Thoughts I've thunk while sippin' at a cup of tea and reading something provoking, often get dropped here for the benefit of humanity and my own hubris.
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Last night I caught an episode of Smallville and I was surprised at how much I liked it. I normally don’t like that super hero genre, but not for reasons you’d expect. Allow me to illustrate by way of a story…
When my nephew, Colton, was three or four, he wanted to dress up like Batman. My sister asked him if he wanted to be the “Movie Batman or the TV Batman” (as their costumes were different). He said he wanted to as the TV version. So, she sewed a blue cape and hood and got some gray sweats and some shiny blue briefs (actually, they may have been cutoffs, but I distract).
Upon Halloween night, however, he would not don the entire outfit, as he didn’t want to wear the blue cutoffs. “But honey,” my sister said, “Batman wears them this way.”
He replied, “Well this Batman will wear his underwear inside his pants.”
I don’t like super heroes because of the tights, spandex, capes and especially the underwear on the outside of their clothes. I mean, get real. If you had super powers and were all muscle-bound and buffed, you wouldn’t be prancing around like a Vegas show-girl.
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| I’m sure millions of viewers out there are just wondering what’s it like to wear the tights of justice. Well, it’s tinglely and it’s uncomfortable, but it gets the job done and oh the job of it! | ||
| Quote from The Tick |
Or maybe you would. Let’s imagine, if you will, Superman skipping around the city looking for bad guys to arrest, when this gang of skinheads (with their leader, Lex) spies him and says, “Hey, let’s get the queer one,” and end up getting the beating of their life. So, maybe their bright apparel and flair helps them locate the evil doers.
When I first heard about the X-men, I was intrigued with the possibilities of almost normal people with mutant powers who ran around the mall looking like the masses… until they donned on the spandex and bright colors. It just ruined it for me.
So with the exception of Wonder Woman and her wonderful cleavage, I’ll like the rest of the Hall of Justice to change into something a little more comfortable … and a little more believable.
© 2003-2005, Howard Abrams • Except where otherwise noted, all original content is licensed under a Creative Commons License (see details).
BUTT, if you’ve got the goods, you might just as well show ‘em off, hey?
Comment posted on Monday, 29 December 2003Counter to most of the WB “teen angst” series, Smallville uses an occasional subtlety to make a point or to set a tone. Note the use of lighting, for example; Chloe often appears in scenes with green lighting. Clark also is color-enhanced; note his clothes are almost always in the primary colors of red and blue, a reference to the uniform “Superboy” wore in the comics. This softening of the colors for Clark also softens the covert American jingoism implicit in both Superboy and Superman.
The thing I’ve found most interesting about this series is the character of Lex Luthor. I think he’s such a strong and popular character that the writers have had to resist the temptation to turn him into a villain. He remains a conflicted and ambivalent character, with his father serving as proxy for the “real” evil character.
Comment posted on Tuesday, 6 January 2004
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