{"id":1743,"date":"2013-06-07T22:57:41","date_gmt":"2013-06-07T22:57:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/2023.biowars.com\/?p=1743"},"modified":"2023-03-06T12:31:48","modified_gmt":"2023-03-06T12:31:48","slug":"the-post-911-politics-of-cinematic-superheroes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/2023.biowars.com\/blog\/the-post-911-politics-of-cinematic-superheroes\/","title":{"rendered":"The Post 911 Politics of Cinematic Superheroes"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Gregory Bray, Ph.D<\/strong><\/p>\n

Look!\u00a0 Up in the Sky!\u00a0 It\u2019s a Bird!\u00a0 It\u2019s a Plane!\u00a0 It\u2019s Political<\/i> Allegory<\/i>! I sometimes picture the opening of the George Reeves the Adventures of Superman<\/i> with this phrase; after all, this is where Superman went from protecting Truth and Justice<\/i> to Truth, Justice, and the American Way<\/i>, cementing his presence as a guardian of American values.<\/p>\n

True, he had previously been used (along with Batman, Captain America, and others) as a symbol of American Freedom during World War II\u2014going so far as to urge young people to buy war bonds and help donate tires. \u00a0But during the Cold War era, this was Superman as the quintessential pushback against Communist Soviet Russia.\u00a0 George Reeves, standing on the moon, cape and American flag blowing across his broad (albeit padded) shoulders, providing us all with escapist comfort and the purity of our American lifestyles.\u00a0 The world is safe\u2014they<\/i> may have Sputnik, we<\/i> have a man of steel.<\/p>\n

Post 911 Doctrines and\u00a0<\/b>Contemporary Cultural Influence<\/b><\/p>\n

Contemporary comics, and their live action (and animated) counterparts also exist in this cultural landscape\u2014the reimagining or revamping of comic characters tend to coincide with the actual world in which they are drawn.\u00a0 Look no further than Frank Miller\u2019s The Dark Knight Returns <\/i>(1986) or Tim Burton\u2019s Batman<\/i> (1989) as a visceral reaction to the New York that Bernie Goetz lived in.<\/p>\n

Is there any doubt that Nolan\u2019s Batman is a post 9-11<\/i> Batman? Or that the recent Iron Man <\/i><\/a>films are also not, in part, drawn from our post-terrorist attack society?\u00a0 From Bruce Wayne\u2019s origins in understanding the Dickensian notion of survival crimes to his infiltration (first accidentally) of a worldwide terrorist regime, right down to his handling of the Joker\u2014reimagined as a domestic terrorist.<\/p>\n

Whose Side is Batman On?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wayne is a 21st<\/sup> Century capitalist and defender of what Zizek calls \u2018liberal values.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0 Indeed, Batman goes so far as to fight AGAINST the Gotham occupy movement (true, Occupy Wall Street happened while the film was in production, but the seeds of class warfare had been present for any number of years beforehand). In his article, The politics of Batman<\/i>, published online via New Statesmen, cultural critic and philosopher Slavoj Zizek observed that:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Dark Knight Rises\u00a0shows that Hollywood blockbusters are precise indicators of the ideological predicaments of our societies\u2026 (the) objection is that the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement in reality was not violent \u2013 its goal was definitely not a new Reign of Terror. In so far as Bane\u2019s revolt is supposed to extrapolate the immanent tendency of OWS, the film absurdly misrepresents its aims and strategies<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of my<\/i> objections to The Dark Knight Rises<\/i> <\/a>was that its comment on contemporary social struggles was entirely wrong-headed. In a sense, it made the argument that OWS was a smokescreen to allow the Taliban into the city, which in turn allowed the lower classes (the villains) to revolt against the upper classes (the heroes).<\/p>\n

It is not an accident that Batman fights side-by-side with the police against Bane and the lower classes, who have just pushed the rich out of their apartments.\u00a0 This is Nolan\u2019s reinforcement of America\u2019s view of socialism.\u00a0 A violent mechanism that deceives the Dickensian society.<\/p>\n

To support this claim, witness the scene between Selina Kyle and her friend now occupying a forcibly evicted wealthy tenant, in which Selina laments that they\u2019re in someone else\u2019s apartment.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s everybody\u2019s now,\u201d her friend reassures her.\u00a0 Much of the film operates as an Ayn Rand super-hero fantasy\u2014a sheer black and white world devoid of nuance but containing political text fiercely aligned with the patriot act and libertarian fantasy of political reality.<\/p>\n

This year Iron Man entered the foray in his third cinematic outing.\u00a0 Early on in the film, we learn about Tony Stark\u2019s nefarious past\u2014and how it resulted in a scientist\/capitalist competitor who gained grounds through his use of biological warfare technology that Stark had previously sneered at.<\/p>\n

In this case, we see capitalism manipulating the media and the world population by inventing the image of the terrorist\u2014indeed, Osama Bin Laden is directly addressed in the film\u2019s text as a \u2018face of terrorism,\u2019 which has been produced by corporate interest as a means of obscuring the truth\u2014terrorism, in the Iron Man Trilogy<\/i>, is a money-making game.<\/p>\n

The \u201cGood Capitalist\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

The irony in the Dark Knight Trilogy <\/i>and in the Iron Man Trilogy<\/i> is that the protagonist in both is a capitalist\u2014both have made their money through military weaponry and by utilizing the stock market. Yes, we\u2019re told early on in Batman Begins<\/i> that Thomas Wayne would object to Wayne Enterprises being involved in military weapons creation\u2014moments before we meet the Kevlar suit and the Tumbler, which Batman will put to good use as the Zizekian \u201cgood capitalist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stark is the innocent capitalist, who is surprised when Stain reveals to him that they have been dealing their weaponry to both sides.\u00a0 While both characters put their wealth and their weapons to good use, there is a clear distinction in their handling of the political landscape\u2014one privileges libertarianism, one privileges liberalism.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

In fact, the handling of The Mandarin character in Iron Man 3<\/i> has drawn a great deal of ire from pockets of the fan community, as it is a not only a departure from the comics, but a criticism of America\u2019s actual war on terror.\u00a0 We have met the puppets, the film purports, but only Iron Man and the (ironically played) Iron Patriot know the Truth.<\/p>\n

Which Superman Will We Get?<\/b><\/p>\n

This brings us to Man of Steel, <\/i>which will open in a matter of days.\u00a0 This character belongs in the post 9-11 world as Iron Man<\/i> and The Dark Knight <\/i>(it is also being produced by Chris Nolan), <\/i>and yet the protagonist is a true outsider. Not involved in the corporate capitalism machinery, not involved in the political spheres, but certainly raised in the very heart of Americana\u2014though how that is represented in the 21st<\/sup> Century remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

What will Superman, the icon of American values realized in our visual popular culture bring to the foray?\u00a0 Will Zod be his Osama?\u00a0 His Mandarin?\u00a0 His Joker?\u00a0 Will the post-Patriot Act paranoia present itself in the political world of story?\u00a0 We will find out in a matter of days if the American Way<\/i> retains any of its Cold War subtext, or if Metropolis, like Gotham, is wrapped in a world of uncertain class warfare, while justifying its police state policies.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Gregory Bray, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in Digital Media Production at the State University of New York New Paltz. He is an award winning documentary filmmaker, published scholar, media educator, and holds his Ph.D. from the European Graduate School, Saas-Fee Switzerland. He is married to artist Nadine May Lewis, and they reside with their children Eamon and Nora in Ulster County, NY.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Gregory Bray, Ph.D Look!\u00a0 Up in the Sky!\u00a0 It\u2019s a Bird!\u00a0 It\u2019s a Plane!\u00a0 It\u2019s Political Allegory! I sometimes picture the opening of the George Reeves the Adventures of Superman with this phrase; after all, this is where Superman went from protecting Truth and Justice to Truth, Justice, and the American Way, cementing his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[94,522,61,47],"tags":[38,66,50,86,71,103,102,37,114],"yoast_head":"\nThe Post 911 Politics of Cinematic Superheroes | Blog | BIOWARS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A post 911 Ironman and Batman? 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