September 13, 2012

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  Day Twenty-Seven:  A Decade’s Difference

  We have done a HUGE superhero kick this summer.  First it was the three Transformer movies, then Supermans (I and II and then the new one, which is my favorite superhero movie).  Then we switched over and watched all four of the older Batman movies… but I won’t let my kids watch the newer ones.  So then we moved into the Iron Mans, and when we found out Avengers was coming to the theater, we watched Hulk and then Thor.  Over last week we watched the three Spider Man movies, and just as we were finishing up, ‘The Amazing Spider-man’ (the new one) showed up at the discount theatre – in 3D! – so I took the kids to go and see if it was any better than the first one.

  It is amazing what a decade will do.  The first Tobey Maguire Spidey movie was 2003, so it’s been ten years.  In 2003, internet was just taking off.  Digital animation was very new and ground-breaking.  Cellphone technology was foundational.  And I have to admit, if you like 3D, it’s a TOTAL rush to see the new 2012 version of  ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’.  You’re on the wall, and it really looks like you’re flying thru the air.  Web balls really appear to be shooting out at you from the screen.  The high-tech stuff in the new one?  Wow.  It was phenomenal. 

  But was the new Spider-Man movie better?  Absolutely not.  It was, IMHO, sixty times worse.  It was dark, dirty, angry, hopeless, and graphically violent, just like… well, everything else that’s coming out, anymore.

  Let’s start with Aunt Mae.  In the 2003 movie, Aunt Mae was a charming, lovely woman who took pride in taking care of her home, her husband, and her nephew.  She loved her man and lifted him up, backing him the decisions he made, mourning him with dignity.  She was the same toward Peter – made tea for him and gave him wise council.  She shared his pain, his sorrow, his hopes, and gave him the best advice she could.  She was graceful and understanding.  She lit the movie with a quiet beauty. 

  Not so Sally Field.  She looked haggard and pissed the entire movie.  She was bitchy and petty and fought with Uncle Ben in almost every scene, her house was a cluttered up, dirty mess – you can’t even see the fridge for the crap all over it.  Aunt Mae had the appearance of a woman coming off a drunk binge, and she spent the rest of the movie saying, “Where have you been?” and nagging Peter.  FAR cry from the first movie.

  Then there’s the damsel in distress.  In the 2003 movie it was Mary Jane Watson, the girl next door that Peter loved since the first grade.  She had a rough family life, but had dreams and goals, and was able to focus on them to keep her spirits up, and her home trouble didn’t sour her – she was nice to everyone, even geeky Peter.  In the third installment, Gwen Stacy appears as the beautiful daughter of the Police chief and Peter’s lab partner in college.   Even she is an amazing character – when [infected, evil] Peter uses Gwen to hurt Mary Jane, Gwen tearfully steps away from him, and in front of everyone goes straight over to Mary Jane to apologize.  The mettle of the characters was solid and sound… admirable.

  It’s Gwen who’s the love interest in the new Spidey flick, and this time she’s in high school (make that a SCIENCE high school…!?!??!) with Peter.  She’s the head intern at OsCorp, and at age 17 she’s the one in charge of intern orientation at the chemical lab facility.  What. Is. That?  Nobody’d give a kid that much authority in real life.  Plus, she’s uber hot chick who falls for geeky Peter in some alternate reality that doesn’t make ANY sense.  She lies to and snaps at her dad, breaks trust with the chem lab, can’t form complete sentences, and yet we’re supposed to like her.  I wanted Mary Jane back.

  Then there’s Peter.  Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker was a kindly science nerd, a kid who wanted to see the world as a good place, but it just wouldn’t cooperate.  He earns his trip to the lab by way of hard work in school, and he’s accidentally bitten (he did nothing to bring it upon himself), and is transformed – he’s stronger, can shoot webs from his wrists, can climb walls, and is impervious to most of the batterings that he takes.  He listens to police scanners to be able to help people.  He’s a hero, plain and simple.

  As opposed to the new Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker, who is grungy, angsty, doesn’t like anyone (except his crush, Gwen).  He is completely aloof to his aunt and uncle, too self-absorbed to think of others.  He lies and steals to get into the lab, sneaks in and tampers with research, resulting in the spider bite, where he is transformed – he can climb walls.  He’s not stronger, doesn’t shoot webs (until he rigs wrist launchers) and spends most of the movie with gashes and blood all over him.  He listens to police scanners to track down the man who killed his uncle, only… he couldn’t care less about using his gift for the good of others.  But then, that’s how kids are, anymore, right?  And why not reinforce that with film? [insert sarcasm]

  When Toby/Peter goes back to school with his new powers, he catches Mary Jane’s food and saves her lunch for her.  When the bully is naughty to him, he uses his web to spill the kids food.  Contrast that with Andrew/Peter going back to school, snapping at everyone, and physically, violently attacking the bully in revenge for all the times he’d been picked on.  And not just once – he goes to the gym and humiliates him there, too.  ((While destroying the basketball hoop, and then gets angry for getting in trouble and smashes his family’s front door, too, before stomping off to brood.))

   
  Which Peter is the hero, when we match them up?

  In SpiderMan3, Spidey is infected with an alien substance that brings out the aggression in him.  It’s the only time Tobey Maguire plays a belligerent, sarcastic, petty, rude, and self-centered SpiderMan.  Can’t do that with the amazing Spiderman… he’s already belligerent, sarcastic, petty, rude, and self-centered.  And did I mention angry?

  And as we were leaving the theatre, talking about these things with the kids, comparing the two and explaining the differences and how astonishingly evident they were… we realized something.  In only ten years, our society – mankind as a whole – has regressed this far.  To where every character is dark, nasty, vindictive, and grimy.  To where everything is violent and frightening – not just the bad guys.  In just one decade – less than the time my four little boys have been on earth!  It’s gone from hopeful (albeit a thwarted hopefulness) to horrific.

  I don’t know.  But I’d say we’re pushing past the point of no return.  Because honestly – how much further can it go without falling over the edge of the cliff?  We’ve gone so dark – how dark can it get before it’s completely black?  Because I don’t know… watching the previews for upcoming TV series… they’re terrifying.  Watching the previews for upcoming movies?  They’re either lewd and tasteless or violent and completely evil.

  What a difference a decade has made…

  • 11:11 am
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