"The modern superhero is a far cry
from Adam West's caped crusader" Account for the
evolution of the superhero in modern day cinema.
Within the last fifteen years we have seen a dramatic
shift starting with the Xmen[1]
films in Superhero movies and their characters, which have transformed into
what we see of them today in modern day cinema as violent, realistic and action
filled. Adam West was the iconic Batman actor of the past with the TV series
and movie Batman[2], which
featured in the mise en scene camp costumes, unrealistic gadgets, tongue in
cheek humour, ridiculous villains e.g. the Penguin, and catch phrases for
example "Some days, you just cant get rid of a bomb" illustrating the
light heartedness of the Sixties Batman. This juxtaposes with nowadays Dark
Knight[3]
which features dark, thoughtful action scenes, armoured outfits and explosive
modern gadgets with references to social contexts such as a post 9/11 paranoia
and believable antagonists, such as terrorists and psychotic anarchists (The
Joker). There are a variety of factors that have contributed to the evolution
and growing realism of the superhero such as, technological advances, box
office success, cultural changes, genre and current affairs. 
In an age where the media creates
real threatening super villains, such as Osama Bin Laden, and the banking
industry, a character such as Cesar Romero’s joker would seem dated and out of
place, thus current affairs are frequently present in Superhero movies, whether
being the main focus of the film or the background theme. They are also
responsible for the target audience, genre, and therefore the evolution of
Superhero movies. Statistics and demographics show superhero movies raise in popularity during
times of widespread fear, Adam West's Batman of 1966 features a
light-hearted, unrealistic threat juxtaposing the current fears of the time
with the Atom Bomb in the Cold War. However Christopher Nolan's Dark
Knight has frequent patriotic iconography and connotations of
the state pulling together to defeat the evil present, which in
this case is terrorism and anarchists, feeding off of post 9/11
trauma. This suggests movie productions use of Blumler and Katz Uses and
Gratifications theory is gradually changing “What
Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan successfully did was to choose the right Bat
for their era; where Joel Schumacher arguably went wrong was in not reading the
wind quite so well.”[4] Therefore
the alteration is taking place from escapism to surveillance.
[1] Xmen, 2000, 20th
Century Fox
"The modern superhero is a far cry
from Adam West's caped crusader" Account for the
evolution of the superhero in modern day cinema.
Within the last fifteen years we have seen a dramatic
shift starting with the Xmen[1]
films in Superhero movies and their characters, which have transformed into
what we see of them today in modern day cinema as violent, realistic and action
filled. Adam West was the iconic Batman actor of the past with the TV series
and movie Batman[2], which
featured in the mise en scene camp costumes, unrealistic gadgets, tongue in
cheek humour, ridiculous villains e.g. the Penguin, and catch phrases for
example "Some days, you just cant get rid of a bomb" illustrating the
light heartedness of the Sixties Batman. This juxtaposes with nowadays Dark
Knight[3]
which features dark, thoughtful action scenes, armoured outfits and explosive
modern gadgets with references to social contexts such as a post 9/11 paranoia
and believable antagonists, such as terrorists and psychotic anarchists (The
Joker). There are a variety of factors that have contributed to the evolution
and growing realism of the superhero such as, technological advances, box
office success, cultural changes, genre and current affairs.
In an age where the media creates
real threatening super villains, such as Osama Bin Laden, and the banking
industry, a character such as Cesar Romero’s joker would seem dated and out of
place, thus current affairs are frequently present in Superhero movies, whether
being the main focus of the film or the background theme. They are also
responsible for the target audience, genre, and therefore the evolution of
Superhero movies. Statistics and demographics show superhero movies raise in popularity during
times of widespread fear, Adam West's Batman of 1966 features a
light-hearted, unrealistic threat juxtaposing the current fears of the time
with the Atom Bomb in the Cold War. However Christopher Nolan's Dark
Knight has frequent patriotic iconography and connotations of
the state pulling together to defeat the evil present, which in
this case is terrorism and anarchists, feeding off of post 9/11
trauma. This suggests movie productions use of Blumler and Katz Uses and
Gratifications theory is gradually changing “What
Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan successfully did was to choose the right Bat
for their era; where Joel Schumacher arguably went wrong was in not reading the
wind quite so well.”[4] Therefore
the alteration is taking place from escapism to surveillance.
The focus in
superhero films seems to be converting from the fantasy aspect and expanding to
not just focus on binary oppositions of good v. bad, but to also include a
focus on the everyday man. The aspect of verisimilitude in films, such as
college settings and teenager angst in The Amazing Spider-man movie in 2012,
and Iron Man’s frequent links to a multimillion dollar business funding weapons
and technology, allows the audience to use the media product for escapism,
however as support by Robin wood ‘Hollywood is now at a
point where the distinctions between escapist fantasy and engaged practice can
no longer be made. What an increasingly sophisticated audience demands from
what previously would have been regarded as escapist is changing, and even the
most fantastical brands of cinema appear to directly comment on contemporary
events.’ Therefore institutions and news media are impacting films by changing
the focus from a diversion from everyday life to a twisted
reflection of our society therefore impacting the audience and reinforcing the
dominant ideologies of these companies.
In addition to current
affairs having an impact on films and the mise en scene, cultural context is
also playing a factor in the transformation of Superhero films. Comic books
have common traits in featuring white, middle/upper class heterosexual men,
which is still dominant now in films in 2012. However there are increasing
minority actions in order to promote equality and diversity. The Xmen films are
a huge base featuring diversity in race; with characters such as characters
Storm, and disability with Charles Xavier. Although there are minor differences
in others e.g. Thor 2012 featuring a black Norse guardian. Whilst other films,
such as the Dark Knight features women ;’cat girl’, more frequently as a main
character than previously. This has been in order to stay in touch with social
changes and audience demand where the target audience has expanded from the
niche market of teenagers and young boys to a wider scope of all genders from
14-30.
The rapid progression of technology in the
last twenty years has greatly affected and inspired the shift in Superhero
movies. Adam West’s caped crusader frequently referred to childish gadgets such
as the shark repellent, or the batarang[5]
however these gadgets have transformed into realistic weapons used by
Christiane Bale in the Dark Knight trilogy e.g. rockets and explosives. In the
first movie of the Dark Knight trilogy Batman Begins Lucius Fox even
explains how they are ex-military, and throughout the three films we see
constant use of tanks and rockets. Another example of this is from The
Amazing Spider-Man[6]
(2012), which introduces mechanical web shooters rather than the organic ones
depicted in the Spider-Man[7]
films acted by Toby Maguire. The change from unrealistic gadgets to current
modern weaponry is also appearing in other action films, such as the new
James Bond Skyfall which features ‘Q’ mocking the exploding pen which was
previously supplied in 1995’s Goldeneye[8].
The transformation of technology has also greatly affected society’s views on
what is far-fetched and unrealistic, “Most superhero films (including the ones
I've worked on) require an enormous suspension of disbelief. Even with the best
of intentions, it is hard to make the science really work for Spider-Man,
Superman, etc. But I find that if you can inject a veneer of authenticity in
these stories, make them as grounded as possible then the audience is more
willing to go along for the ride.”[9] David
Goyer (writer of Nolans Dark Knight trilogy) explains, therefore referring to
Halls preferred reading to boost ratings for superhero films.
Another
key factor that helps to determine the key change in Superhero movies is by how
popular they were on release. With CGI (computer generated images), bigger
budgets and well-known actors popularity is known to increase, “As the
techniques and resources of filmmakers and distributors become ever more vast
and sophisticated, many readings of mainstream cinema consider it as thinly
disguised propaganda, where a dominant ideology is reinforced through seductive
images and narrative.”[10]
therefore box office success may be determined heavily on these factors. Box
office success statistics help to compare films to see what the audience
preferred reading was. Batman & Robin was released on June 20, 1997
in North America, earning $42,872,605 in its opening weekend, making it the
third-highest opening weekend of 1997. However, the film rapidly declined with
a 63%[11]
second week plunge. Batman & Robin received extremely negative
reviews from film critics. Rotten tomatoes reports that 27% of the audience
enjoyed it, in addition to bad critics certifying it "Rotten", with
an average rating of 3.4/10, with the description "Joel Schumacher's
tongue-in-cheek attitude hits an unbearable limit in Batman & Robin,
resulting in a frantic and mindless movie that's too jokey to care much for.”[11]
Where as The Dark Knight earned a worldwide total of $1,004,558,444. It
became the fourth film in history to gross more than $1 billion worldwide, and
Rotten Tomatoes reviewed it as “The Dark Knight Rises is an ambitious,
thoughtful, and potent action film that concludes Christopher Nolan's franchise
in spectacular fashion.” Stating 92% of the audience liked it. In order to
analyse this further the movie Green Lantern 2011 Warner Bros (an
unrealistic movie), which was released a year before The Dark Knight
Rises also flopped, although it did gross $21.6 million its opening day, in
its second weekend Green Lantern experienced a 66.1%[12] decline
similar to that to the Batman and Robin movie. Rotten Tomatoes also
indicated only 47% of the audience liked the film. Therefore these statistics
indicate the transformation of Superhero films is taking place is largely due
to the audiences demand and preferred reading as well as institutions
expressing their dominant ideology.
The focus in
superhero films seems to be converting from the fantasy aspect and expanding to
not just focus on binary oppositions of good v. bad, but to also include a
focus on the everyday man. The aspect of verisimilitude in films, such as
college settings and teenager angst in The Amazing Spider-man movie in 2012,
and Iron Man’s frequent links to a multimillion dollar business funding weapons
and technology, allows the audience to use the media product for escapism,
however as support by Robin wood ‘Hollywood is now at a
point where the distinctions between escapist fantasy and engaged practice can
no longer be made. What an increasingly sophisticated audience demands from
what previously would have been regarded as escapist is changing, and even the
most fantastical brands of cinema appear to directly comment on contemporary
events.’
Overall
there is clear evidence identifying the gradual transformation of superhero
films and the characters described by Propp’s theory. There is a shift in the
use of the Uses and Gratifications Theory in order to promote the news media
and institutions dominant ideologies whilst supplying surveillance/
information, as well as escapism, in order to make the audience aware of global
issues and conflicts, such as 9/11 and the 1%’s of the banking industry.
Conversely technology, social changes and cultural contexts have also altered
the movies gradually overtime in order to achieve a realistic feature to gain
Hall’s preferred reading of the audience. Therefore on-going evolution is
taking place in superhero films in order to achieve success.
[1] Xmen, 2000, 20th
Century Fox
[7] Spider-Man trilogy,
2002-07, Columbia Studios
[8] Skyfall, 2012,
Goldeneye, 1995, Eon Productions
[9] David Goyer, http://www.scienceandentertainmentexchange.org/blog/superhero-movies-are-getting-real
[10] http://www.richardwhitby.net/James%20Bond%20and%20Batman.html
[11] www.Rottentomatoes.com
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