Culture Thursday: On MAGA and the willful misunderstanding of pop culture
The reviews are coming in for the latest reboot of the Superman mythos, and they go from commendatory to glowing. People think of superhero movies and science fiction films as pabulum, as aimed at the lowest-common denominator. The iconic director Martin Scorsese years ago said that comic book movies were not real art. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of them. But what is the difference between, say, Captain America and The Iliad ? Both deal with mythic themes and almost-divine heroes. In the grand scheme of things there's little difference between Achilles and Batman. Read some Joseph Campbell and you'll see that the same stories are being retold, but adapted to the culture and the times. George Lucas cited Campbell's The Hero With A Thousand Faces as a major influence on his creation and conception of the Star Wars mythology. Star Trek takes its inspiration in the old medieval morality plays. Nothing under the sun is new; so you remake it into something new. All of thi...
