Contexts; Essay Questionnaire
After discussing my Essay ideas in a group yesterday, I've further solidified the purpose and direction of my essay. Here was some of the main questions answered.
Essay Topic;
What caused the 2010's boom in Superhero movies? (And where it might be leading)
What is the Purpose of the essay:
To take a look at the development of Superhero culture at different points within the 20th and 21st Centuries, and propose connections with key political events and artistic movements that may have influenced people's interest in superheroes, and how they are portrayed.
What are your Big ideas/Key Theories:
Many Super-heroes have changed from their original incarnations, likely to better suit the changing values of our society. For instance, the 1940's/50's Captain America was a very different character to his modern adaption. This is a particularly interesting example because Captain America is the metaphorical embodiment of America in Super-hero form. Could the differences in his character be reflective of the differences in American society?
Different superheroes have been popular at different times. Why might Batman have risen to take the spotlight from Superman? Why is Iron man credited with the re-ignition of the current surge in super-hero media, and what might his rebellious, extroverted billionaire personality say about who we currently idolise? What about comparing him to Batman; another superpower-less billionaire who was much more reclusive and cynical.
What is the historical context of your discussion?
Whatever key movements, political events and popular culture coincided with periods in recent history where super-hero media was particularly popular.
What is your next step?
To research the history of superheroes. I should create a short document giving a brief overview of their history, and marking out some key periods where certain characters were created or surged in popularity. Then, I can start to look at the political, social and artistic circumstances of the times, and theorise about how these might have influenced it.
Essay Topic;
What caused the 2010's boom in Superhero movies? (And where it might be leading)
What is the Purpose of the essay:
To take a look at the development of Superhero culture at different points within the 20th and 21st Centuries, and propose connections with key political events and artistic movements that may have influenced people's interest in superheroes, and how they are portrayed.
What are your Big ideas/Key Theories:
Many Super-heroes have changed from their original incarnations, likely to better suit the changing values of our society. For instance, the 1940's/50's Captain America was a very different character to his modern adaption. This is a particularly interesting example because Captain America is the metaphorical embodiment of America in Super-hero form. Could the differences in his character be reflective of the differences in American society?
Different superheroes have been popular at different times. Why might Batman have risen to take the spotlight from Superman? Why is Iron man credited with the re-ignition of the current surge in super-hero media, and what might his rebellious, extroverted billionaire personality say about who we currently idolise? What about comparing him to Batman; another superpower-less billionaire who was much more reclusive and cynical.
What is the historical context of your discussion?
Whatever key movements, political events and popular culture coincided with periods in recent history where super-hero media was particularly popular.
What is your next step?
To research the history of superheroes. I should create a short document giving a brief overview of their history, and marking out some key periods where certain characters were created or surged in popularity. Then, I can start to look at the political, social and artistic circumstances of the times, and theorise about how these might have influenced it.
Yes - this is looking much resolved... but I think, given the 'short nature' of a 2000 word assignment (relatively speaking) it would benefit you to choose one super-hero and track it from inception to current iteration; if you try and cover too much, you'll dissipate your focus. For example, I'd suggest that 'Superman' poses a real issue now semantically, because he arguably represents 'The American Dream' and is therefore difficult to 'get right' for film-makers - as recent adaptations attest too; for example, Superman Returns, though neglected as a 'movie', represents a fascinating 'pivot' moment - the film even goes as far as dropping the 'American way' line from the the more usual 'truth, justice and the American Way...' line. Superman is also an immigrant - an alien - in Batman vs Superman who see Superman on trial in Congress... My instincts are that this hero might make for a fascinating and very focused study; of course, you can use Iron Man (for example) as part of this debate, because you could use Iron Man's cynical/ironical pose as evidence of our shift away from the values ascribed to the 'vanilla' Superman etc... anyway - broad point, use one thing to talk about many things, as opposed to many things to talk about many things...
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