this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2023
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Avengers: defenders of the status quo
I think comics and the movies are afraid to change the baseline world too much because then it'd be less relatable and require more explanation. Part of the fantasy is imagining super heros in our world. That becomes difficult if the baseline world of the comics and movies is drastically different.
That being said, I'm sure the MCU hugely sanitizes it's messages. For example, their solution to systematic racism in falcon and the winter soldier was a just a speech saying to do better.
But it's really fucked up that they never change anything. Fortunately for the viewer every "villain" kicks a puppy at some point making every social criticism invalid.
Seriously. I guess compelling villain now just means objectively right, with a side of mass murdering innocents.
Neither of these characters are currently on the Avengers. Spiderman only was during Bendis New Avengers run but has never been a traditional part of the line up.
Sorry, Superheroes: defenders of the status quo
Edit: for more info please read "The utopia of Rules" by David Graeber
That's alright, I'll just keep reading comics and enjoying them instead rather than sucking the fun out of everything.
I guess it depends on what you consider fun. I can enjoy reading Heinlein or Clancy even when I don't agree with their biases, even when I see prejudices pervasive for the era.
But even the need for escapism is telling, since it implies what we're escaping from. It's much like the rap genres that talk about having extravagant amount of wealth and women, and the suffering to which that appeals is palpable.
Beating the tar out of the bad guy, or seeking some heinous bastard get shot in the face by Bruce Willis appeals to the same thing that true crime fiction does (police procedurals: Dragnet, Law and Order, anything by Dick Wolf) they reassure us that justice gets done. Even if by a brightly colored fantasy vigilante. Or in the latter case, that justice is meticulously fair and impartial, and still gets its man.