Superhero movies -- Mimetic Theory and Literary Study

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Date Posted: 13:06:15 02/04/08 Mon
Author: CS Holden
Subject: Superhero movies

There's a thread from about two weeks ago that deals with the movie "The Incredibles," and the mimetic structures in that movie. Today's discussion about the shift from acquisitive to conflictual mimesis got me thinking about superhero movies in general. Plus, JD and I swapped some ideas on our way to lunch this morning.

Some conventions of the comic-book hero movie (Spiderman, Superman, Batman, etc.) are perfect examples of these structures. Superheroes, in their average-joe lives, tend to have personal rivalries that bleed into their secret life as a superhero. Spiderman is the example that seems best in my mind. Consider Peter Parker's rivalry with Harry over Mary Jane, his hatred of the man who killed his uncle (by the way, a desire for revenge), and the interesting twist that the Green Goblin (enemy) turns out to be one of Parker's role models (mediator). All of these bleed into society, too, so that you have mobs demanding Spiderman's head, and yet you also have that dubious train scene, where he has just saved all these passengers from death and they slow-mo crowd-surf his body as he relaxes into a Christ-like pose, at once an object of horror and reverence. The people see him as the poison and the cure (ain't that fun).

It also interested me that many superheroes, going along with the theme of monstrosity, are "super" because they have some kind of bestial quality. And these are not just any animals, either, but scummy animals: spiders, bats, hulks.

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Replies:

Re: Superhero movies -- Janelle, 04:56:12 02/05/08 Tue