Superman vs Kill Bill
I hated the Kill Bill movies - over the top action and story, but not in an interesting way for me. After sitting through parts 1 and 2, and feeling the life being sucked out of me the entire time, especially during the climax where all was revealed < shudder >, there was a nugget there. Something I could sink my teeth into. An interesting idea, one that had never occurred to me before.
Bill tells the audience that Superman was who Superman was - Clark Kent was who Superman thought humans were. Other super-heroes were normal people, with normal lives, but who gain super powers some way, then go off and develop an alter-ego that is super. But, Superman was always super and to fit in he had to hide who he really was. So, he created a persona that he thought wouldn't draw any attention to himself. Therefore, Clark Kent was what Superman thought of humans - bumbling, dimwitted, never get the girl, kind of a nebbish.
I was stunned by this idea. Why had this never occurred to me, considering...? I liked this idea, and kept it as my own little secret idea for a few years. I would bring it out anytime I wanted to feel good about myself, and lord it over the Humans around me. Then I stated this blog thing a few months ago, and I started actually analyzing my thoughts through the lenses of philosophies that I used to believe in (General Semantics, etc). The next time I brought out my little pet thought, I realized that like the rest of Kill Bill, it was crap. So, I cast it aside without a so much as a tear.
Clark Kent is not Superman's indictment against humanity, but rather Superman's view of what he thinks humans really are. It is a subtle difference, but a major one. Superman didn't really know what it means to be human, so when he had to create a human persona, he wouldn't be sure how far to go to hide who he was. He had to determine how fast, or strong, or smart he wanted others to believe he was. And since he couldn't get into their minds, he tried his best. Clark Kent is his view of his beliefs, and really says nothing about Humans as a whole, just Superman. Basically, it was a very inaccurate model, since he was biased by his own model.
To summarize: Kill Bill was utter crap to me. Superman was really a jerk who under valued humans. And I need a new pet idea.
The Edward
3 comments:
I agree with you on both counts- "Kill Bill" (as well as any other Quentin Tarantino movie) is pretty crappy- I think QT is a case of the emperor's new clothes. No one wants to admit that his movies are just cheap rip-offs of better movies.
As far as Superman- well, as the website says it "Superman is a dick."
So does this mean Wonder Woman, aka Diana Prince, has a very skewed view of humanity? After all, she's descended from Gods right? And she chooses the hairbun, glasses, suits, and slightly prudey way of presenting herself.... Madpuppy, you know your comic book heros... what gives with her?
Whew, I thought I was the only person in the world who thought that Kill Bill sucked. Though the worst is still the loss of The Idea.
I'm going to have to agree with you on the Wonder Woman thing - I had forgotten about her. That must be her view of what normal humans are. Though, I do not understand the prudish aspect to either Superman or Wonder Woman - maybe because they are so far superior to humans that they really do not want to have sex with them, so they add that to the mix, or do they just think that will make them more invisible to the general populace?
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