Tuesday, May 27, 2014

The She-Hulk/David Goyer Saga and why it pays to think before you speak

A recent uproar in comic book fan circles came about due to a podcast that had a group panel discussion where screenwriter David Goyer made some incredibly rude remarks about the Marvel Comic super heroine She-Hulk, saying that she was created in order to provide certain services to the Incredible Hulk and I don't mean asking him if he wants fries with his order.

Goyer also said a few disparaging things about the DC Comics character Martian Manhunter, which caused some concern as well since not only he is on board for the upcoming Superman Vs. Batman movie but possibly a MM movie as well.

 In addition, since Wonder Woman is planned to be part of the S/B film(subtitled "Dark Justice"), you can understand why fans would be concerned about having a writer who thinks it's funny to call a strong superheroine like She-Hulk a "big green porn star" and it didn't help that the host of the podcast joked that her real name was "Slut-Hulk".

You guys do know that She-Hulk is Bruce Banner's cousin, right? Not to mention that she's a lawyer who has been a member of several superhero teams, including The Avengers(imagine She-Hulk and Black Widow in their own movie, how awesome would that be?).  I think you ought to know a little something about these characters that you're talking about, especially Goyer whose job it is to write about them. Doing your homework doesn't hurt, that's all I'm saying:


Now, there are some who insist that these remarks were "only a joke,geez!" and not to get on Goyer's case here. However, listening and/or reading his comments, you can't help but sense a disdain on his part about the audience for this genre by implying, for one thing, that only non sexually active people are invested in this kind of thing.

 For a man who has written screen adaptations for both Marvel and DC characters ( Blade,Ghost Writer and Batman to name a few) to be quick to sneer at the folks who provide his bread and butter is rather telling to me. If you're not happy in your work, sir, perhaps you need to take a break from it. I'm not saying he shouldn't work in this field at all but maybe he's feeling a bit burned out at this point, which is understandable.

By using your verbal powers for an easy laugh, you only make yourself look bad in the process as well as appear uninformed about this genre, something that even casual fans are fast to pick up on. If there is a dream project that you've had to hold off on due to this current workload, you might want to take time off and recharge your creative batteries by making that long awaited vision come to life. I may be way off the mark but that is what my spider sense is telling me:



And I wasn't kidding about the greatness of a Black Widow/She-Hulk movie. Frankly, I think that there's a better chance of that happening that any decent version of Wonder Woman hitting the big screen within the next few years.

Black Widow has so far appeared in three Marvel outings(and is set to be in the next Avengers movie) with possible plans for her to have a solo movie sometime soon. In all three films, she has been portrayed well, thanks to actress Scarlett Johansson and the scripts which showcase the strength and savvy of the character as she is written in the original comics.

Having Black Widow and She-Hulk to work together to save the day would be like having gourmet peanut butter and high powered fruit spread, as both ladies have much in common with their impressive fighting skills, sharp wits and being willing to use certain stereotypes as weapons against their enemies:


 What really troubles me about all of this is the sexism and while there are more real world discussions about this topic going on right now, in my opinion it is important to note the influence of pop culture on this still ongoing problem in society.

I am not calling for films,books or any other entertainment format to be a moral soapbox on this matter but it would help greatly to have more powerful and positive depictions of female characters in the sci-fi/fantasy genre getting as much attention for their personalities as they do for the fit of their costumes.

Believe it or not,Hollywood, there are both men and women out there who would find a strong,smart and sexy female lead to be just as exciting as any male action star and yes, if done right, you can make some decent bank from that. Take a lesson from Batman Returns,folks-Catwoman is what made that film so amazingly awesome and if they had been smart enough to get Michelle Pfeiffer (along with a well written screenplay) for a solo movie, she would've rivaled Batman himself as a star in the DC Comics film universe. Instead, we got the unholy mess that was the Halle Berry Catwoman film.

Marvel goofed up on this front too, with the Elektra movie but they seemed to have learned from that experience while DC is still dragging it's feet towards even getting Wonder Woman on any screen, big or small. You need to do better by your audience,Hollywood, because the box office payback in the long run will truly be a bitch:


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