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The melody of Lan Xidang fully resisting "Western values" entering the classroom and teaching materials is still bright, the other side of the coin-the film and television cultural industry carried by commerce-has built a high-density route from west to east , Looks like an extraordinary large-scale black humor stage play.
Although there is no lack of far-fetched voices that have suddenly risen in the theater-in fact, the creators of Marvel have planned and serialized the "Civil War" series as early as 2006, and the entanglement between Batman and Superman is also the traditional setting of DC—— The contradictions and divisions between the superheroes of the United States are understood as a screen projection of the cracks in the social consensus of the West (especially the United States), and this is a metaphor for the rationality of authoritarianism on the utilitarian level.
However, just like strengthening the dams after all cannot push the water back to the upper reaches of the river, the speculative spirit of how to tame power, define responsibilities, and adhere to freedom has already carried huge potential energy and swept away from the comic book store where only nerds gather. Covers the entire world.
It warns us that even in the endless fictional time and space of the savior, perfection will not last forever, conflicts will continue day and night, and dualism-well-organized right and wrong-can no longer constitute a simple and easy-to-use formula for solving problems. .
Everything starts with untamed power.
old days, European bards once sang such a fable: the evil dragon that endangered the city was killed by a warrior, and the warrior became a new one in a cave filled with gold. The dragon, so the nightmare repeated itself.
This story reveals the complex sentiments of the world towards power. The latter is not only the only weapon to face the enemy, but also the burden of support after the enemy retreats. The most terrible thing is that the active fall of power is unconstrained as an independent event, like " The "dictator" system has preserved Rome's glory several times during the crisis, but sooner or later, figures like Julius Caesar will appear, and they will issue life-long appointments to themselves without much effort.
There is no doubt that Bruce Wayne’s role is that of Brutus who yelled "I love Caesar, but I love Rome more." They all carried out the work of execution in the face of uncontrollable power, even if Choosing the most despicable means of assassination is also not hesitating. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the conspiracy of the "Senate" is even more obvious. The agreement led by Tony Stark is not so much a cage of power as a contract to buy out a domestic servant.
This is the magnificence of the superhero series: it empties a classical civilization system that Montesquieu cannot do. Those contemporary knights with superpowers only act on their inner morals. Politics and laws treat them like air and abide by them. Discipline becomes sentimental, and violation is duty.
The 2008 comedy movie "Superman Hancock for All" demonstrated the daily existence of superheroes from a humorous perspective: When Will Smith rushed to the sky to prevent an accident, he didn't care whether he was After trampling on the exquisite floor tiles on public streets, the public finally couldn't bear the mess left by this kind-hearted hero—the loss of these properties still had to be paid for by taxes.
Introducing the realistic logic of cost accounting into fictional works will inevitably bring familiar and intimate feelings, just like when people study the magnificent war history, they will also think about what prompted the Allied forces to invest in Normandy at no cost. Why does the United Nations need to stop at the 38th parallel of the Korean peninsula?
The war between Superman and General Zord was a fuse, and its touch on Bruce Wayne was not limited to destroying a near-Earth satellite of the Wayne Group. "Body" has been buried-this Gotham City "underground police officer" who pursues violence with violence but never kills is afraid of this extraordinary power that descends from the sky. This is the same as the cynical Tony Stark in the "wormhole" above New York. The causality of anxiety after "crisis" is the same.
Entrepreneurs are unable to find problems and cannot solve the problems, so Wayne began to try to collect Kryptonite meteorites. Stark also showed a special armor specifically designed to restrain the Hulk in "Avengers 2: Age of Ultron". .
As two superheroes with rich status, Batman and Iron Man are the plot promoters of DC and Marvel. They symbolize people's perfect imagination of superheroes: they are not born to rob the rich and help the poor, but to control their careers. The property-owning class exercises its responsibilities by consuming power (capital).
However, the fusion of world views has brought extraterrestrial forces far beyond the "human" level of the clown and the Manchurian to their eyes, and the resulting ethical paradox is a product beyond calculation. In "Captain America: Civil War", the "cost of confrontation" is accurately displayed:
· The Kitari invaded New York, causing 74 deaths and $18.8 billion in losses;
· The Sky Mothership stolen by Hydra razed Washington , Resulting in 23 deaths and a loss of 2.8 billion US dollars;
· During the war with Ultron, the entire city of Sokovia was overturned in midair, causing 177 deaths and a loss of 487 billion US dollars...
In other words, whether the Scarlet Witch or not In Wakanda, when a building was blown up by mistake, that angry boot was destined to fall to the ground. As for Superman crashing and shuttle between metropolitan skyscrapers like guided missiles, those "unavoidable" losses are in Bruce Wayne's eyes that are no match for the little girl he has just lost her mother to.
From a purely rational point of view, it is indeed difficult for human beings to overcome the weakness of "empathy." Harvard professor Michael Sandel cited two examples in his famous public class "Fairness and Justice". One is the old-fashioned rail wrench assumption that allows the audience to intervene in the options of 1 child and 10 children, and the other is Replaced the action of "twisting the wrench" with "pushing down a fat man with his own hands, so that he can stop the train from moving forward while falling to death." If the former is full of controversy about choices, then very few people hold the watch like this in the latter. Do, even if this fat man's death can be exchanged for more lives to survive.
No one wants blood on their hands. This idealism has created the emergence of superhero culture, just to acknowledge our hypocrisy. In the world of superheroes, there must also be a trial camp, either to be tamed or expelled. , This is a decisive response from the sheltered human beings.
Remember Michael Bay’s "Transformers"? In the third part, the U.S. government is dissatisfied with the Autobots’ caution and negativity in sharing Cybertron’s technology, and denounced "If you were not hiding on the earth, neither would the Decepticons Will come to the door many times to wreak havoc." In fact, in terms of logic, there is no factual error in this statement, just like if Clark Kent hadn't accidentally landed on the earth, General Zod would not have gone all the way to the earth in the future. Of course, if you turn on the perspective of God, once the villains are not prevented in advance, the earth will inevitably become a tiny sacrifice in the process of conquering the universe. Therefore, isolationism is no different from appeasementism, in the language of foreign policy. , "You can't feed the crocodile, because it will definitely eat you in the end."
Then, when power rejects the “choose one” game rule-it must be admitted that Superman was not imprisoned in the hearing. This kindness is limited to the wishes of the superhero, otherwise it will evolve into Captain Rogers’ kind of impossibility. The last fight to clean up-the embarrassment returned to the side that lacked negotiation capital.
When power does not care about rewards or punishment, the only thing that can affect it is morality. Before entering the next chapter, let us revisit this classic line: "The greater the power, the greater the responsibility."
Power triggers responsibility, and responsibility restrains power.
Peter Parker is the most famous creation created by Stan Lee One of the "civilian heroes", the age of high school students is also a rare setting in previous superhero comics. Obviously, it is difficult for a ward who does not have full capacity for behavior to properly grasp the proper measure in fulfilling the responsibilities of super power.
Therefore, for a long time, the "Spider-Man" series have focused on light-hearted and humorous themes. Peter Parker's character creation has been successful, and he has also benefited from his "boy next door" image. To save the busy life between the worlds, even the city in which it is located is not a fictional prototype like the Metropolis or Gotham City. It directly uses New York as the real scene, and the sense of substitution is higher.
Therefore, only such an ordinary teenager with a green mind has the opportunity to receive the teachings from his elders, that is, the famous saying of his uncle Ben Parker: "The greater the power comes, the greater the responsibility" (With great power comes great responsibility) ). It is no exaggeration to say that this motto has influenced the trend of American superhero works for nearly half a century, especially in the peaceful years after the end of World War II and the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Imaginary enemies based on realistic themes are no longer common. Superheroes urgently need to find their own Explanation of the mission.
Ben Parker died under the gun of a bandit who had a relationship with Peter Parker. There are multiple versions of this story—different universes, different movies, and different screenwriters—but roughly The logic is the same: Peter Parker, who has just gained the ability of Spider-Man, doesn't want to be "nosy." He let go of the bandits who have nothing to do with him, and finally had to accept the death of his close relatives.
Everyone probably has such an uncle. He doesn’t necessarily have a successful career, nor is he an exemplary person. Even most of the nagging is annoying, but he never gives up "making his nephew a better person." Just as Ben Parker missed Peter Parker, who had recently performed abnormally before his death, and exhausted his last effort to warn him: "The greater the power, the greater the responsibility."
In "Captain America: Civil War," Tony Stark asked Peter Parker in his messy bedroom why your life is so embarrassing—it’s hard to even pay for tuition—but you have to fly more than half of it. New York City to arrest the thief? The latter stammered in reply. If you have this ability, wouldn't you do it?
In the words of Scottish philosopher Hume, the nature and power of sympathy is the source of support for human morality, "like a musical note passing between strings."
As a result, Spider-Man officially joined the team. In the original comics of the "Civil War" series, he is a crucial variable. In addition to the main storyline, Marvel's screenwriters also deliberately use Spider-Man as a first-person perspective to make a parallel narrative. Let Peter Parker as a "peripheral character" of the superhero camp lead the reader to observe how the whole incident slipped into the abyss step by step. When he found out that he was used by Tony Stark and defected to Captain Rogers, everything It's already irreparable.
We will talk about this episode later.
In short, the responsibilities assigned to superheroes are highly subjective, but they are still not enough to dispel people's worries about "power leads to corruption, and absolute power leads to absolute corruption." More often, the order that society hopes to export is constituted by obligations. This is also a clause that Steven Rogers is unwilling to accept: Superheroes are not a civil servant profession, and they are required to become government employees and receive taxes. If wages and clocking in to work from 9 to 5 are the only options, then the only thing that is violated is freedom itself.
Responsibility is self-discipline, and obligation is heterogeneous. This distinction is very important.
Dr. Abraham Erskine, who injected Steven Rogers with the "Super Soldier" serum, was a German. This scientist who could not escape the claws of the Nazi/Hydra had a profound influence on the former, and his past also represented that " The system of surrendering in exchange for stealing a living. Therefore, even after the rebellious black widow chose to obey the government's wishes, Steven Rogers still refused to cooperate. He instinctively disliked this deterrence: if you don't sign an agreement, you are criminals.
This is the conservatism of conservatism. The film "Scent of a Woman" that won the statuette for Al Pacino also said a similar truth: the young student witnessed the process of his classmate smashing the principal’s car. The school asked him, the only witness, to name those names, otherwise he would be expelled. From the perspective of Eastern values, there is no dispute about whether this matter is right or wrong. It is more reasonable to spit out the names of the bad students, but the veteran Lieutenant Colonel Sphalan who defended Charlie made a loud noise: Charlie does not have to follow unfair procedures. No justice can deprive a person of the right to remain silent.
In the original comics, Commander Hill of “S.H.I. The captain's answer was: "Wearing a mask is a tradition of superheroes. You can't define this tradition as a crime and let me arrest those who risk their lives to protect this country." After the
words, the rush began.
The rising and falling tide of morality
Batman, Superman, Captain America, and Iron Man are the four protagonists who led the heroes to fight in the same room in 2016. The world they live in is driven by conspiracy gears to enter a long-term stability, free from the Kuang Zheng system. The threat to the public by “commissioned police officers” began to outweigh the enemies identified by the former, and when the legal standards to ensure the bottom line were unable to restrict these cloaked masked people, the moral standards that were desired to come out had consequences due to their different standards. A bitter disagreement.
Batman’s moral criterion is Robin. Although "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" has nothing to do with Nolan’s Black Knight trilogy, Ben Affleck is more violent and cruel than Christian Bale. It’s still a little surprising. This turns Batman from a thoughtful detective to an impatient thug. The key to this transformation is hidden in a flash of footage: Robin, as Batman’s assistant, He was captured by the clown and tortured to death, and his uniform was sent back by the clown with graffiti that mocked Batman's incompetence.
The moral criterion of Superman is Louise Lane, his lover. Louise symbolizes Superman's love for the earth, and her safety is the only temporal factor that affects Superman's spirit. In the movie, the mercenaries under Lex Luther use Louise to frame Superman, and when Louise is pressed underwater, Superman will also leave the object in battle to save. And in Bruce Wayne's double dream, he was flashed back from another timeline in the future by Barry Allen-the Flash, one of the founding members of the "Justice League"-warned against that terrible future : The fuse that caused Superman to fall and become a dark monarch was the story of Louise's death. From then on, Superman believed in iron-fisted power and created peace through terror, and this was also the branch setting of the "Unrighteous Alliance".
The moral criterion of Captain America is Bucky Barnes. As long as it involves the disputes of this former comrade-in-arms, Steven Rogers will not hesitate to fight the whole world. He is a stick to the traditional concept-in the setting of the movie, his Ideological and cognition stayed in World War II—an old-school hero, so Hawkeye—Remember the family environment that he bothered to outline for him in "Avengers 2: The Age of Ultron"? That is a typical and lively virtue. The Texas peasant, the epitome of conservatism-would risk great danger to join his camp. For Captain America, Bucky bought his life, so no matter whether this person is a damn Winter Soldier or not, he has the responsibility to protect him from being arbitrarily disposed of. This primitive and simple personality is the United States. The captain's mediocre talent has always been the soul of the "Avengers" and the core reason for being trusted by his teammates.
Iron Man's moral criterion is himself. His success—whether it is a corporate career or a heroic career—has created a conceited mentality, and his greatest natural enemy is defeat. Compared with the original comics, Tony Stark in the movie has a great beautification element, and added the death of his parents to deal with his mental imbalance. The only thing in common is that he met in public a woman who was merciless to him, who accused the superhero of “indifferent” to sacrifice his son, and often under the spotlight. Tony Stark, who spoke for the Avengers, did not bear these faults. Therefore, Iron Man needs to establish his own leadership position, and his friendship with Captain America broke down, and it began.
As a result, there is a superhero movie year of "fighting each other". When the heart is already chaotic, following the heart will inevitably lead to a fierce collision of values. In Japanese animation terms, the result of crossing the moral standards will be endless "blackening", and the timing of closing depends on the accumulation of costs.
For example, the "death" of Superman, such as the crippling of Colonel Rhode, the omnipotent superheroes finally discovered that they can defeat the evil villains with incredible powers, but in the mediocre talents of Lex Luther and Helmut Zemo's provocation appears weak and unreliable.
If there is no light, there is no darkness, and vice versa
Zach Schneider is a director who focuses on the themes of movies adapted from comics. The industry’s evaluation of him is quite interesting: "If you try not to make major changes to the original work, then the export must be a good film, but if the opposite is true, his
If there is too much personal will, then the result is likely to be tragedy.” If "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" is closer to the tragedy, then in 2009 he directed the movie "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" which was still based on DC comics. "Watchmen" should undoubtedly belong to the best film side.
Strictly speaking, "The Watcher" is a dystopian work, and its original comics created a historical precedent for winning the Hugo Award in the form of comics. In this world, the ideal of superheroes being subordinate to government management has been realized. They assassinated Kennedy for President Nixon, won the Vietnam War, and even eliminated the two reporters from the Washington Post, helping the latter build a new office in the United States. Authoritarian government, and successfully re-elected as president for five terms.
Also faced with the problem of "cunning rabbits and fools", the solution provided by "Watchmen" is to artificially create a horror that overrides human civilization. This negative role is ultimately played by Dr. Manhattan, and Rorschach—this He is the most popular hero in "Watchmen"-because he refused to cooperate with this white lie and was obliterated by Dr. Manhattan with the acquiescence of the other superheroes. Unlike the Dark Knight crushing the Metropolitan Patron Saint, in this version, the street hero fails to beat the super hero.
Zach Schneider never concealed his love and respect for Rorschach. This complex affected his reshaping of Batman to a certain extent. Nolan retained Bruce Wayne’s "playboy" temperament. , Was chopped up here in Schneider, but Alfred became venomous.
Therefore, this unsmiling and iron-hard Batman completely inherited Rorschach's stubbornness. He could not persuade himself to tolerate Superman's wanton use of the power that could destroy the city, and for the first time in history, he had a murderous heart.
At the end of "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice", Bruce Wayne started the preparations for the "Justice League", which also meant that DC indirectly recognized his leadership status. In fact, even at the stage of the closest relationship between the Dark Knight and the Son of Light, the former never gave up the hidden piece of kryptonite. He never trusted humanity and insisted on putting the means behind the result. All members of the "Justice League" All of his weaknesses have been archived by him and a method of restraint has been developed.
In fact, this is also the source of many people’s complaints about the movie "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice". Batman has always been the most strategizing leader in DC, so he can become the rescue of all superheroes with a mortal body. The last line of defense in the world. But under the lens of Zach Schneider, Batman's understanding of other superheroes comes from the villain Lex Luther. Against this backdrop, Batman, who had suddenly become the Superman ally after two years of planning, was transformed into a bit of a trivial matter.
Compared with the huge capacity of the infinite universe of comics, the emotional clues and transitions that movies can accommodate are really limited. And it is precisely Batman and Superman, and even Lex, who are extremely complicated and have too much historical deposits, unable to show that every aspect of them is the original sin of film space limitations.
The same can't show the completeness, and the pain of Superman. In "Man of Steel", Superman keeps searching for the meaning of his existence, and this film has become the most gloomy and dreary in the history of Superman. In "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice", the experience of Clark Kent, who still failed to stretch his brows, made all audiences feel distressed.
Although Zach Schneider adjusted the tone of the two films to a desolate and dark mood, Superman has always been like a golden thread from behind the dark clouds, with clouded confusion, but always insists on perfection and light. Representation. In fact, this is what readers have always expected and positioned for the image of Superman. He should be the most perfect combination of Angel and God in the world. He has the absolute power and ability of God, but like Angel, it only symbolizes salvation and hope.
This is a sweet and bitter fantasy, like the combination of Superman actor Henry Cavill's perfect appearance and always gloomy expression. To the audience and the world, this kind of perfect fantasy is beautiful, but to the characters and stories, this kind of fantasy carries the pain of distortion.
The Greek poet Euripides put it this way: "When a good person is hurt, all good people will go through the hardships with him."
Breaking means that there is no winner.
For commercial reasons, "Captain America: Civil War" obfuscates a lot of sharp content in the original plot. There are three most obvious places:
1. The jurisdiction of the "Superhero Registration Act": it is only required by the movie The actions of the "Avengers League" under the management of the United Nations are very different. In the original comics, the bill covers a series of training, dispatch, and rewards and punishments to the extent that it equates superheroes with government agents. This kind of political trick is even more disgusting.
2. Sacrifice caused by the "Civil War": It is regrettable that Colonel Rhode’s spine fractured, but this loss is far inferior to the giant Goliath-this is the heroic friend of the "Avengers" in the original comics- Death. The Marvel "Civil War" series of comics serialized in 2006 is like the story of two mothers vying for the same child. In the game of pulling the children, whoever loosens their hands will lose, and the talent who loses is the real one. Mother. Faced with the escalation of the "Civil War", Captain America decided to capture him with no effort. However, he was assassinated on his way to the court, and the "Avengers" was eventually disbanded.
3. The true face of Tony Stark: The head of Stark's industry has been burdened with multiple pressures from the government, the public and the family in the film, which provides a rationale for his splitting behavior. But in the original comics, Tony Stark is planning every step of the way. When he first met Thor, he left the latter’s hair to clone (it is the cloned man-made Thor kills Goliath died), he developed high-tech spider suits for Peter Parker, but he was collecting data all the time to prepare for countermeasures. The prison he built contained most of his former colleagues who did not want to sign the bill. After being rejected by Doctor Strange, Panthers, and X-Men one after another, Tony Stark sent the captured Daredevil to prison while persuading him to join the "Superhero Federation Team", and the latter remained silent all the way. In the end, only a silver coin was spit out from under his tongue, saying that this was the 31st piece that Judas deserved.
Fortunately, the fisting between the comrades-in-arms has enough dramatic tension. These changes did not affect the value torture of "Captain America: Civil War": Why is freedom worth defending?
For Tony Stark, the closest he was to death was when he was attacked by a self-made artillery shell in "Iron Man 1." That accident made him approve armor to become an iron man, and gave up part of the military industry. . "If the invention of Stark Industries gives the enemy a chance to use it, then I will give it up without hesitation." In a speech at Stanford University, Tony Stark clearly stated his attitude and position.
In the eyes of Steven Rogers, the principle of sacrificing for the sake of compromise is an intolerable cocoon. At Peggy Carter’s funeral, he became more aware of the precious experience supporting this belief, those who died in a foreign land because of the fight against the Nazis. Allied soldiers, their blood poured out the flower of freedom, but just because of a political transaction, they must abandon this hard-won fruit. As the captain of the American spirit, he cannot betray his soul.
As for Bucky, he was just an unfortunate pawn used to provoke Tony Stark and incite Steven Rogers.
As written in a martial arts novel, the strongest man in martial arts in the world enters the invisible black cave and finds hidden weapons attacking from all directions. The more he dodges and counterattacks, the faster those attacks will go around until the light returns. He only discovered that the so-called hidden weapon was just a blade suspended in the cave. No one in the world could be faster than him. Except for himself, the previous attacks also originated from himself.
From Loki to Ultron to Zemo, they all proved one thing: Only the "Avengers" can defeat the "Avengers", which is also the cheapest attack.
From the perspective of the young Peter Parker, the loss of control of the "Civil War" puzzled him. In the original comic, he took the initiative to support the "Superhero Registration Act" in order to repay Tony Stark for his father’s care. The public revealed his identity, even if it would make him vomit after the press conference. In the end, his old enemy found and killed Aunt Mei, which directly led to the collapse of Spider-Man and the restart of the current universe.
The "Avengers" originally had an organization "S.H.I. Director Nick Fury was also forced to hide in the underground activities. At that time, few people realized that this would be the last straw to overwhelm the camel.
In the future-if Marvel Studios will still maintain the principle of loyalty to the original book-Iron Man and Captain America will also personally participate in tricking Dr. Bruce Banner, who cannot control his abilities, into space and exile him to an alien planet. Events, in the dilemma between morality and reality, no one can be immune.
The screenwriter of the "Civil War" series, Mark Miller, is good at designing independent stories. "Wanted", "King of the Sea" and "Ace Agent: Secret Service Academy" are all his masterpieces. In an interview, he said that if he chooses himself, he will stand firmly on Tony Stark’s side, “Just like holding a gun requires a license, the American people’s support for counter-terrorism after 9-11 - including Relinquish one's own rights-all prove this."
However, Marvel comics can make Captain America corpse outside the court, Marvel Pictures dare not do so. Tony Stark did not kill his father and enemies, nor could he solve the problem of the "anti-registration camp." Friends, his wife and even Jarvis left his side one after another. In addition to the remaining fame, this Men who are accustomed to pretentiousness have actually failed.
And...
Compared with Marvel's division of superhero movies into stages, and almost stingy hiding one after another credit eggs to connect the world, DC has no such cautiousness at all. In "Batman v Superman", if you say Bruce Wayne's two nested dreams are still a bit of a mystery, so the superhuman movie he stolen from Lex Luthor is to actively show DC's ambitions to fans to watch, and can't wait to shorten the incubation path.
It’s just that things are hard to do. "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" has a global box office of less than 900 million U.S. dollars. Although this report card can be said to be unsatisfactory, it is indeed not easy to compare horizontally: "Captain America 3" "Civil War" may reach the box office of the same height in a mere 10 days, and its ultimate goal is to "guarantee 1.5 billion U.S. dollars and sprint 2 billion U.S. dollars."
People are more angry than people.
With the help of the powerful energy of the entertainment industry and the Internet, there is no sign of weakness in superhero fever. Shakespeare said, "Nothing is more ordinary than hope that it is extraordinary." Everyone has or has a heroism complex in his heart. It can't match the life’s fuel, rice, oil and salt, and it can’t escape the immaturity of adolescence, but it’s like a temple. There is always a light wind passing by the non-dry oil lamp, which will make the flames rise and reflect a huge and stalwart figure on the wall.
Don't be afraid of it.
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