I Think About This a Lot: Who the Hell Started This Dark and Gritty Reboot Nonsense
The Batman trailer was released. The presentation of comic book movies is more fascinating to me, in fact, not the actual movie. First of all, comic book movies are about comics. Colorful, fantastical people with super powers (yes Batman doesn’t actually have supernatural powers I KNOW) but there is a trend to make them dark and gritty. Where did this trend start? It’s not new, the film noir genre made dark and gritty versions of beloved character types, and the genre cycle continues to turn over.
Where can we pinpoint this trend of taking these things seriously? Was it Christopher Nolan who said “This is not your Daddy’s comic book Batman,” Or was it Tim Burton’s Batman that literally made it dark, as in, low lighting. Burton still had a playfulness of his Joker character, and Prince’s incredibly campy and flamboyant soundtrack helped. Of course genre and style is recycled; gothic and noir have a huge influence.
Going futher than WHY a story needs to be dark and gritty, I always ask WHY a story needs to be told. Yes, often, it is capitalism; a film will be made because it will make money. Putting that aside, once the movie is made, why does the STORY need to be told? Why do we need to know about Batman and Riddler? This does not seem to add any commentary to what is happening now, which is that the social battleground is not the heart of a city or people; the comic book movies have become a sort of “all lives matter” way of thinking; some are good and some are evil, and it is up to this (white superhero with unearned powers) to right the wrongs for everyone. It is only when those who are usually privileged start to have their livelihood in peril that the hero steps up. It seems really embarrassing to still be on about this narrative. Comic book heroes usually come out to fight when the majority is in trouble- entire cities, planets, humanity—it’s like the all lives matter of superhero battles. To map this over the current political movement is, quite frankly, a misrepresentation. I’m not arguing that superhero comic book movies even try to take on the big issues. Sure, popular culture is vague metaphors for what is going on, but in order to work, they need to be removed. When you add a real-world direct reflection, you get these embarrassing revelations. Comic book heroes usually come out to fight when the majority is in trouble- entire cities, planets, humanity—it’s like the all lives matter of superhero battles. To map this over the current political movement is, quite frankly, a misrepresentation. Warning, this is the cringiest thing I’ve seen in a while:
Where does that leave us with dark and gritty? It lends well to the style but not the substance. It erases any opportunities that camp offers. It asks “what if this was REALLY HAPPENING?” It never really happens as it is in superhero movies. So why even try? Why not make a fantastical world that creates any opportunity?
As always, I leave you with this caveat. You are ALLOWED to like superhero movies. But I wish the people making them had more faith in audiences. And the audiences expect more.
Also, a big lol at using a Nirvana the song “Something in the Way” in the trailer. It’s almost as big as a misreading as the Republicans using “Born in the USA”. “Something in the Way” is about being an absolute outsider, a dehumanized, invisible, and treated less than human. Not the people Batman ever seems to fight for.
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