Research Essay
Ziyaad Tayob
Proposed Question:
The first Superman movie was made in 1978 and since then DC Universe has been making new versions ever since, the latest one Batman vs. Superman was made in 2016. Our society has evolved over the past 35 years. So how has the franchise evolved with it, regarding their use of technical effects, costumes and personalities of the main characters? How has this all influenced the change in the story line and its overall outcome?
Response:
The very first Superman movie was based on the comic book (1938) written in by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. It was so successful that the comic book was adapted to the big screen in 1978; this movie would become the template for modern comic book superhero movies.
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His costume has changed quite a bit. Mainly with superhero costumes, it stays the same to pay a tribute to the original, the one where it all began. In the case of Superman it has changed quite a lot in comparison to other superhero costume changes. The costume colour changes as the movies progress, the blueness of the costume simply depended on the colour of the screen they were using. The main reason for the costume changes was because his powers and personality was slightly changed every time a new movie came out. Superman starts of having quite a “dad” body, a normal average body but over time he became more ripped as the sequels started coming out. This happened because they were trying to show the anger & “resistance” he was building up. As he took on more responsibilities he needed to look a lot stronger so it seemed more believable. As mentioned above he started out as being a ‘boy scout’ (In the comic books leading up to the first movie) and since then he has taken on a lot more responsibilities than a ‘boy scout’ (Source …show more content…
He started out being squeaky clean, just having a pure good side. More recently he has been showing a dark side of his personality, which leaves us to think, who really is the good guy? The muted colors in his most recent costume (Source D) are a symbol to illustrate how dark his personality has become. He has had to show his dark side because our society has this dark side, a dark side we all have. Even though he isn’t human it shows how easy it is to fall to your dark side, and that it is ok if dealt with
The movie, Loving, directed by Jeff Nichols is based on a true story about Richard, and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple fighting for their rights to stay married, and be able to raise their family in the state of Virginia where in the 1950’s it was illegal to be married to a race other than your own. Richard Loving grew up in a small town called Caroline County in the state of Virginia, where he met Mildred and knew that he would do anything to be able to call Mildred his wife. Richard proposed to Mildred on an estate of land he bought for them to raise a family on one day. Mildred agrees to marry him, but unfortunately, they are aware that in the state of Virginia it is illegal for them to get married because of their anti-miscegenation law. They agree that they will go to Washington, D.C., where they will be able to become legally married. In 1958, Richard and Mildred Loving became legally married in Washington, D.C. When they return home to the State of Virginia they are harassed by the Caroline County police and thrown into jail because they got married outside of the state that they reside in, which is illegal in Virginia. Richard is set out on bail, but Mildred is forced to stay in jail for several more days. Richard and Mildred’s case was presented before a judge to decide the ramifications of their actions.
Educational systems in America are impaired, and the very educators that are meant to teach are the one’s pulling it down. That is the apparent message that Davis Guggenheim attempts to convey in his documentary “Waiting for Superman”. He uses many strategies to get his message across. Some of these include cartoons, children, and those reformers that are attempting to pull the system out of the ditch that it has found its way into. He makes his point very well, and uses facts and figures correctly. He does leave out some of the opinions of the opposing views, but it does not take away from his point that the educational system in America is in need of repair.
In conclusion my expectations were met because we all want to be a certain hero in our everyday lives but sometimes don’t know which one is actually the better and more positive one. Strength, power, intelligence, and authority are the most important things the outlaw hero and official hero will bring even if they are above a certain rule or really beneath it. Outlaws are not always the bad guys, but are not always the good guys either. In this case Batman is the good guy disguised as the bad guy. Official heroes are always the good guys no matter the circumstance. Superman in this case is the good guy disguised as the actual good guy. Being above the law or against it, official heroes and outlaw heroes will always paint the picture that you can be strong, powerful, intelligent, and have the authority you deserve.
On one end of the spectrum lays Superman, an alien who from birth is comparable to god, and on the opposite side lays Lex Luthor, a genius human who comes from nothing and created a financial empire. Superman
With reference to “Man of Steel” and “Superman 1”, Superman is much taller than Lois resulting in her constantly having to look up at him and having him shot with a low angle from the point-of-view shot of Lois Lane, having the effect of Superman seeming more powerful. Superman’s adoptive mother is also a stereotypical, stay at home mother while his adoptive father
Batman was created after Detective Comics (D.C.) wanted a new super hero to follow-up after Superman. In May of 1933, Bob Kane and Bill Finger created Batman. Bob was born on October 24, 1915 and died November 3, 1998. Bill was born February 8, 1914 and died January 1974. Bill always loved comics as a child and still when he went to high school at DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx New York. He and Bob went to the same high school but never socialized because they were in different classes. Bob meet Bill when Bill was working as a shoe salesman. They worked on many comics together for kids comic books and local newspapers. When they found out that Detective Comics (D.C.) wanted a new super hero they went to work. One day Bob came to Bill with a character, Batman. Bill liked the idea but said it looked too much like Superman. The original illustration had a Robin style mask and red outfit. So Bob took a Webster’s Dictionary and found a picture of a bat. He added bat ears to the mask, giving the full mask a more mysterious look. He changed the colors to black and yellow and added a cape that was cut like bat wings. When writing the comics Bill made Batman’s personality a...
The pressures of society and many factors against us can at times seem impossible to overcome, however, these limitations are only the ones we place on ourselves. Whether it’s during the adolescent years as Sherman Alexie explained in “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me”, about the struggles of overcoming the stigma bound by his culture where “A smart Indian is a dangerous person, widely feared and ridiculed by Indians and non-Indians alike”, as well as having the courage to break free for his own benefit. In addition, this theme was also explored in the later years of adulthood as demonstrated in Malcolm X’s essay, “Learning to Read” where he’d become so frustrated while kept in prison, unable to quite express himself as he did
Millar, Mark [w], Johnson, Dave and Plunkett, Kilian [p]. Superman: Red Son. California: DC Comics. 2003. Print
Shortly after Superman made his appearance in 1939, a noted psychologist by the name of William Moulton Marston wrote an article in Family Circle magazine, praising comic books. According to Les Daniels in Wonder Woman: The Complete History (Chronicle Books, 2000, pp. 22-24), his article caught the eye of M.C. Gains of DC Comics. Gains was so impressed by the article, he hired Marston into a new position at DC Comics. Within a year, at the urging of his wife, Marston set out to create a female superhero. By February 1941, Marston handed in his first script for ‘Suprema: The Wonder Woman.’ (We owe a debt of thanks to whoever dropped the Suprema.) Marston created a unique heroine, based loosely on Greek Mythology. Diana was the Princess of Paradise Island, a mystical place inhabited by Amazons. Her mother, Hippolyte (sometimes referred to as Hippolyta), Queen of the Amazons, wanted a child and petitioned the Goddesses of Olympus to give her one. She was instructed to sculpt a child from clay. When she was done, the...
Almost everybody knows something about Batman, from my Sunday school teacher (who confiscated my Batman comic book calling him ‘devilish’ and ‘violent’) to my little cousins who play the new Batman videogame incessantly. What many people fail to realize though is that the character of Batman has always been evolving, always being modified to fit the purposes of both the medium and the audience.
‘Mum, I want to watch Superman movie!’ ‘Okay, John, but you must finish your homework first,’ mum says. When we were small, we loved to watch superheroes movie and most of us used to imagine ourselves as our favorite superheroes. When we grow up, superhero movies become part of our lives. We all love superheroes because they made us feel save and secure. Some of us even worship them as God and we try to imitate them. For me, superhero movies are the best and I love to watch them very much. My favorite superhero movies are ‘Iron Man 3’ and ‘ The Dark Knight Rises’. Although both of them are superhero movies, there are few similarities and differences between them, which are the costumes, moral values, technology and also hero characteristic.
Waiting for Superman is a 2010 documentary that focuses on the wrongs and solutions to the education system that has been instilled in America. The film features Geoffrey Canada and his importance is obvious but at the same time completely obscured. Michelle Rhee takes a front in this documentary as both the hero and the villain, in the sense that in order to fix what has been wronged she has to make choices and decisions that others view as unnecessary. The documentary itself focuses on the lives of those the education systems has wrong which include 5 children (Anthony, Daisy, Francisco, Bianca and Emily) who in some way, shape, or form have need the education system to save them and give them the kind of education that they need. We follow
“The precise era of the Golden Age is disputed, though most agree that it was born with the launch of Superman in 1938.” (PBS) The tremendous success that Superman had created many spinoff superheroes such as Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Flash, who had superpowers and secret identities. One of these spinoffs was Captain America. Part of Timely Comics and created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, Captain America ended up being arguably the most popular superhero during the Golden Age.
However, this popularity has fluctuated throughout history. In the past few decades, demand for comics in the print media had been falling, in part due to the successes of other children 's media, such as cartoons. “Our biggest fear was that that audience was going to get to a point where we weren 't able to build it up again,” says Dan DiDio, co-publisher of DC Comics, “and a lot of what we do would be branded lost because there was nobody out there reading it" (Martin 14). Luckily, comic creators realized that the stories were perfect for screen adaptations: "they 're full of spectacle [and] adventure with an emotional arc for the hero. That 's what movies have always been about” (Humphries). The promise of lucrative merchandise sales and cross-promotion undoubtedly encouraged production, as well. Comic books were first adapted for television in the 40s and 50s, and met with huge success. Thus, superhero television programs set the stage for the inevitable point when comics took to the big screen with the first Superman movie in 1978 (Humphries). This cinematic moment ushered in a tricking of other superhero feature films, which eventually became the flood of superhero films that is taking place in the 21st