tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905155363976375938.post7789689531181624084..comments2024-03-21T22:36:54.451-04:00Comments on HISTORIES OF THINGS TO COME: Hallowe'en Countdown 18: DCnU and the Superman CurseLC Douglasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04250961297714038453noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905155363976375938.post-70813682671895781352011-10-15T11:46:28.387-04:002011-10-15T11:46:28.387-04:00I'm reproducing a comment from the post on DC&...I'm reproducing a comment from the post on DC's Titans heroines here, since it applies to both posts<br />http://historiesofthingstocome.blogspot.com/2011/09/reflections-on-revolving-door-of-death.html?showComment=1318693273453#c3744790958975195301<br /><br />I could say simply that DC only is focusing on profits, or I could talk about how curses are just coincidences, but actually it goes way past that. There are mysteries in this world, and one of them is the basic fact that created works of art have a life of their own once they are created. But they still reflect the motivations of their creators. It's like the Mona Lisa smile.<br /><br />Sometimes the power of the story goes beyond continuity or even characterization. I pointed that out in my continuity for Terra on this blog. No matter what they do to that character, there is something about her that weirdly asks for another story to be told about her, and perhaps a different story. That's a very interesting phenomenon. <br /><br />It's the independent dynamic of the narrative, something that no creator or editor can control. DCnU is like the Judas Contract writ large: an attempt to force a whole fictional world into a preconceived box. <br /><br />But any artistic work has a life of its own. I'm interested in finding out if there's something in Superman that is similar, especially because he is the heart of the DCU. Maybe, no matter what they are going to do to him in the DCnU, something at the core of his story, the feelings he inspires, the heroism he represents, exists beyond the current editors and writers.<br /><br />So I'm not talking so much about a literal curse, but the metafictional level at which the motivations of the creators, the response of the readers, the lawsuit - all converge. But what comes out of that may depend on what Siegel and Shuster originally invested in the character, grief and fear, courage, a nugget of hope for something better.<br /><br />I think that these characters are incredibly powerful symbols and archetypes. The powers that be at DC can do all kinds of crazy things to them, but the stories will be here long, long after DC no longer exists and we are all gone. <br /><br />In the short term, I want to see if that eternal part to the narrative of these powerful heroes will reassert some baseline and if so, where that pressure on DC will come from. And as for the current choices of DC's editorial execs, they may serve a purpose, because they will show what happens when all the stops are pulled. It's going to be a path through total creative chaos, and the more they try to control it, the more it will slip away from them.<br /><br />Kory and what they did to her is part of that chaos; they were genuinely surprised by the reaction to that. But if they continue with this sex, hyperviolence and gore formula, it is not going to make Kory into a shell. Everyone worth their salt knows what Starfire really is. Thus, in a way, she is unaffected by their poor decisions. Perhaps the only way to show the vacuum in the DCnU, though, is for the heroes to reflect it, loud and clear. <br /><br />I should add further that even if the core heroism of the heroes won't be altered by whatever DC does to them, that doesn't mean that what they do (say, ruining Terra, or Kory, or Raven or Donna) doesn't have consequences. Just because something can be done, just because the rules can be broken, doesn't mean there won't be an aftermath.<br /><br />Imagine if a vandal took a knife to the Mona Lisa painting (God forbid). The power of that painting will always be acknowledged and just because someone marred it, it wouldn't make the Mona Lisa 'ugly' or any less fascinating. It would likely renew interest in the painting, create outrage and upset, and make people realize much more deeply what the mystery of the Mona Lisa is and how much it is worth to us. I think a similar thing can be said for the female Titans and the other DC characters. It's pop culture, but the same rules apply.LC Douglasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04250961297714038453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905155363976375938.post-32608422369731362632011-10-15T00:57:52.886-04:002011-10-15T00:57:52.886-04:00I should add that if there is a Nietzschean Ueberm...I should add that if there is a Nietzschean Uebermensch, it's Lex Luthor.LC Douglasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04250961297714038453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905155363976375938.post-70179813153349850382011-10-15T00:55:19.150-04:002011-10-15T00:55:19.150-04:00Of course the concept of Uebermensch predates the ...Of course the concept of Uebermensch predates the Nazis. <br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Cbermensch<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thus_Spoke_Zarathustra<br /><br />I don't think they were reading Nietzsche, but who knows? Brad Meltzer has explained it somehow in his new book. I haven't looked at it, but if I do, I'll follow up on this. The origins of Superman seem like a relevant topic right now.<br /><br />Chris Knowles says that Superman is a firmly Jewish messianic figure. And the symbolism that surrounds him, much of which was added later, is masonic.LC Douglasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04250961297714038453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2905155363976375938.post-73202603068913966822011-10-14T23:37:35.132-04:002011-10-14T23:37:35.132-04:00Oh, when you posted the Siegel quote before, I did...Oh, when you posted the Siegel quote before, I didn't realize that was the origin of the curse. Also the exact reasons why they created the character were new to me. I thought it was to take the Nazi notion of the 'superman' and turn it on it's head. -JAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com