Mark’s Soap Box

Hollywood once again wears it’s “heart” on it’s sleeve. Mirroring attitudes of Hollywood the new Superman movie was released this week to yawns. Once a again proving that Hollywood just does not get it.

Tradition seems to hold no sway or value in Hollywood. Common senses seems to be lacking as well. Superman has been emasculated, de-Americanized, and is now an “international hero” sent here for everyone. Oh really?

“The world has changed. The world is a different place,” Pennsylvania native Harris says. “The truth is he’s an alien. He was sent from another planet. He has landed on the planet Earth, and he is here for everybody. He’s an international super-hero.”

“The world has changed. The world is a different place,” Pennsylvania native Harris says. “The truth is he’s an alien. He was sent from another planet. He has landed on the planet Earth, and he is here for everybody. He’s an international super-hero.”

Or is it that Hollywood hates America, and is rationalizing it’s modifications with “global sales” arguments.

In fact, Dougherty and Harris never even considered including “the American way” in their screenplay. After the wunderkind writing duo (”X2: X-Men United”) conceived “Superman’s” story with director Bryan Singer during a Hawaiian vacation, they penned their first draft together and intentionally omitted what they considered to be a loaded and antiquated expression. That decision stood throughout the 140-day shoot in Australia, where the pair remained on-set to provide revisions and tweaks.

Yet they, like all Hollywood types talk out of both sides of there mouths.

“We were always hesitant to include the term ‘American way’ because the meaning of that today is somewhat uncertain,” Ohio native Dougherty explains. “The ideal hasn’t changed. I think when people say ‘American way,’ they’re actually talking about what the ‘American way’ meant back in the ’40s and ’50s, which was something more noble and idealistic.”

So is it good? is it bad? Oh wait, it’s America that is the problem. Wait! What is this, nostalgia? Or is that Hollywood is merely the Capitalist dogs they accuse everyone who disagrees with them, of being.

While audiences in Dubuque might bristle at Superman’s newfound global agenda, patrons in Dubai likely will find the DC Comics protagonist more palatable. And with the increasing importance of the overseas boxoffice — as evidenced by summer tentpoles like “The Da Vinci Code” — foreign sensibilities can no longer be ignored.

Seems odd that suddenly Hollywood is not concerned with keeping true to the character. Well it’s not really, they only talk a good game. Hollywood is profit driven, amoral, valueless, and “wind blown”. Hollywood is a cult of personality. However it is clear that Hollywood’s hatred of America is paramount to “artist vision”. Even better when you can justify it by saying it’s ‘all about the economics’ with backing from an anti-Catholic (another group Hollywood hates) movie.

“So, you play the movie in a foreign country, and you say, ‘What does he stand for? — truth, justice and the American way.’ I think a lot of people’s opinions of what the American way means outside of this country are different from what the line actually means (in Superman lore) because they are not the same anymore,” Harris says. “And (using that line) would taint the meaning of what he is saying.”

It would taint the meaning of what he is saying? How come Americans have to learn Spanish, learn about Mexico, learn about Africa, do things the failed err European way; but Arabs don’t have to learn about us? I don’t get it. Shouldn’t they live by the same rules we have to live by?

Nevertheless, the long-standing member of the Justice League of America seems to have traded in his allegiance to the flag for an international passport.

“He’s here for humanity,” Dougherty says

Hollywood doesn’t care about tradition, rules, regulations, or anything that is normal unless it can line their pockets with American money. Then they are suddenly family people, loving, charitable, and tradition lovers;  till the next movie that is amoral, reprobate, and dealing with some bizarre sex act or “free thought” mantra to be chanted. Oh! or when they can attack America.

You can’t really expect much else, they are people who pretend to be other people for a living. Being ungrounded, and believing that if it “feels good do it”, you really can’t expect them to behave like adults. Oh wait we can.

They actually believe they are those people they play in the movie, and thus are entitled to behave as if they are those people. They give themselves such import that they start to believe there own press clippings. They live in a world where problems are solved in 7 segments, or 3 acts; at most a 2 hour film. The bubble is an echo chamber meant to make them feel like they are “it”, when in fact they are merely doing what pre-schoolers do. Play pretend.