Arts & Culture
SMITH | Villains, and What Makes Them Great
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A comic book hero and his or her character and struggle is only as impactful as the evil they’re seeking to overcome.
Arts & Culture
Venom Is a Messy Web
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Sony’s Venom can best be described as an exemplification of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The superhero genre is simultaneously at the peak of its powers with a whopping 10 films set to be released in 2019, yet for many, the genre has become hackneyed and contrite, offering predictable and contrived storylines that do not take risks. Everything about Venom, from its comic-accurate presentation of its titular character, the Lovecraft-ian horror influences, to its mocking tagline (“The world has enough superheroes”) demonstrated to viewers that it wanted to be more Logan than Guardians of the Galaxy: a thought-provoking genre film that set out to do more than merely entertain. And while the world may have enough superheroes, Venom only augments that argument by its existence rather than subverting it with what it could offer. To its credit, this debut film of Spider-Man’s cannibalistic and violent arch nemesis (note: the wall-crawler himself is nowhere to be found in this flick) lives up to its name: it is not the “cure” that it so clearly poised itself as to the banality of current superhero films but instead the very poison that made readers want to settle for the present state of the genre. Sadly, despite the richness of the character’s backstory in the comics, the film tries so hard to convince its viewers and itself that it is not a superhero movie that it ends up not really being much of a movie at all.
Columns
JEONG | Politicizing Our Superheroes
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However, it is because these superheroes represent the greater values of our society that they can become symbols of our politics. It is interesting that superhero movies have become modern political allegories. Most people don’t go to the movie theaters for profound philosophical discussion on Locke and the social contract. Rather, most summer flicks are a few hours of escapism in the form of uncomplicated Hollywood drama.
Arts & Culture
Proud to Be a Woman: Agent Carter
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In an age where “difficult men” populate many television shows and female characters are often disregarded, the second season of Agent Carter makes feminism its priority. The Marvel show (which premiered Jan. 19 on ABC) follows Peggy Carter (Haley Atwell) as she fights misogyny and evil in post-World War II America. Peggy, who appeared in Captain America: The First Avenger as an Allied spy and as Captain America’s almost-girlfriend, now works for the fictional Strategic Scientific Reserve, a covert organization that was formed during the war to fight Nazis. Despite gaining respect in the male-dominated SSR in season one by singlehandedly neutralizing a Soviet spy, Peggy must deal with continued discrimination and degrading barbs from her colleagues, who continue to view her as their physical and mental inferior.