Comparing Man of Steel to Blade Runner? Bold move!
I liken it to the '80s, when we saw an onslaught of horror movies. Most were bad, some were pretty good, but unless you're a real horror buff, folks won't be able to recall some of the better ones because they think of them as being lumped together in that genre. We know the great ones like the Thing, the first Nightmare on Elm Street, or American Werewolf in London. But what about the Serpent and the Rainbow, or Night of the Creeps, or Return of the Living Dead? Pretty good movies, but your average Joe on the street wouldn't think that. They get a bit lost in the shuffle. I think Blade Runner sticks out because there weren't many cerebral, moody science fiction films of that sort. It really was distinctive.
But I think you make a good point about changing opinions toward the character. Us old fogeys will be pushed aside in the not-too-distant-future by kids who are growing up with Man of Steel as possibly their first exposure to Supes. Kids don't read comics anymore, so that's irrelevant. And instead they're all wired into social media and streaming video. Their conceptualization of Superman will be informed more by comical Youtube videos than a Curt Swan or John Byrne. And from that perspective, who knows?
I liken it to the '80s, when we saw an onslaught of horror movies. Most were bad, some were pretty good, but unless you're a real horror buff, folks won't be able to recall some of the better ones because they think of them as being lumped together in that genre. We know the great ones like the Thing, the first Nightmare on Elm Street, or American Werewolf in London. But what about the Serpent and the Rainbow, or Night of the Creeps, or Return of the Living Dead? Pretty good movies, but your average Joe on the street wouldn't think that. They get a bit lost in the shuffle. I think Blade Runner sticks out because there weren't many cerebral, moody science fiction films of that sort. It really was distinctive.
But I think you make a good point about changing opinions toward the character. Us old fogeys will be pushed aside in the not-too-distant-future by kids who are growing up with Man of Steel as possibly their first exposure to Supes. Kids don't read comics anymore, so that's irrelevant. And instead they're all wired into social media and streaming video. Their conceptualization of Superman will be informed more by comical Youtube videos than a Curt Swan or John Byrne. And from that perspective, who knows?
Quite the contrast to certain other 1970's beauties who, shall we say, somewhat let themselves go. Not to name names...
