Alan Moore on superhero culture

Re:Alan Moore on superhero culture by blacksmith_tb on Tuesday November 19, 2019 @01:28PM (#21576368)

Not to offer a defense of Hollywood's throwaways, but I would say that enduring classics like The Illiad or The Bhagavad Gita were intended to reinforce the cultural norms of their times, which of course is an aspect of the human condition, but not about "making you think" in any sort of critical way. In that sense superhero movies are not so far afield...

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Re:Alan Moore on superhero culture by watwut on Tuesday November 19, 2019 @03:34PM (#21577968)

I would argue that Homer is more nuanced then Hollywood by a lot. And the Illiad does not make you feel so good about violence as Hollywood war movies either. When it comes to "making you think", they are miles better.

I am not saying there is no other art (movie/literatture) that makes you think more then these. But like, superheroes and hollywood are not that.

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Re:Alan Moore on superhero culture by blacksmith_tb on Tuesday November 19, 2019 @06:42PM (#21579618)

For a modern reader, I'd agree. I don't think the Greeks especially saw the message as being anti-violence, except in the sense that Achilles' rage goes too far, say. Their society was in a warlike stage, and their heroes died glorious deaths, that was what they expected from a good story.

I'd like to think that at least some modern literature is thought-provoking; I'd even say that Hollywood sometimes makes films which are unexpectedly deep (though they tend to be smaller-budget than the superhero stuff). That said, given that billions of dollars go in, what comes out is... not very impressive.

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Re:Alan Moore on superhero culture by watwut on Wednesday November 20, 2019 @06:20AM (#21582883)

I did not said the message is anti-violence. For that matter, Hollywood is not anti-violence either. These old stories portrait of violence is less glorifying then what Hollywood or superhero does. The tragedy of events is actually shown, unlike in superhero movie.

I said "nuanced" and "better at making you think" which is something completely different. One big reason why it is better at making you think is that it is not having simplistic singular message I am supposed to learn so that I feel like the movie had proper message.

If anything, I would compare it to Westworld or game of thrones, neither of which is Hollywood and neither of which is super simple message of "violence is bad".

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