Comic book movies have been one of the defining themes of the 2000s and especially of the 2010s. There have been so many comic book films made that, unless you are a big fan of the genre, you can barely keep track.
Some years ago, it was quite the novelty to have a comic book hero turned into a real-life action character and to use CGI to bring the whole universe you imagined as a child to life. But then, because of both a push from studios and because of public demand, pretty much every other movie screening in cinemas was a superhero film.
While these movies and television series are not controversial in the hard sense of the word, they are rather polarizing, as some people like them, but others give major eye rolls only when hearing about them. So what are the mechanics of superhero movies and why have they become so popular?
When they first appeared, comic book heroes were designed and targeted to children, especially to young boys. They were, if you will, ideal men who boys could look up as an unattainable standard of strength, virtue and manliness. It can be argued that ideals are ideals because of their high standards and that is what makes them a great thing to look up to, wherever they may come. Someone who does the impossible is often a great ideal to have, as you will never be able to reach that ideal, which means that you will always strive for becoming better.
Soon enough though, Superman and other similar superheroes were not the only ones around and teenage boys started to read comic books featuring a more wide and diverse panel of heroes. These came in all shapes and sizes, but all had pretty much the same in common: they had superpowers, such as throwing fire, becoming invisible, creating thunder and so on. Some of them could also morph. Most superheroes wear special costumes and are incognito, so that people cannot attack them when they are dealing with their day to day life. Also, these characters usually have a rather sad background, focusing mostly on one highly tragic event.
Moreover, comic books became not just a connector between young boys (for the most part), but also a refuge. Psychologically, this is a very interesting and complex, if not downright complicated phenomenon. Comic books became associated with “geeks” or “nerds”, namely with boys who were not on the dominating end of the social spectrum within which they lived, i.e. their schools and neighborhoods. Thus, these comic books served as a form of psychological sublimation. In psychology, sublimation is a type of defense mechanism, in which socially unacceptable desires or impulses are morphed into socially acceptable actions or behavior. This concept is also discussed by art theoreticians, who talk about artistic sublimation, a process where an artist channels his impulses into creativity and transforms them into works of art. In other words, it is very likely that these physically and socially weak boys channeled their fury and hatred towards the world through these comic books. In order not to become aggressive and hateful towards others, they released those emotions by consuming comic books, in which “nerds” and “geeks” become the ultimate alpha men and destroy their opponents with the help of their superpowers.
Moreover, “geeks” and “nerds”, the target audiences for these cultural products are archetypically known to be very little assertive. This, of course, implies a lack of communication skills. Thus, comic books, it can be argued, became a secret language for them, which they did not even know they were using. For example, when two or three boys were talking about what they liked, what they disliked and what they were fascinated by in terms of comic books, they would unconsciously express in a symbolic manner their relation to the world. By doing so, they would connect with each other in a fundamental way, as they were expressing their deepest thoughts in an unconscious manner to their friends and were receiving back the same type of depth. For example, when talking about a superhero they admired and how they enjoyed the episode in which the character fought, they were emotionally telling the story of their own suffering and of how this impacted them – the response (the attack on the enemy) being the projection of the suffering they wanted to throw back in the form of a punishment or just of a release. Simply put, because of their pain, they would harm those who were causing their pain by throwing fire at them.
This anger and frustration is often twofold: one, directed towards the minions of evil (in this case the other students who would bully them) and two, towards the overlords. The overlords (who often come from other worlds) can be argued that are symbols for their parents. When talking about aliens or other outer-worldly beings, children will attribute them the characteristics they see their parents to have. For example, for some, aliens may be cool and advanced and bring them resources and technology that will help them develop, while for others, aliens mysterious sources of destruction which they fear. This comparison is relevant in the context in which we can compare parents to aliens and creatures from other worlds: they come and go (from work), they go to places we don’t have access to and they bring things (good or bad) to our world that ultimately shape us.
Bullying and social weakness are caused by a bad and weak bond with one’s parents or other adult figures of influence. Thus, a teenager knows deep down that his irrelevant suffering is in part because of his parents.
And so, comic books are a world of escape, defined by rudimentary emotions (one moment of suffering, which defines the whole development of the character, little depth of feelings and other similar traits). Comic books are also lacking empathy; there is a lot of violence going on without any trait of affection. This, however, it needs to be said, is very normal when it comes to children. Children and teens can engage in play that mimics things that would be unacceptable in the real social world.
This is why, it needs to be stressed that not all fans of comic books are children with bad backgrounds or bad social standings; many are simply boys discovering power, technology and other boyish things which fascinate them.
If we are to take all those considerations in and apply them to the world of superhero cinema, we can see why many people roll their eyes to them, while others love them so much. While the idea of having a superpower you feel obligated to use for the good of society is a great idea and flying and punching are things we all would like to do every once in a while, comic book movies are highly immature and a reflection of a childish society.
The idea that we are now in a childish society is hard to be argued against: everything has become extremely infantile: from politics, where everything is black and white, to relationships and sexuality, which people approach like a headmaster of the 1970s, who would tell children “these are grown-up things”, to pretty much everything becoming a caricature with no more than two traits (if you think about it, cartoons are often built like this: for example, “he’s a big guy, but he’s fearful”) – almost every facet of today’s culture is defined by high immaturity.
When it comes to adults consuming comic book movies, it’s not so much anymore about connecting with others in a symbolic manner, it is more about indicating that you have not done a lot of self-reflection, that you are not someone who is empathetic, someone who is emotionally mature or someone who can engage in deep conversation.
Simon Pegg, a US actor known in the “geek community” had some harsh words to say about comic book movies. He claimed that “films used to be about challenging, emotional journeys or moral questions that might make you walk away and re-evaluate how you felt about… whatever. Now we’re walking out of the cinema really not thinking about anything, other than the fact that the Hulk just had a fight with a robot”. Comics guru Alan Moore described the genre with which he is associated as having become a “cultural catastrophe”.
In the end, it can be said that superhero movies are indeed the junk food of cinema. They’re cool and entertaining once in a while, and that its high prevalence is more a symptom than a cause. Ultimately, consuming only superhero movies constantly, just like in the case of junk food, is a symptom of deep issues (loneliness, delusion, frustration, etc.) and will result in negative outcomes.