Sexism and Superheroes

Back in the '80's, a gentleman (and I use the term loosely) wrote to Marvel. His letter was published in The Uncanny X-Men. (I can't tell you which issue number because my books are in storage right now.) The gist of his complaint was that he wasn't going to read that particular book anymore because the women of the team had stronger, cooler powers than the men. At the time, the team consisted of Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Shadowcat, and Rogue.

o_O Okkaaay. Yes, the guys of my generation could be insecure about their masculinity. At the time, I chalked it up to teen angst. I figured they'd grow out of it.

Jump ahead thirty years, and boy, was I wrong. These guys are still trying to exclude women from the hero world. This time, it's clothing for children.

The excuses are still the same. Boys won't wear girl characters. Girls won't wear superhero-related shirts. And they're both right up there with Warner Bros. excuse for not making a Wonder Woman movie.

Guys, you might want to take a look at my closet before you make that pronouncement. Girls like superheros. We like 'em even better if there are women superheroes in the mix.

And I won't just pick on Warner Brothers. Did Disney/Marvel think I wouldn't notice you didn't have one of the founding members of the Avengers in the movie? I'll give them a little credit. They did substitute Wasp with Black Widow instead of another male Avenger. And they are putting the Scarlet Witch in the next movie. Which still puts them a couple of steps above WB. But then drops them another step for not having Gamora with the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy on a t-shirt for little boys.

*sigh*

To the guys my age marketing shit to younger superhero fans: Kids today grew up with Buffy Summers and Katniss Everdeen and Hermione Granger. They'll wear shirts with Black Widow and Gamora. They'll even go see Wonder Woman if you make the movie right.

And by right, I mean having a team like Chris Nolan had for the Dark Knight trilogy. A team that passionately cares about the subject matter. Or is this all a plan to mess up the possibility of a movie because you don't want to see your sons wearing Wonder Woman t-shirts?

Guess what? Your sons are totally secure in their manhood. It's you that has the problem.

Monday Movie Mania Delayed - X-Men: Days of Future Past

The original story "Days of Future Past" was published in The Uncanny X-Men, issues # 141 and 142, in 1981. I was a freshman in high school when this story came out. To say it (and writer Chris Claremont) had a profound influence on my own storytelling is an understatement.

As I said last week, my biggest pet peeve going into the new 20th Century Fox movie was the need of PTBs in Hollywood to replace Katherine "Kitty" Pryde as the time traveller in the story because no one would EVER watch a video with a female protagonist.

Pft!

Anyway, the movie was good. I know, I know. I'm not raving, but let's talk about the good stuff first.

Pluses
1) The writers (Jane Goldman, Simon Kinberg and Matthew Vaughn) integrated Rachel Summer's and Bishop's timelines as the one terrible future. The "M" tattoo over the right eye, which was a mark of pride in Bishop's future is used the same as the number tattoos the Nazis inflicted on the Jews in the concentration camps. Of course, the writers couldn't bring in Rachel because their predecessors killed Cyclops and Phoenix in X-Men: The Last Stand.

2) Also, the previous writers whacked Senator Robert Kelly in X-Men. The alternative target is Bolivar Trask, the creator of the Sentinels, giant robots designed to kill mutants.

3) The movie Sentinels look more like the second BSG-series Cyclons, making them even more scary than the purple and pink originals.

4) Now, we know why 20th Century Fox and Disney/Marvvel got pissy over who had the rights to Quicksilver. Evan Peters' performance as the teen son of Magneto and future Avenger were the highlight of the entire movie.

5) For all my pissing and moaning about Shadowcat's non-participation in any Days storyline after the original, the writers added a nice extrapolation of her phasing abilities, making her the catalyst for the time travel.

6) Roles for a couple of my favorites from the gigantic X-Men comic cast: Sunspot and Warpath


Minuses
1) They tried to write Bolivar Trask as a monster, but Peter Dinklage is just didn't come across as Trask. I'm not sure if director Bryan Singer or the writers were trying to make the character sympathetic in order for the audience to want Mystique not to kill him. I know Dinklage is a first class actor, so I think if he'd been allowed, he would have made the dichotomy work

2).Bringing back Cyclops and Phoenix AGAIN! Seriously, part of the reason I've stopped reading the comics is Cyclops and Phoenix have been killed and resurrected too many fucking times! If you stay for the snippet at the end of the credits, you'll know why they were brought back. I'm not happy because I think this person is THE lamest of the X-Men villains.


I'm only giving X-Men: Days of Future Past an 8 out of 10.

Why? It didn't just work for me as a whole. Maybe the storyline has been adapted too many times. Maybe it's the fact that none of the superhero movies have new, original storylines. They are always variations of something I've read years, sometimes decades, ago.

Maybe I'm getting jaded in my old age. YMMV

Days of Future Past

Since even I am suffering from Hatchette insanity exhaustion, I'm headed to the theater today.

My review will be in Monday's post as usual. The twist will be interesting since Senator Kelly died in X-Men (2000), but as X-Men: First Class showed, the movie people are about as interested in continuity and character history as Marvel's current writers.

My only piddle going into the theater is that it's the guys that go into the past in any adaptation of Chris Claremont's marvelous tale. Kitty, aka Sprite/Ariel/Shadowcat, still rules in my opinion.

Videos I've Been Watching Lately

This X-Men parody is deliciously hysterical because the impersonations are so dead on. Enjoy!

It's a Good Thing I'm Not Writing

Currently reading - Random X-Men and Wonder Woman comics

I woke up this morning with the most Goddess-awful head cold.  Thank Djehuti, I'm not doing NaNo.  I'd be lucky to hit one hundred words with the pressure behind my eyes.

What I'm doing instead is bagging and boxing a huge portion of my comic book collection.  There was a time when I'd properly store my comics as soon as I read them.

Then came law school.  I'd read maybe part of my monthly shipment from Mile High Comics.  Then I'd stack them in the office closet with the promise that I'd take care of them during summer break.  Except internships and DH's frequent international travel meant Wonder Woman and her friends stayed in the closet.

Then came the bar exams.  I'd already pre-registered for the Ohio Bar Exam before DH took the job in Texas, so it seemed like a waste of money not to take it along with the Texas Bar Exam.  And yes, I was insane enough to take them both the same year.  Other than walking the dogs and a week in Hawaii, my nose was glued to books and practice exams for months.  And Wolverine and his buds got stacked in the closet without even a passing glance.

Then I got pregnant, literally three days after the Columbus swearing-in ceremony.  Soon after GK was born, I had to admit to myself that I needed cancel my subscription.  I wasn't giving my comics the attention they deserved.  And Batman and his co-horts still sat in the closet by themselves.

But now we're trying to prepare the house for listing.  That means cleaning out the closets.  I'm ashamed that I let my friends languish in the dark.   They brought me so much joy during a very lonely childhood.

So I gently bag each one, reading the occasional book that has a beautiful cover of Storm or Troia.  700 down, another 1000 to go.

Second Childhood

Currently reading - Uncanny X-Men #519-522

We're in the process of packing up personal items in order to paint, re-floor and finally put the house on the market next year. I ran out of mylar sleeves and boxes for comic books I'd bought the last couple of years before GK was born. Unfortunately, most of the comic shops nearby have gone out of business thanks to the current recession, so I had to traipse up the highway yesterday. Due to other errands/circumstances, DH and GK came along.

Somehow, someway, whatever your parents do is totally uncool to each generation. GK is no different. But by the time we left, GK had a manga book and DH had Yu-Gi-Oh cards.

And me? Well, I have my supplies, my current reading and the latest issue of Wonder Woman.

But Lady Bast as my witness, if Scott Summers is still dating Emma Frost, I'll drop X-Men again.

(Unless there's a really cool cover of Storm or Psylocke.)

Anyone else have a childhood obsession they'd like to share?