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Superhero movies cause brain rot istg https://twitter.com/ecareyo/status/1346711673558581248
Contrary to popular belief I don't think the desire for heroes is an American individualism problem, I think that's fairly human, to seek a clear and defined figure - be it a role model or a villain - in any situation. But superhero films are def a product of US corporations
and it is telling that an entire super-genre of media, one that is currently predominantly owned and produced by Disney, is now so hegemonic that we literally can't imagine leadership without editing them into an Avengers montage.
Chris Hayes once argued that the WWII films of the 90s paved the way for the always-support-our-troops jingoism of the Iraq War - recalling how Bush framed 9/11 as "Pearl Harbor" - and I'm tempted to expand that argument for the rise of Marvel in the 2000s-2010s and Trump.
I don't deny that the first Iron Man film has those messages, and it's not subtle, but ultimately what superhero films overall do is confirm the idea that single powerful, good individuals can combat systemic problems https://twitter.com/Gravel_OW/status/1346824654183403520?s=20
A friend of mine once said that superheroes are like bandaids on the giant gaping wounds in the world, but because bandaids are prettier and easier than surgery we're super into the bandaids
I'm not connecting Marvel movies to Trump because of American imperialism; I'm connecting Marvel movies to Trump because Trump's core message of "only I can fix it" is the fundamental superhero mindset, and a bunch of people were clearly vulnerable to that message
tagging @juncassis as the friend who said the bandaid thing
