away the guy said “tea you later” and then his coworker smacked him
(Republican) Governor Rick Scott on whether paid sick leave is a good idea:
Florida’s governor just signed a bill BANNING paid sick leave.
This actually happened.
Can someone tell me whether we’re supposed to be offended by Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Tonto or not? Must know for dinner parties/twitter.
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham)
*stares*
Must be nice when racism only affects how you interact on Twitter…
i always seem to follow all the nice people/ nice parts of the fandom
the bad parts of the fandom seem like some far off land that i only hear about through folklore and the tales of swarthy fishermen
