Tag: Superman

I just watched Super/Man…

Posted on by CV Whitfield

… and this film was a massive pull on the heart.

Superman is my favorite super-hero. I have 1000s of Superman comic books. It’s possible the reason this true because I saw Superman: The Movie in 1978 when I was six-years-old. I have faded memories of reading the comics at my grandmothers house, lying in the floor with the air conditioner blowing cool air over me and the comic pages. I remember holding the pages down so they didn’t turn on their own. I also have a memories of gazing at an image from the movie (the one below) and wishing there was a real Superman. I even prayed and wished I could be Superman.

To say, this film impacted my life is an overstatement. I bought the trading cards, the comic books, the soundtrack on vinyl and recorded the moving off the ABC Sunday Night Movies on VHS. I still have the VHS tape and the movie is in rough shape as I know I wore out that magnetic tape long ago. I recently found a digital copy of that ABC screening (it had scenes that weren’t in the theatrical cut) and watch it once a year.

So, back to the Christopher Reeve story. It saddened me in 1995 when Christopher Reeve suffered his riding accident that nearly took his life. I prayed he would recover. I’d be dishonest if I didn’t wish his recovery was because I wanted him to return to the role. Most of us comic geeks hoped that he’d return and maybe even team up with Michael Keaton in a cross over movie. It was just fan boy fantasies as movies like that weren’t as common as they are now.

I think the film brings great awareness of his life and struggles. I learned much about the man behind the Superman that I didn’t know. I also hope that the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation continue to fund medical research to hopefully find a remedy to spinal cord injuries. To see what Christopher went through was hard. He may not have had the physical strength of Superman but he had the determination and bravery of Superman. To see his children remember those horrifying days and years of recovery brought tears to my own eyes.

If you get an opportunity to watch the film and I insist you do see this documentary, you’ll see that Christopher Reeve had the support of many Hollywood celebrities, premier politicians and even some Presidents of the United States. A bill was even signed into law by President Barrack Obama to set aside roughly $150 Million dollars to do more research into spinal cord injuries. And I tried hard not to bring my own jaded emotions to this part of the film.

I know I’m cynical and as I get older it doesn’t get any better. So, we have something that impacts thousands of Americans, millions of people worldwide, and the US Government only sets aside $100 million bucks?! Why isn’t this more. Especially when we send billions to other nations. We sent $100 Billion dollars to the Ukraine alone in the last year. So yes, this is why I look at Congress and that President with disdain. It disgusts me that they send that kind of money funding a war that doesn’t benefit us. And they praise and expect us to cheer and give standing ovations because they got a minor $100 Million dollars for something thats much more important than foreign wars that shouldn’t have happened in the first place. (Ok, enough of the politics!)

But you’ll now understand why I have little faith in our respected leaders.

Please go see this documentary. Please donate money to the cause.

Be a Superman!

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Common Courtesy and Respect….

Posted on by CV Whitfield

So, part of the community here is to share life experiences that may occur from day to day.   This is one of them…

I went to the local comic book store to pick up a comic book. I’ll be honest I once read and collected dozens of titles and acquired thousands of books over the past 30+ years.  Yet, now it’s down to just one title.  Yep!  Just one title. G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero by Larry Hama. Why? I have every issue since #1 and its my most beloved series from childhood. Honestly, today’s comics just don’t interest me.  Not to say that I’m not still very interested in characters like Batman, Superman and Spider-man.  I’m just tired of the crappy writing by writers pushing a narrative of social justice than tell a good story.  That’s probably no news to you fine folks. 

So, as I was leaving the comic shop, my wife and I notice there’s a UPS truck blocking our car.   This UPS truck just parked behind 3 cars that were parked in front of the store.  I made a sly comment that “I guess we aren’t going anyway right now.”  We got in the car, turned on the air conditioning and sipped our Starbucks.  We waited. And we waited.  At this point 10-15 minutes has passed. So I step out and approach the UPS truck.  I say, “excuse me” and a woman pops out from the back and says, “yeah.”   I politely ask if she could “move her truck as she’s blocking us in and we’d (my wife and I) like to leave and go.”  This very large woman struggling with some large boxes replies, “Not right now I have all these boxes.”   I was just left stunned. She had no consideration for me or my time.  I quickly replied, “we’d like to leave, just move the truck please..”  She proceeded to ignore me and continue to load the boxes on a dolly.  I admit this lit my Irish temper and I quickly responded, “Thanks for your rudeness and being a b!#ch about it.”   Then, I said, I hope “you like complaints made on your behalf to UPS.”   I sat in the car, called UPS and left a complaint and detail of the situation while she took her time finishing making her delivery to the very same comic shop I just bought my comic.   (Not sure what the shop ordered to literally get about 27 large boxes?).   Then, get this … here’s the capper!  She gets in the truck and pulls in to the larger parking lot to the west of the storefront and just parks.   I was quick to pull up to her and yell, “you might get called in the boss’ office later.  You might want to find another job!”  There may have been some hand jesters and language. Again I blame my Irish temper.  She just looked at me like she did nothing wrong!

Now, let me defend myself here.  If the lady, had replied with, “Sure, give me a second. And actually stopped loading the boxes and moved the truck (literally pulling it forward or backward 10 feet), I would have said “thank you” and smiled while waving “have a good day!”   So, this individual has no awareness of common courtesy and respect for others.  This is something I see much more lately in the city.  Especially from professional services and businesses.  People tell me that doesn’t happen in small towns but perhaps I’m cynical and don’t believe it.  I feel people just want to be jerks and selfish.   Is there hope for society?  Is it time to just move to nowhere?   

Please reflect.  Realize there’s other people in the world and you’re not the only one occupying space and breathing the air.  We can all be nice to one another . Be kind and humble.   Thats my with for today.  🙂 

Take Care!

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World’s Finest: analysis.

Posted on by CV Whitfield

So, I wrote how history was different in the mid 90s and we had the awesome luck to have a Superman and Batman movie in 1995 with Christopher Reeve and Michael Keaton. The geek world would have truly rejoiced if that had happened nearly 25 years ago.

Yet, I also want to point out that the movie back then would have been completely different than what we finally got in 2016. It would have been a positive and heroic journey – a team-up in every sense of the term. Back then, we wanted movies that inspired. Movies to look up to. We wanted reassurance that the world is still great – where good defeated evil. Our super-heroes were symbols of hope and perfection. They were role-models. We wished we could be like them. Superman was super because he didn’t represent the stereotypes but instead represented righteousness. The character taught us morals and ethics. Then, this changed….

Somehow, the studio (publisher too) in charge of our favorite characters (more specifically my favorite character: Superman) needed to be part of the modern status quo. He/Them is/are flawed. Superman needed to have inner demons. He needed to question everything and everyone around him. Johnathan Kent thought him he couldn’t trust anyone so why would anyone trust him, and vice versa. We got a Superman in the post 9/11 world (you know, where parents sue the Kents because Clark could have endangered lives when he actually saved them. No one blames the tire. Or the guys at the garage for putting faulty tires on the bus. The parents should be thankful instead they call him out. It’s not a positive scene anyway you look at it.) This is a world where Superman should be feared. A Superman with all due respect was not super. This disappointed fans. They even tried to force feed us hope stating his S was Kryptonian for the very word. (Not just a family crest but a perfect time for some moral lessons). Superman wasn’t there to save kittens from trees and stop jewel thieves. Instead he was running from his destiny. How’s that sending a message of hope? Oh well.

Batman was now introduced not as a dark, lone vigilante but an aging cynical man that feared Superman. Not only fear him, but to blame him for the rain of destruction on Metropolis or more specifically the Wayne Building in Metropolos (say what? That’s convenient). The entire point of Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman was for everyone (not just the characters in the film but the audience) to fear Superman. Why? Is it just the time we’re in today or does someone think that he’s more interesting as flawed, unpredictable, scary, powerful alien. In Superman II (1980), Superman battled General Zod (and his henchman). That Metropolis had its citizens cheering Superman, supporting the fight even though it was causing millions in property damage. Heck, they even tried to take on Zod when they thought Zod had killed him. In the new version, citizens of Metropolis are blaming Superman for bringing evil to our planet. They blame him for wrecking the city – they demand justice. They are inconvenienced. They have no loyalty. Everyone seems out for themselves. It’s a world where they demand security but forgot that it takes people to risk their lives for it. They forget how Superman is there to unite – to save them. Now, it’s politics and pointing fingers. We can’t just have simple heroes anymore. No. We must be skeptical. We must reject the ideology. We have lost faith in truth, justice and the American way!

The 1980s (filmatically) was an era of hope and positive community. The movies were fun. They made us laugh. They made us cry. They were great movies because we’re still talking about them to this day. I just feel like the post 2010 movies are more about dividing and trying to direct blame at our faults than working together to over come them. Maybe its just me but I felt we’ve definitely lost something not only in society, our culture, but our pop-culture too. I’m curious if anyone in 20 plus years will be still talking about Man of Steel or Justice League. They may be it wont be the same….

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Worlds Finest.

Posted on by CV Whitfield

So, let’s pretend that history was slightly different.

It’s 1990. The world has just experienced Batman as a big budget (and dark) movie masterpiece. Fans are rejoicing and dancing in the streets. We’ve not been this excited since …. well, I don’t know…. but its BIG!

The intelligent minds and businessmen at Warner Brothers green light a sequel. Duh. Who wouldn’t, right? So work begins immediately on the next chapter. They call it Batman Returns. (Not sure why this was the title since its not like he went anywhere. Maybe they could have called it Batman Strikes Back. Nah, what’s he striking back at? It’s not like he lost at the end of the first movie. Maybe, Batman Again! Yeah, we get Batman AGAIN! That’s kinda dumb. It’s the title that doesn’t so much refer to the movie itself but to the audience to tell us, “hey! Batman RETURNS!!! Go buy tickets!”) [back on topic] The movie starts production but there’s one tiny difference….

Batman saves Gotham again. Bruce Wayne finds a stray black cat and he thinks of Catwoman with one life left. We pan up to see the Bat Signal and Catwoman pop her head up. Then the clouds of the signal are broken by something zooming through them. We cut to the credits. After a couple minutes the credits are interrupted – fade in to Wayne Manner. The Batmobile blasts out of the Batcave. A blur of red and blue flies into the frame and block the Batmobile – which slams on the bat brakes! We cut back to the thing blocking Batman’s path – It’s SUPERMAN! Christopher Reeve’s Superman. His blue eyes look down at the Batmobile as the roof slides open to see Batman poking his head out. Wide shot of Superman and Batman. Superman speaks, “Batman – or should I say Bruce Wayne (x-ray vision folks) – I need your help in Metropolis. I’ve got a problem right up your alley. See, there’s this little problem with an old Kryptonian computer….” Cut back to the credits. Fade out.

The style is beyond its time. But don’t discard it. Let’s also move forward on the assumption Superman III never happened in 1983 (or the bad Superman IV: Quest for Peace in 1987). Because the original story plot for Superman III was meant to be a story about Brainiac but due to budget constraints and a studio that demanded Richard Pryor be in a Superman film, we got what we…got. Warner Bros. begins production on the next block buster super-hero movie for release in 1995. The title: WORLD’S FINEST: Superman & Batman. Today, you could have just stuck to World’s Finest, but in the 80/90s you had to put the characters in the title or no one would know it was a Superman and Batman movie.

1995. World’s Finest opens starring Christopher Reeve and Michael Keaton in a double bill, and the fans go crazy. The movie breaks records. It destroys the 1993 record for Jurassic Park. Revolutionary special effects from Industiral Light & Magic creates a marvoulous Brainaic. Batman works to hack into the system and manipulate the ex-Kyptonian computer program. And Superman flies in just at the right moment to fling Brainaic and his ship toward the Sun! It sets up for a new status quo for super-hero films. And the world rejoices!

Oh I wish that were the way things went. Fanboys have always dreamt of a Reeve/Keaton team-up. It would have been stunning….it would have been legendary!

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