Such crap!

love that the AP writers get to hide behind "The Associated Press" rather than sign a name to an article like this one. An article clearly written by someone who doesn't have even a basic understanding of comic book superheroes and how they have evolved over the past 40 years. Most superheroes are no longer the pristine, flawless archetype, like the old days of Superman and Captain America, who were all-conscience, no-doubts and who could, for all intents and purposes, do no wrong.

Case in point:
"The classic superhero is polished, brave and morally righteous. Strong and unerring, he is perfection personified -- a superhuman ideal.

Not this summer."

Anyone who is into comic books, or knows someone who is, knows that for decades they have been expounding on the human condition of many of the superhero characters they serialize. There have been countless "What Ifs" and Spin-offs of specific series and storylines, there have been new bad guys and new aspects of good guys. There have even been re-telling of entire stories from the beginning! And I don't even READ comic books! But I have at least four good friends who have been avid readers for years and I have picked all this up from them.

""Iron Man," which opens Friday, stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, a pompous, womanizing, hard-drinking genius whose superpowers come solely from a supercharged, weapons-filled suit he created from scratch. Without it, Stark is just another guy with issues -- not much of a stretch for the actor who's a veteran of both big screen and blotter."

Now THIS just pisses me off because they not-so-much imply as much as state, straight out, that the role of Tony Stark isn't much of a stretch for Robert Downey, Jr., since he has had so much trouble in his life.

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

Just because someone has experienced something doesn't make it any easier to recreate in a believable way. This is written by someone who has never performed an acting role in their life.

At least this ass prints explanatory quotes from people involved about why things have evolved as they have in comic superhero-land.

"Often the problem with superheroes isn't that they're too human, but that they're not human enough, says (Kevin) Feige of Marvel Studios."

"Superman is conventionally and traditionally a Boy Scout, and that's often what makes him very difficult to relate with," (Producer Akiva Goldsman) says. "We identify more with people who are broken, people who are damaged. Those are the heroes who stick with us, the ones who are imperfect despite all their gifts, because everyone feels imperfect."

"And when real life is so chaotic -- with war, a faltering economy, fears of terrorism and a threatened environment -- relatable superheroes are even more valuable," (Iron Man Director Jon) Favreau says.

"It's an abstract version of what our fears are, presented in a safe way, and we can be saved by a superhuman character," he says. "People want to see that type of thing when times are hard."

Echoes Goldsman: "The world is often troubling and we often look for heroes to save the day. If only."

I just wish the person signed their name so I could write back to them.

Whatever!

On the Not-A-Surprise front, Boss Guy is treating me like an idiot again. It seems like A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G I take initiative on, he has to change or modify or second-guess or just outright reject. I spent HOURS working on a PC distribution list for new PC's we just got. Trying to distribute them according to how people use them and what kind of power they need. Nope. The list we made A YEAR AGO when we got the last round of PCs is the one we are going with. That list leaves out a ton of people who really should be getting new PCs. What-the-fuck-ever. When people complain that they are not getting new PCs, that they are getting hand-me-downs that are 5 years old, I am going to point them right to Boss Guy and say he is "The Decider". Asshole. I'm a little pissed, can you tell?

Inspired by Jenny - American novels in high school

Posted to my LJ on March 31st, 2008 at 03:15 pm

So, after reading and replying to Anya today on her LJ post concerning American Literature and authors, I began remembering stuff I read and didn't read in high school, specifically American Literature. I remember that I did NOT have to read a lot of what other classes read. I was not in honors classes or AP, though I easily could have been (I just chose not to apply myself more - sad really....) But my classes just ended up not having to read a lot of those books you hear about everyone having to read and hating every second of it. I read quite a few that I loved, but some of the "classic" ones, I have never read to this day. Here's a list I found on, of all things, the INTERNET!! ;-)

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Never read it
The Scarlet Letter - Never read it
To Kill a Mockingbird - Read it, LOVED it, STILL love this book and the story makes me cry
The Red Badge of Courage - Never read it
The Great Gatsby - Never read it
The Grapes of Wrath - Never read it
Call of the Wild - I think I might have read this, memory of it hazy, might have read at home
Invisible Man: A Novel - Never read it
A Farewell to Arms - Never read it
Fahrenheit 451 - Never read it
1984 - Never read it
Catcher in the Rye - Never read it
A Separate Peace - Read it, loved this story too
Of Mice and Men - Read it, saw the play and the movie, love this story and hate it all at once
The Glass Menagerie - Read it, have ambivalent feelings about Tennesee Williams. His plays all have very screwed up women in them and that sits oddly with me.
Alive - Read it, was fascinated by it since it was true.
Death Of A Salesman - Read it, was not impressed, liked the play better.

We didn't do George Orwell, Ken Kesey (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), Stephen King, Jack Kerouac, John Irving, Hemingway, or any notable Science Fiction (Heinlein, Asimov, Vonnegut, etc.)

So did any of you read any of these in high school and did you like them, hate them? Did you read anything else that you liked, hated, etc?

We're on the subject of American Literature at this point. I may have to do one of these on British Literature, too.

Disclaimer: I am pretty sure most of them are by Americans, I may be off on one or two.