killing Zod was an 'in the moment' decision.
The DCEU Superman is not constantly miserable and mopey. (See the podcasts that were mentioned earlier by myself and @Enterpriserules).
DC Movies - To Infinity and Beyond
- Thread starter dahj
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killing Zod was an 'in the moment' decision.
The DCEU Superman is not constantly miserable and mopey. (See the podcasts that were mentioned earlier by myself and @Enterpriserules).
You got podcasts, I got Honest Trailers:
You got podcasts, I got Honest Trailers:
Parody is not remotely close to equaling actual discussion and analysis.
I'm not sure I could disagree more.
Whoah, that directly contradicts your previous comment.
It is actual discussion and analysis, with jokes. That video says everything worth saying about Man of Steel with perfect accuracy.
(Didja get to the "psycho" part? It's worth waiting for.)
That is reading too much into honest trailers--they make fun of every movie because no movie is perfect. It is satire. What is more they love to play on fanboy criticisms--doing that gets clicks--which is what they were doing in this trailer.
Devil's advocate:
It's a movie fundamentally about separating Superman from humanity, showing us how superior and above ordinary people he is, always would have been, and always will be by virtue of his birth. About turning him into an otherworldly messiah, rather than the best of US. Man of Steel doesn't make Superman look like a hero, it makes humanity look like his pets.
Everything good about Superman comes from his humanity, it's a part of you and me as much as it is him. His Kryptonian heritage gives him power, but his upbringing makes him a hero. Man of Steel forgets that. Or rather, has absolutely no interest in it. Hell, it goes out of it's way to actively refute it, repeatedly. All the Kent's give Clark is fear. His instincts are to help people, but Pa Kent not only tells him not to, he commits suicide in order to make sure the boy really gets it. It takes his Kryptonian daddy to bring him out of the shadows. Even his suit is just his alien birthright, complete with an alien symbol that he adopts as his standard.
Even the message of Zod's death is twisted. Physical strength, the ability to dominate your enemy, is the only true virtue. Superman doesn't win because of his morals, because of his dedication, because of he selflessness. He doesn't win because he's righteous, or virtuous. He wins because he's physically more capable than Zod, beats him into submission and then murders him. Might AS right. It's utterly, distressingly authoritarian.
My rebuttal (courtesy of The Lensman)
Also, this interpretation matches that of Luthor as expressed in BvS—it matches the goal of the filmmaker not at all.
I disagree. His shot framing suggests it's exactly what he intended. The way he builds his narrative suggests it's exactly what he intended. The fact that he continues those exact same trends in BvS suggests it's exactly what he intended. And that's before we even get to all the utterly nihilistic and authoritarian imagery rife throughout his works as a whole, all of which suggests, again, that it's exactly what he intended.
I'm not a hater of Man of Steel. It's not my favorite film, but I enjoyed it plenty on initial viewing. BvS really murdered this take on the character, for me. But I can absolutely see the valid criticisms of Man of Steel. It's the most dehumanizing take on Superman outside of an Elseworlds that I can recall. It wants to enforce some kind of "realism", which is honestly just code for setting it in a bleak and hopeless world.
It's as valid a take on Superman as any other, just not one that's ultimately to my taste.
I ran across a long and thoughtful post the other day on why some viewers embrace Snyderman so fervently. The writer's not a fan of the take, but he makes a good faith effort to noodle out WTF anybody sees in the guy:
Kind of sad if that's the case -- basically a Superman for people whose cynicism is so overwhelming they can't accept anything more hopeful -- but it's a plausible theory, and maybe even makes me sympathize a little with Snyderman's more passionate devotees.
(For any Superman fan, Mann's extensive blog is well worth exploring at length. And since his favorite screen Supermen are Hoechlin, Reeve, and Reeves, and his favorite Lois is Amy Adams, he's obviously an individual of exquisite perception and taste.)
https://davidmann95.tumblr.com/post/155057578741/i-think-i-figured-out-the-dceu-superman
Kind of sad if that's the case -- basically a Superman for people whose cynicism is so overwhelming they can't accept anything more hopeful -- but it's a plausible theory, and maybe even makes me sympathize a little with Snyderman's more passionate devotees.
(For any Superman fan, Mann's extensive blog is well worth exploring at length. And since his favorite screen Supermen are Hoechlin, Reeve, and Reeves, and his favorite Lois is Amy Adams, he's obviously an individual of exquisite perception and taste.)
That guy is wrong. He's entitled to his opinions, but he's wrong.
In order to stop sounding like a broken record by continually hyping Matt Rushing's commentary and that of his guests, I present the commentary of one Rebecca Johnson, co-host of the exceptional Supergirl Podcast:
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd283IzleAqe9MTtXEKI4Jovtn7ST1rEj
And also the JL Universe Podcast, to which the abovementioned Rebecca Johnson has been a frequent contributor:
https://jluniverse.podomatic.com
Dueling commentators, lol. You, me, Ovation. Evidently we're all tired of going in circles about this, so we've reached the point of, "Yeah, yeah, whatever, just read/watch/listen to this, knock yourself out." 
^ The point of citing Rebecca Johnson and JL Universe Podcast was to refute the notion that only deeply cynical people could possibly be fans of the DCEU's take on Superman.
..and as a counter, one could say those who fall to their knees to the Weisinger/Swan/Plastino/George Reeves version are hopelessly trying to see Superman as their Daddy/Uncle figure, which was not the creator's intent.
There comes a time where you can't keep going back to the "but 80 years ago, this was the intention" well, especially since that was the smallest fraction of his overall existence that every creator since then has ignored. The creator's intent doesn't matter even a little bit anymore, and hasn't for more than we've all been alive.
^ By your judgement, the fact DC made a clear effort to jettison the Weisinger/Swan/Plastino type of Superman over 50 years ago leads to the conclusion that their version does not mean a thing anymore, thus the more serious interpretations of the DCEU are valid for / speak to the age we live in.