:: Captain's Personal Blog ::

Stardate: Friday, November 19, 2004

Tearing down all my heroes

I'm pissed. I mean REALLY pissed. Not quite sure why, so let me attempt to articulate this.

For some reason, it seems to be a growing trend in all my favorite franchises to re-write history and make all the central heroes, well, less heroic.

In the grand scheme of things, there are more important things to be angry about, but this is my current soapbox.

My first example is SUPERMAN. Yes, he is a favorite subject of mine, and he fits this situation better than any other franchise I can think of.

The biggest criminal in this farce would have to be none other than Elliot S! Maggin. Let me be clear on something here: I like the guy. His stories in SUPERMAN #400 were among my favorite from the Pre-Crisis SUPERMAN. One of the premiere SUPERMAN sites on the Internet lays great praise on him and his works. A great site. Very informative. But you do get the occasional feeling that there are those there who look upon him as the SUPERMAN MESSIAH.

The fact of the matter is, while he may have a great respect for the character, he has conspired to tear down the very fiber of what makes SUPERMAN heroic, and the people at this site seem to cheer him on, not realizing it for what it is.

After all that, it's time to get specific. I have been reading the trade paperback collection of MARK WAID's SUPERMAN: BIRTHRIGHT. For those who are unaware, this is the 12-part maxi-series that WAID wrote for DC Comics, that they have taken as the NEW ORIGIN of SUPERMAN, and official canon.

In it, CLARK KENT writes the following to his mother in an e-mail:

"The animals here... I wish you could see them through my eyes._ We've talked about this before. Living things have a kind of glow around them. They're surrounded in a halo of colors I'd invent names for if I weren't the only one who could make them out._ I'm not sure if that halo is a soul or an aura or what. I do know that at the end of the life cycle, it fades pretty quickly, and what's left behind is... hard to look at. Empty in a way that leaves me empty too. But when it's there... my God, how it shines. (I know that information's not very helpful when you're trying to explain to cattle farmer Grandpa why your son's a vegetarian, but...)_"

Now later, he befriends a man, and watches him die. Through his eyes, we see the glow die out, and the body go dark. We see Clark cry......

Is all this bad? Sort of. It's a great read. It's a nice concept. But it removes the nobility of the character. Why?

This "special sight" is, most probably, the PREDOMINANT reason why SUPERMAN saves people's lives. This special light/glow/aura, it's beautiful, and with all beautiful things, it is heartbreaking to see them end. So he is motivated because he can literally see the beauty in life.

The (just for example) JOHN BYRNE era SUPERMAN (who I only speak of because I can speak in definites here, and for NO OTHER REASON of preference) saved people because he knew it was the right thing to do. No, he didn't LITERALLY see the beauty of life, he KNEW the beauty of life and the sanctity of it and protected it because it was what he FELT was the right thing to do. He was left with the same information that the rest of us have, and STILL made the decision to lay down his life in the preservation of others. To me, there is no more nobler sacrifice. That is an ideal that we can aspire to.

In the comic book version of SUPERMAN IV, SUPERMAN remarks about how he wishes we could see the world as he sees it, because in the end, it's just one world. He also makes this remark in the film, but what we see in the comic is that he takes a young boy named Jeremy into space with him (in a space suit) and flies him in orbit around the world. Jeremy sees that there are no borders, and that we are indeed one world. He DOES see the world the way SUPERMAN sees it. Astronauts have likened seeing the Earth from space to a religious experience. I believe that. In the end, to see the world that way is to see it as a whole.

But more importantly, we have the opportunity to see it that way more than you realize. When you are flying up in a plane, there is no greater proof of how small we truly are then to look out the window and see the (not even) specks below that are "us." To see that traveling from one state/country to the next, there are very few ACTUAL borders. There are very few (if any) actual lines in the sand which show that this is one country and this is the other (with the exception, of course, of continents.) We all live here together. As one people. This world is our home.

Now all that may not inspire everyone to make the choice to preserve lives, but (among other reasons) this was one thing that SUPERMAN believed in. He had that and the morals instilled in him by his parents. Armed with all this, and perhaps more, he made his decision. At the end of the day, all he had extra were his powers....his physicality. His mentality was the same as our own, and that is what makes him noble. Changing his perceptions, in my opinion, not only tears away his nobility, but also our ability to achieve the same, because no matter what happens, we just won't see things the way he does. We can't. It's figurative as much as it is literal.

Now, so you don't think I'm being unfair, just what does this have to do with Elliot S! Maggin? Good question. After doing some reading on that other website, I discovered that the idea of this special sight was not founded by Waid, but was first postulated by Maggin in a story that he had written. Waid, who dedicates BIRTHRIGHT to Maggin, among others, borrowed the idea. But Maggin is not the only one who has done this. Back to Waid.

Waid, who is one of the two creative geniuses behind my all-time favorite comic book story, KINGDOM COME, really dropped the ball in my opinion, as far as protecting the SUPERMAN heritage went. Not only did he take away the nobility of the character, but he COMPLETELY changed the significance of the "S" shield.

Now, let's be clear on this. It was first put forth in SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE, that the S was the El family crest. THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERBOY continued this trend, as did LOIS & CLARK: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN. More recently, DC COMICS has created a KRYPTONIAN language which includes a character that looks suspiciously like the S, but is an 8 instead of an "s" in the diamond, although it translates to the ENGLISH letter "s." Now, finally, Waid has decided to show that the S has had important signficance throughout the history of KRYPTON. Now, again, it was first postualted by LOIS & CLARK: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, that the S was actually included in the rocket with the baby Kal-El, although we were led to believe that it was still probably the family crest. In Waid's version, however, it is included on a banner that Jor-El and Lara send in the rocket with Kal-El. A BIG BLUE banner, in fact.

Now, why did I not have a problem with it being the family crest, but I have a problem with it being a Kryptonian symbol of some sort? GOOD QUESTION. Here's the answer:

As the family crest, it is simply that. A family crest. That is it. For him, and the people of the Earth, it will come to mean more. And those who learn of the symbol will know that it stands for truth and justice because they know the man behind it. It is HIS symbol. Others will strive to live up to HIS ideals.

Making it a Kryptonian symbol changes all that. As we all know, aliens have visited Krypton before it was destroyed. They will, undoubtedly, recognize HIS symbol, but not as his. They will recognize it as Kryptonian. They may recognize it as truth and justice, but KRYPTONIAN truth and justice. Will they fear it? No, because Krypton is dead. Will he change their minds? Probably, but they will not see it as his symbol. They will see him for what he is, not who he is. To them, he is a Kryptonian. Before, they would see him as a man. A Superman.

FOOTNOTE: I doubt that a number of people who spent any sort of time on Krypton would have had the opportunity to study ALL the family crests, including that of the House of El. So, the odds of it being recognized would have been MUCH smaller.

For now, however, let me get off this and make my initial point. SUPERMAN is not alone in this quagmire. Next up is the dreaded franchise STAR TREK.

Let me first point out the following: Long ago, I stopped being able to watch STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION without cringing. Not sure I can pin down why, let's call it a knee-jerk reaction. In it's history, I only TRULY enjoyed a handful of STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE episodes. STAR TREK: VOYAGER fared even worse on that score, as things just got to be too cookie cutter. Finally, I had to kiss off STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE after its second season, as that it just couldn't thrill me in ANY way. So, right now to me, the only STAR TREK I can stomach is The Original Series.

A friend of mine was telling me today about all the things the producers want to do to spruce up STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE to make it better. Let me just say that not only am I not impressed, but I am now scared.

It seems that the illustrious writing staff of ENTERPRISE, who have gone out of their way to say that while they do hold TOS in high regard, they see no need to build their show as a prequel to THAT set of stories, but to the TNG era instead, have decided to tackle the ROMULAN-EARTH war. How many ways could this possibly be wrong? The same number of ways I can say STAR WARS: EPISODE III is wrong, (coincidently).

The ROMULANS first appeared in the first season of TOS in an episode called BALANCE OF TERROR. Now we all know that TOS canon is a little fluid since the show did contradict itself from time to time. However, for the most part, the continuity in this episode stood up. Until someone decided to intentionally contradict it.

STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE has shown very little regard for TOS. In it's first season, the new ENTERPRISE, crewed by people who are just beginning to master faster-than-light travel encounter an alien ship far advanced of their own. And wouldn't you know, the ENTERPRISE cheif engineer went on board the alien ship and fixed their engine for them!!!! What the heck is that all about? How did that happen?

So, with a writing staff this senseless, let's tackle the facts from BALANCE OF TERROR. In the episode, Spock states that no Romulan nor Human had seen the other before, even during the aforementioned war, because ship-to-ship visual communication was not possible yet. Now, they're rewriting the story so that it's not that it was impossible, but that the Romulans simply didn't want to be seen. Why? Because their code of conduct wouldn't allow it. ARE YOU CRAZY?! Since when! Why is this necessary? It wouldn't be necessary if the show had been constructed to fit into the facts that were presented to the staff to begin with! Ship-to-ship visual communication doesn't HAVE to be possible with all races because the technology isn't advanced enough to decipher all alien transmission protocols. Or we just weren't that advanced. WHY DO WE HAVE TO BE TREATED TO THIS REALLY LAME EXCUSE?!?!?!

With all this in mind, let's get to the real guts shall we? I mentioned that characters are being stripped of their nobility. Where is that happening here? Good question. My friend also said that the following bit of continuity was tweaked:

SURAK, the father of Vulcan logic (which eventually led to the separation of the Romulans from the Vulcans) was not, in fact, a Vulcan, but was an exile from the Q Continuum. He was a freakin' Q!!!! WHY!!! Isn't it possible for a mere mortal to have a peaceful thought and be revolutionary enough to bring about peace? Do all peaceful people have to be that way because they're omnipotent? Even if you're going to say that he got stripped of his powers or something (which I can't say for sure because I don't know the details) it doesn't change the fact that he knows the importance of peace because his perceptions (like SUPERMAN'S ABOVE) are different from us mere mortals. Again, I think the original concept of SURAK as a Vulcan who came upon the idea of peace and knowledge through logic is much more nobler as it being the result of some God-like exile. And supposedly the war between the ROMULANS and the VULCANS was STARTED by a Q as well? Supposedly there was no space travel back then for Vulcans? WHAT THE HECK IS THAT CRAP ALL ABOUT?!?!?!? WHO SAYS THEY DIDN'T HAVE SPACE TRAVEL!

Let me get one thing straight right now. I am aware that everything I am complaining about in this entry is ficticious, and that no one should really take any of it particularly seriously. As isolated incidents, I don't. I just want to know why writers are finding it necessary to take naturaly altruism away from characters and, in the process, take away their nobility. The lessons of both SURAK and SUPERMAN are that one man can make a difference [Michael Knight too, for that matter ;-)] But in these revisionist stories one divinely perceptive man can make a difference.

This all hits me because I believe in the inherent good of humanity. I believe that we can overcome all our differences and bigotries and that we will strive to better ourselves. I believe that one day we may live together in peace. I believe that we will live long enough to stop ourselves from destroying eachother for once and for all. These stories, among others, fueled and, in some ways, were the foundations of these beliefs in me. And now, there are writers that are slowly tearing down the nobility of these stories. I doubt that they are doing it on purpose, or with malice. In each case, they are simply trying to help run a business. I am also aware that by the very nature of a franchise, the writers are not really in charge. So the faults lie in both the writers and the franchise owners.

I know that they have to tell stories. I just don't think they have to disregard what has come before in order to build what is to come. Especially since sometimes you wind up hurting more than just continuity. Sometimes, you cut these characters from the core, and are left with a flashy shell, with no real depth.

:: J 7:09 PM [+] ::
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