When Dreams Go Dark

I read an interesting article over the weekend involving Richard Donner's opinion of Zack Snyder's version of Superman. Considering the two versions are at opposite ends of the bell curve, it's no surprising that Donner objects to Snyder's negativity.

Christopher Reeve's version is the movie I grew up with. It came out when I was thirteen. My dad took me and my sibs to see it when our mom was suffering from some medical issues in order to give her a little peace and quiet.

At this point, Superman was considered ultimate good. More powers than anyone should have. Practically, a god. But he did NOT kill. I admit it's an over-the-top fantasy.

For those of us who were kids in the '70's, movies like Superman and Star Wars gave the thing we sorely needed--hope. Our parents were losing their jobs due to an awful recession. Some of my friends lost their homes. Awful things were happening around the world.

On that level, I agree with Donner. Folks need hope. I know I did during the last three years of COVID pandemic. I watched and read a lot of old favorites. Positive things that gave me that elusive hope. Sure, some were action-packed and violent, but in the end, the protagonists did the right thing.

It's not that I have a problem with darker stories. Snyder's Sucker Punch is one of my all time favorites. But even with the terrible things that happened in that move, Snyder still ended on a tiny ray of hope. It wasn't the good guys doing the "real-life" killing, and ironically, the girls characters used fantasy as an escape from their terrible situation.

So when Snyder yells at the reporter to "Wake the fuck up!", I wonder what he's really thinking. Does he really believe that we want our heroes to be sick assholes? If so, do it with another property. Why does he feel the need to turn the DC superheroes into nihilistic versions of the themselves?

It's one thing to do an offshoot, like DC's Elseworld stories. But label them as such. But taking away Superman's innate goodness by making him a murderer isn't what a lot of people want to watch. Not with a major war in Europe, a pandemic that's still raging across the world, and the financial chaos caused by the war and pandemic.

That's how I look at my job as an entertainer. No one would want to read my books if the antagonists got away with their evil, shitty deeds. Even when crap knock my protagonists down, they get up and do the right thing.

And that's all we can do in real life, too.