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Recorded July 22nd. “We don’t have anymore time.” Really rushed reactions on the 4-minutes of Justice League footage from San Diego Comic-Con 2017 Exclusive Trailer / Sneak Peek.
To learn more:
Old Bailey
The Shard
Tower Bridge
Greco-Roman Polychromatic Art
Chernobyl
Gal Gadot on Superman in Justice League
Geoff Johns on DC Films slate
Jurassic Park Iconic Water Effect
Web: ManOfSteelAnswers.com
Twitter: @mosanswers
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#allin #justiceleague #WBSDCC #SDCC2017 #I❤️ZS
Was waiting for this! I’m glad you could make an Episode about the Trailer for us this soon, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.
Thanks for listening. Hope you did. I felt like I left a lot on the table but didn’t have time to get to it.
Really enjoyed the segment discussing the idea of Superman being a beacon. Your prediction was on point in terms of many detractors claiming that THEY themselves never saw the Superman that inspired people in MoS and BvS like Bruce described and are unable to see beyond themselves to realize that many characters within the DCEU felt differently.
Right, the very concept of super-villains means not everyone is going to be on-board. And it’s isn’t difficult to get people on-board if you emotionally manipulate them… which is one of the reasons I hold BvS integrity to NOT do that in esteem. Critics will constantly say, “All it takes is just one scene, just this, just that… THEN we’ll all love him!” No kidding, THAT’S WHY LEX DIDN’T LET HIM SPEAK! Zack is extremely conscious of how persuasive Superman can be (a major justification for the death was to make Batman’s assembly of the League more meaningful, since Superman recruiting would be expected and easy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XD-UMLLCGY ).
It’s really easy to tip things in Superman’s favor so that we feel for him, honor him, and take him for granted. I mean, look at Wonder Woman… she was categorically wrong, factually forging forwards against collateral irrelevant to her cause… but we forgive her because she swept us up with emotion. It would be SO EASY to do that for Superman, but that wasn’t the point of BvS, to perpetuate all the assumptions we’ve held for so long. It very much was a test of the audience.
If we lust after the BvS fight, we’re in Lex’s corner… if we buy Batman we’re on-board with brutal crimestopping without due-process… and we gloss over Superman acting unilaterally without a second thought. ( https://youtu.be/qFP1v2TmTNg?t=45s https://youtu.be/GebJn2hlcZE?t=7m41s ) The point wasn’t to give the characters a pass on all that but to show that they can be tested and still come out after it. Yet it’s telling and a little sad that much of the audience fails that test. Like, we can rationally recognize Superman is innocent or ticks 9-out-of-10 boxes… but because he doesn’t speak or doesn’t coddle or doesn’t charm… suddenly the whole enterprise is worth condemning. If this is how we view / treat the Other, can you imagine? Oh sure, they’re well intentioned, they contribute immensely, they meet most of our expectations… but, well, they didn’t charm or specifically manipulate an emotion so in the bin with you! You don’t think the Other might have difficulty communicating or satisfying checklists perfectly? So it becomes a test of who can look past that to embrace the plurality of good versus those who focus endlessly on alleged fault and raise it again-and-again, beating the dead horse.
Awesome commentary as usual Dr Awkward. This is why I find it irritating that people comment that wonder woman is proven to be more inspirations and truly fitted the beacon of hope than dceu superman but fail to realising that superman heroism and inspirations is truly like our real life heroes like firefighter, doctor and so on.
I think your comment about emotional manipulation is very important. Unfortunately, this manipulation is extremely common in blockbusters now (it’s one of the reasons of my profound disappointement with Civil War or The Force Awakens). I agree with you that BvS was a test of the audience (failed by most critics and a big fraction of the audience – but surprisingly low, considering how challenging the movie was). BvS inspires deep feelings but refuses to manipulate our emotions and I respect it for this refusal. As you said, it would be so easy to sweep us up with emotion and perpetuate our assumptions, especially for Superman. We got some iconic shots of comic panels brought to life, but many people just want the same stuff in slightly different costume. It is sad but also ironic that majority of hate/negativity from critics and audience stems from this refusal to manipulate our emotions.
We all fall prey to expectations or nostalgia, but Zack Snyder has the courage to go against general expectations. I love BvS for this courage but I was still very disappointed (or even angry) that we didn’t get a shot of Superman ripping open his shirt, because I wanted to see it so much! I had to see this image twice on Supergirl episode in less than 10 minutes to change my mind. Now I am extremely grateful that my wish was not fulfilled. It is the best example how easily we could be manipulated – I loved and respected BvS for what it was, but still yearned for such manipulation. Sad.
I also think BvS is a special and unique thing where that test is integral to its story and message.
I don’t think it’s necessarily the template for the entire film universe, so going forwards they’ll likely try for broader appeal (aka manipulation) and that’s OK so long as the stories aren’t trying to pretend they’re about reality. Like in Wonder Woman, they make you realize that all the idealism is tempered by reality and the entire film is couched in a bed-time story like Hippolyta would tell Diana as a child… in that context it’s OK. It’s problematic if you start telling people look to nostalgia and escapism for solutions in the real world though.
Great work doc.
Yes, Bruce’s monologue, which will probably inform the start of the movie, when it’s in real time, is absolutely his view. Even a light understanding of Bruce’s position makes this absolutely on point in his context. And I don’t think even Lex would disagree with this as a populous view. He may not agree, but he would likely agree that’s what the world view is.
Need me some Lex.
Looking forwards to Lex too.
A few podcast related thoughts i had recently combined in 1 post.
The new Netflix doc “Five Came Back” explores how WW2 affected 5 classic Hollywood directors. It´s a good companion piece to Doc´s episode on WW and how WW1 affected fantasy writers. It helps to know the works of some of these directors though, or watch them afterwords. Spielberg´s take on The Best Years of Our Lives is quite something. I always liked that film but i now understand why the film is assembled the way it is.
The way the SDCC sizzle reel is cut to music is indeed worthy of discussion. The same goes for the Doomsday trailer for BvS.
“Baby Driver” is still in cinemas and the whole film is like that. Best film of the year so far!
WB´s Kong: Skull Island was weirdly enough my favorite film of 2017 till Dunkirk and Baby Driver. The way modern fanboy film sensibilities meet actual 70s filmmaking left me in awe and every Snyder fan need to see it, as it feels like on of his (earlier) films. His longtime cinematographer Larry Fong certainly had something to do with that.
So yeah, get better Zack Snyder. Hollywood needs you but JLA is undeniably in good hands.
Why Doc wanted to talk about Chernobyl:
http://imgur.com/a/UjELc
How did you spot that Doc? I am from Russia and played S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and the flashback in CoD4, so is should have spotted the building style too. Good eye!
I worked backwards from the cooling towers with the triangular windows / struts at the base, then saw that the rest of the setting fit. I never played STALKER but found the concept really intriguing based on my affinity for System Shock / Deus Ex / Jagged Alliance, but wasn’t really playing games by the time it came out.
Do you think Zack & co. will pull an “Apokalips…Now!” and have Steppenwolf try to re-detonate Chernobyl to make firepits on Earth?
I always liked reading box-office data, sales charts and so on to gain perspective and DC Rebirth just had its 1 year anniversary.
It´s successful enough, as the last year of the N52 branded books was… rough but the numbers fall apart once you look at how crazy things were going in 2011. Goeff´s Aquaman outsold every Marvel book for months then! Meaning that Marvel´s current and more problematic sales (they publish about 50% more content DC does) may not be the worst of this decade.
DC: http://www.comicsbeat.com/dc-comics-month-to-month-sales-june-2017-forging-ahead/
Marvel: http://www.comicsbeat.com/marvel-month-to-month-sales-june-2017-meet-me-just-under-the-guillotine/
Professional commentary is found within and DC would have real problems if the Batman brand wasn´t so strong, where Star Wars is doing the same for Marvel. Wonder Woman also just saw a spike in TPB sales and a continued decline in single issue sales, so the cliché that the comic industry mostly lives in its own bubble is still true. If that movie can´t help the industry than no film/show can.
Superman´s main book lastly finished a very worthwhile 2 part story in No.27/28. He took a family vacation to Washington D.C and reconnected with his patriotic roots. This week´s Green Arrow issue even called him “America’s Dad”. Clark and Olly arguably benefited from Rebirth the most and Superman is now also canonically a fan of Hamilton due to that arc.
If sales could only reflect the quality of his 2 books and the utterly failing “New Superman” from China, as this is the first time both Superman series are a must read since about the early to mid 00s.