ARE ICONIC PORTRAYALS GOOD FOR STORYTELLING?

-


I love superhero movies like I love breathing: they are integral to my life. I love watching people with strange powers flit across the screen, displaying their abilities and using them for the greater good of mankind, as they also struggle to fit in with the same mankind. I also love their villains, albeit cartoonish, because they need a challenge to their supposed superiority.

One of these heroes is Superman: THE superhero. almost every young boy out there dreamt of being a superhero just like him, as he stood tall and strong in stature and his ideals.


 

Now, I wasn’t born in the 70’s or the 80’s, so the only portrayals I knew was that of Tim Daly in the Adventures of Superman, Dean Cain in Lois & Clark, Tom Welling in Smallville and Henry Cavill in Man of Steel. I single out Brandon Routh in Superman Returns because, as I’ve been told, he was meant to mirror Christoper Reeves’ version, which many regard as the template of what Superman should be like.


Agreed, he was great in it, and I understand why people look up to his portrayal. But it got me thinking: should all actors portray Superman just like him? Really, should they?

A bit further down the rabbit hole and I got myself wondering why so many performances have to mirror previous reincarnations of the same character. Is it homage to the actor? Respect to the fans, who grew up watching that portrayal? I mean, if this new one is close to the source material, then should it really matter if it’s just like its predecessor?

I feel as though a story is often hampered by its begrudging decision to pay homage to a certain characterization. There, I’ve said it.


I liked Man of Steel, I really did, but I couldn’t understand why people would say things like “He’s too serious, Superman shouldn’t kill, That’s not who I knew as Superman.” Justifiable as their concerns were(after all, they were long time fans before), I chose to look at it from the story’s point of view. What other choice did he have to end General Zod’s newfound mission to wipe out Earth? Also, should he have gotten permits to ram through the buildings before or after?

It may seem like I’m droning on, but I believe that a portrayal of a long existing character should be as unique as the actor. No two performances can be the same, and they shouldn’t be. For as long as they are faithful to the source material (if applicable), the story is told well and is engaging enough, then what does it matter if it doesn’t look like the one you grew up with?


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

GOOD FOR THE SOUL

-
Image
  PART 1:  MY SUNDAY BEST PART 2:  MEMORY LANE He had come to enjoy the whoosh of speeding cars on the highway, rushing to beat the traffic light, only to have the police officer march across the road with his hands raised in the air, almost triumphant in his quest to increase traffic. He smiled at him as he walked across, beaming at the pained motorists who glared at him as he strolled across with Patricia. “This is a much longer route to the stage,” she said. “It’s the safer one,” he told her, reaching into his pocket to remove a coin, which he gave the child extending her arm towards him, her mother seated behind her, urging her on. “You know they might use it to buy drugs, right?” Patricia asked him. “Really? A mother and daughter on the streets?” “Why not? Haven’t you heard of people who’ve bought entire plots of land from begging alone?” “I have, but still…” “You’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, won’t you?” she asked. He simply shrugged, not wanting to get int
Read more

SHEPHERD'S LOT

-
Image
The rooster ran out of the coop, jumped onto the pole, and puffing its chest out, cried out to the twilight heavens with all its might. Then, it looked down at the sleeping village, looked up, and cried out again just as the group was leaving its gates towards the Ung’ Mountains, where the sun nearly woke. At the front was their leader, an elder dressed in an ornamental robe and a golden, sculptural staff in his right hand supporting him when his shorter right peg failed him. Trailing him were five pre-adolescent children, who were all too eager to see ‘it’. “How does he know of it?” one girl, Shua whispered to her friend Kip. “He said he had taken many people there,” Kip replied. “Did he always dress like that?” another girl, Nanda, asked Shua as they giggled. “Maybe he’s a priest? You know those of the…” “The Old Order,” the elder said, tapping his staff on the ground and turning to address them. “No, I am not one. I am, or was, just a traveler who happened across it.”
Read more

A LIGHT FOR THE WORLD

-
Image
There was a time in history when man and his creator lived in harmony. Father, as they called the deity, would descend from the silver sphere in the sky he called home and spend time with his creation, teaching them how to farm and hunt, and occasionally entertain their children with games and stories. Every night, he ensured they were all in bed, after which he would go back to the sphere in the clouds. Eventually, some of the people began to wonder what was up there. Some thought he was going to another home much like theirs, yet others believed there was an expansive universe in there, while others thought he might have other children of his own. But they didn’t dare ask Father, lest they bite the hand that feeds them. However, there was a family that was determined to satisfy their curiosity, so one night, after he had tucked them all in and turned to go home, they woke up and peeked at the deity from afar. They watched him walk majestically down the valley, cross the r
Read more