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Way too complicated an explanation. I don’t think it has to do with technology at all. I think the reason superheroes are all the rage is that they present usu

Way too complicated an explanation. I don’t think it has to do with technology at all. I think the reason superheroes are all the rage is that they present usually simple, uncontroversial content that appeals to the broadest collection of cultures, ages, and educational/socioeconomic backgrounds - so they maximize their audience and thus the money they make. It’s simplistic and you don’t have to think too deeply about it. It doesn’t challenge your notions of society or speak truth to power. It’s just about good guys fighting bad guys

watwut 7y ago
Weren't superhero stories tilted toward male audience quite a lot? And I also think that they became "all aged" only insofar current adults who grew with then still like them. People who did not grew with them and don't have that nostalgia like them less.
mdorazio 7y ago
Also on the film front superheroes represent big budget special effects and creative sets, which tend to pull large audiences, especially in markets like China.
okareaman 7y ago
The author didn't satisfactorily answer his own question after a lot of words. I agree with you. Hollywood superhero movies work well in the U.S. and equally well in India and China. I'm not sure about Europe.
mhink 7y ago
Disagree. I think it's important to think carefully about how "the way things were in the past" influence how we perceive "the way things are now". Tracing how opinions evolve over time is a good way to help understand why people behave the way they do. Personally, my armchair theory on superhero media (and other fandom-oriented media) is that it's sort of becoming a nascent religion for people that aren't otherwise religious.
klmadfejno 7y ago
I don't think this is true. Moral ambiguity, anti-government, anti-wealthy people themes have been pretty prevalent in the movies of late. They're not especially deep or insightful, but the term comic-book evil seems unsuited to modern superhero movie villains. They're undoubtedly "better" than what I grew up with at least. Large portions of fiction have generally always focused on people who were superior to others, at least in terms of cleverness, but often physical ability as well. Odysseus comes to mind. Extraordinary people are simply more interesting than ordinary ones, especially if your primary goal is to entertain. I think the reason comic book superheroes in particular are popular is simply that they're easy to make and market than something that is less well known and less established; and from a business perspective, there's synergy in making lots of movies from the same universe because people like it when movies come from the same universe.
- scarejunba 7y ago
  Two of the most popular superheroes of today are Iron Man and Batman. They are literally just rich dudes in rich dude toys. They are the heroes of the story. Professor Xavier is wealthy af. And he doesn't go around helping just anyone. His altruism is hecka parochial. About the only common element is that the government generally sucks at doing anything. The only thing the government doesn't suck at is having at least one plucky SEAL/Ranger/Marine team out there that's fighting against the odds.
  - klmadfejno 7y ago
    Iron Man and Batman are some of the most intelligent humans in their universes. Iron Man per the latest marvel films, invented self-regenerating nanobot armor and time travel. Batman kinda varies in how superhuman his intelligence is depicted and I haven't bothered to see the last few so can't comment. Writing this now I see your point was not that they aren't extraordinary, but rather the opposite of anti-wealth. I don't disagree, but I'm not claiming that every movie covers the same ideas either. However, the villains of Spiderman 2, for instance, are a bunch of Iron Man's lower level former employees who specifically call out how they got the short end of the capitalist stick, and how unfair it is that he got the spoils of everything, and how easy it was for him to dispose of them. The villains of Spiderman 1 are just some construction guys who got shafted by the collateral damage of the heroes and are trying to make a living wage. Yes; I do recognize the irony in that both of these working class groups are villains, but they're not meant to be portrayed as "Evil" for the most part. Again, not especially deep, but not "I'M GOING TO DESTROY THE SUN BECAUSE THATS WHAT VILLAINS DO!". The captain america movies, seem particularly keen on the idea that the american government / law does not define the american ethos.
clairity 7y ago
and to go a step further, it provides something to believe in (different from just a religion replacement) with simple morals and clear, elevated pro-/an-tagonists, something that's rare in the real world. it's the modern version of aesop's fables--a way to share morals across a society through stories. american westerns and chinese wuxia/xianxia are similar, simple morality tales wrapped up in different situations with heroes who rise out of the ordinary to do the extraordinary. it's the simplest cultural glue.
user982 7y ago
Agreed. The article is overthinking a popularity driven by movies that are just pro wrestling tropes with budgets.
overthemoon 7y ago
But ~why~ does it appeal to people? That's the far more interesting question. You don't have to think that hard about Daniel Tiger or an hour of shifting colors and train noises, either. It's not a neutral unit of content, its themes mean something, they appeal for a reason.
- nickbauman 7y ago
  Superheroes are fascist in nature: the idea of "punching your way to justice" with all rules set aside is fundamental to the concept.
  - krapp 7y ago
    Classic, archetypical superheroes don't often just punch their way to justice "with all rules set aside." It's typically their strict personal moral codes and dedication to law and order that sets them apart from from supervillains. Superman as a character, for example, is anything but fascist.
    - pessimizer 7y ago
      Personal moral codes and dedication to law and order are two different things. There are very few modern movie superheroes who have a dedication to law and order as far as I can tell; they're generally vigilantes that do extrajudicial killings unless part of secret government programs. edit: Wasn't Iron Man the bad guy in the Winter Soldier film precisely because he chose to be law-abiding?
- dageshi 7y ago
  Well they're basically fantastical adventure stories which have always been popular to greater or lesser degrees. It's just that special effects got good enough and their producers had 30+ years of comic books to mine for decent storylines which allowed them to produce a lot of movies in a relatively short amount of time without tiring people out.

watwut 7y ago

Weren't superhero stories tilted toward male audience quite a lot? And I also think that they became "all aged" only insofar current adults who grew with then still like them. People who did not grew with them and don't have that nostalgia like them less.

mdorazio 7y ago

Also on the film front superheroes represent big budget special effects and creative sets, which tend to pull large audiences, especially in markets like China.

okareaman 7y ago

The author didn't satisfactorily answer his own question after a lot of words. I agree with you. Hollywood superhero movies work well in the U.S. and equally well in India and China. I'm not sure about Europe.

mhink 7y ago

Disagree. I think it's important to think carefully about how "the way things were in the past" influence how we perceive "the way things are now". Tracing how opinions evolve over time is a good way to help understand why people behave the way they do. Personally, my armchair theory on superhero media (and other fandom-oriented media) is that it's sort of becoming a nascent religion for people that aren't otherwise religious.

klmadfejno 7y ago

I don't think this is true. Moral ambiguity, anti-government, anti-wealthy people themes have been pretty prevalent in the movies of late. They're not especially deep or insightful, but the term comic-book evil seems unsuited to modern superhero movie villains. They're undoubtedly "better" than what I grew up with at least. Large portions of fiction have generally always focused on people who were superior to others, at least in terms of cleverness, but often physical ability as well. Odysseus comes to mind. Extraordinary people are simply more interesting than ordinary ones, especially if your primary goal is to entertain. I think the reason comic book superheroes in particular are popular is simply that they're easy to make and market than something that is less well known and less established; and from a business perspective, there's synergy in making lots of movies from the same universe because people like it when movies come from the same universe.

scarejunba 7y ago
Two of the most popular superheroes of today are Iron Man and Batman. They are literally just rich dudes in rich dude toys. They are the heroes of the story. Professor Xavier is wealthy af. And he doesn't go around helping just anyone. His altruism is hecka parochial. About the only common element is that the government generally sucks at doing anything. The only thing the government doesn't suck at is having at least one plucky SEAL/Ranger/Marine team out there that's fighting against the odds.
- klmadfejno 7y ago
  Iron Man and Batman are some of the most intelligent humans in their universes. Iron Man per the latest marvel films, invented self-regenerating nanobot armor and time travel. Batman kinda varies in how superhuman his intelligence is depicted and I haven't bothered to see the last few so can't comment. Writing this now I see your point was not that they aren't extraordinary, but rather the opposite of anti-wealth. I don't disagree, but I'm not claiming that every movie covers the same ideas either. However, the villains of Spiderman 2, for instance, are a bunch of Iron Man's lower level former employees who specifically call out how they got the short end of the capitalist stick, and how unfair it is that he got the spoils of everything, and how easy it was for him to dispose of them. The villains of Spiderman 1 are just some construction guys who got shafted by the collateral damage of the heroes and are trying to make a living wage. Yes; I do recognize the irony in that both of these working class groups are villains, but they're not meant to be portrayed as "Evil" for the most part. Again, not especially deep, but not "I'M GOING TO DESTROY THE SUN BECAUSE THATS WHAT VILLAINS DO!". The captain america movies, seem particularly keen on the idea that the american government / law does not define the american ethos.

clairity 7y ago

and to go a step further, it provides something to believe in (different from just a religion replacement) with simple morals and clear, elevated pro-/an-tagonists, something that's rare in the real world. it's the modern version of aesop's fables--a way to share morals across a society through stories. american westerns and chinese wuxia/xianxia are similar, simple morality tales wrapped up in different situations with heroes who rise out of the ordinary to do the extraordinary. it's the simplest cultural glue.

user982 7y ago

Agreed. The article is overthinking a popularity driven by movies that are just pro wrestling tropes with budgets.

overthemoon 7y ago

But ~why~ does it appeal to people? That's the far more interesting question. You don't have to think that hard about Daniel Tiger or an hour of shifting colors and train noises, either. It's not a neutral unit of content, its themes mean something, they appeal for a reason.

nickbauman 7y ago
Superheroes are fascist in nature: the idea of "punching your way to justice" with all rules set aside is fundamental to the concept.
- krapp 7y ago
  Classic, archetypical superheroes don't often just punch their way to justice "with all rules set aside." It's typically their strict personal moral codes and dedication to law and order that sets them apart from from supervillains. Superman as a character, for example, is anything but fascist.
  - pessimizer 7y ago
    Personal moral codes and dedication to law and order are two different things. There are very few modern movie superheroes who have a dedication to law and order as far as I can tell; they're generally vigilantes that do extrajudicial killings unless part of secret government programs. edit: Wasn't Iron Man the bad guy in the Winter Soldier film precisely because he chose to be law-abiding?
dageshi 7y ago
Well they're basically fantastical adventure stories which have always been popular to greater or lesser degrees. It's just that special effects got good enough and their producers had 30+ years of comic books to mine for decent storylines which allowed them to produce a lot of movies in a relatively short amount of time without tiring people out.