Thursday, March 12, 2009

Q3 Superheroes v Masked heroes

Kristen asked:

Where does the line between a superhero and a masked hero lie?

We've all watched action flicks where the good guys run, jump, pummel and slaughter their way through untold enemies and scoffed at the unbelievability of it all but in the GN and the movie we saw it all again - yet, and especially in the GN, they always tried to draw a line between being masked and superIs it that they have superior training (did they have any training other than Laurie?), is it that the suit and mask created a sense of confidence, ability and strength that allowed them inhuman power? Is it that I am reading too much into something again and I should go with the flow?

3 comments:

Hettie Betty said...

Dan and Laurie still had their super strength and fighting ability unmasked when they were being mugged.
I was thinking last night that their downfall in superherodom was that they were too human. Dan with his schoolboy heroics made him seem pretty unsuper. The comedian and Rorshcack couldn't continue to 'save humanity from themselves' which essentially is what Veidt's plan did, because they got too caught up in thinking like a human and empathising with the lives lost and the human relationships they had built and would be lost. They were realising that they weren't super enough to continue. Yeah? I'm sucking down the caffiene today to make up for the late night, so this explanation is all off the top of my head. It made perfect sense last night...

Nic said...

Visually, from the film, I think it was a little over the top. I never got the feeling from the book that they were meant to be anything other than bad-ass fighters. Except Ozymandias who could catch bullets...hmm...

I want to read the book again! and then go see the movie again...

detecktive said...

I also think they went a bit over the top with the superhuman aspect of the characters, it did take away a little bit from their humanity. At least the bullet actually went into Ozymandias' hand.