Misunderstood mythology of superheroes by Bea
MoS and BvS were (and still are) an incredible experience for me – I love these movies more with every viewing. The impact was so strong that I cannot stop thinking about BvS even now, two years after its release. I was bursting with so many thoughts and emotions that it was extremely difficult for me to force myself not to think (and get emotional) about it for many months. As a result, I had become a nuisance to my family and was forbidden to talk about the movie (my husband and daughters like it too, but it was too much for them), so I joined the fandom to share my love and discuss the movies with other fans. BvS inspired me greatly in my work (philosophical discussions with science students), giving me new ideas how to approach the subject of our humanity, responsibility, and importance of choices we make (11). The ”Martha scene” has been relentlessly mocked and ridiculed for two years by many people but for others it was a meaningful culmination of the important theme and profound emotional experience, reminding us about the roots of our humanity (12).
The popular narrative wants us to believe that nobody liked BvS. I find it extremely sad, because this false narrative is supported and ardently spread by the staggering number of professional entertainment journalists and critics (using the universal quantifier, no less!). I will provide several examples as a proof of the falsity of this claim.
I’m not the only person who has been impacted strongly by MoS and BvS. There are many people all over the world for whom it was an amazing, incredible, uplifting, and life-changing experience. These movies are extremely special to many people as the source of motivation and inspiration, cheering them up when they are down. They inspired people in their own artistic endeavors, changed the way they look at movies and art in general or made people fall in love with cinema. They influenced the way they see the world and induced them to be more critical, making them more immune to various forms of propaganda. Many people see these movies (especially BvS) as life altering because they challenged them to rethink many aspects of their lives and be more honest with themselves, to grow intellectually and emotionally. These movies has become a part of of us as people. That’s why they are so special.
One of the fans wrote on tumblr:
“man of steel, and now batman v superman, have moved me in ways no other films ever have. that’s obviously an unpopular opinion, but not a wholly unique one. I’m not the only one who barely blinked throughout the movie, I’m not the only one who had my hand over my mouth for a good third of the running time, I’m not the only one who found themselves going ‘holy shit, I can’t believe this is happening, I can’t believe this is actually playing out this way and I’m here to witness it’. I’m not the only one who wept. so yes, some people hate this movie, and they’re allowed to, and I’m not going to sit here and try to pick apart the reasons for it, because frankly I don’t care. what I know is that this film moved me to tears more than once, it made me think more deeply about these characters than I ever have, it played out exactly as I expected based on my knowledge of the comics but still managed to surprise me in several wonderful ways, it called into question all the conventions of comic book/superhero films, it was ambitious and bombastic and it was mythic as hell. I know that I loved it wholeheartedly. and mostly I just wish the people who didn’t would stop being so utterly dismissive. there is an audience for this film, there is an entire generation that’s ready for new and complex and challenging versions of these characters, there are people who came away from this movie feeling nothing but joy and exhilaration. if that doesn’t describe you, okay. but can we stop pretending it didn’t happen to anyone at all? (13). ”I saw Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice for the third time at four p.m. on a Saturday afternoon. I went alone, knowing that everyone I knew who had any interest in superhero movies had already seen it, and I chose a matinee, hoping I would have the place almost entirely to myself. I have yet to make it through this film without weeping openly, and while I find it cathartic, I don’t especially love crying in public. There were maybe fifteen other people in the theatre. I sat at the very back, and for two and a half hours, I was transported. That feeling I had the first time, of sheer exhilaration that I exist in the same moment as this particular story, that feeling doesn’t go away, it only grows. It’s not unusual for me to watch things more than once, but before this I had never been so struck by a movie that I felt like I had to go see it by myself.” (14).
Zack Snyder movies that are dismissed by many as garbage, the worst ever or strenuously empty (form over substance) movies have made a genuine change in the lives of many people, sometimes even saving them. They helped people who struggled with isolation, social anxiety, depression and other serious illnesses to find strength in the fight against them (15). Two more personal confessions I want to mention were shared on Zack Snyder’s birthday.