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Jul. 27th, 2022 05:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1.Explanation of Marvel's Phase 4
Fresne apparently went to Hall H this year at the SDCC, and saw the Marvel, Sandman, and Star Trek panels. She posted about it on FB. Take away? Marvel explained their intent behind Phase 4. (Which I'd figured out on my own as had fresne). Phase 4 was all about the consequences of Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Iron Man, Ant Man, Hulk, et al's decision to go back through time and retrieve the Infinity Stones, in order to stop Thanos. The nice thing about serials - is they delve into the consequences of the characters actions. It's why I love superhero comics like Marvel - because it will delve into the consequences. And explore every conceivable angle of an action, also every character thread, and every character.
It's very hard for novels, movies, short stories, or medium that is not serialized to do that effectively. But serials can. MCU is the first time I've seen a movie franchise attempt this and pull it off. Star Wars tried and kind of failed miserably, as did Star Trek. It's VERY hard to do. Mainly because "mainstream" audiences like "plot" heavy stories, with beginning, middle, end - clear cut actions, and good guys and bad guys. They don't tend to "generally" speaking like non-linear plot threads, character motivational/emotional arcs, and the nitty gritty details and consequences.
So in the MCU fandom - you two types of fans - the ones who want a plot heavy movie - with A to B to C. Very clear plot structure, know where things are going. Voila. They think like sports fans. Big Bad (Thanos) fights heroes, heroes lose, they go back in time and Big Bad eventually defeated, heroes move on with their lives and fight next Big Bad.
The other type of fan is into the characters and world building. They want to know - wait a minute what are the consequences of going back in time and Loki getting dislodged through time, and becoming a temporal variant. Surely there's a consequence to that? And what are the logistics of time travel? How does it work exactly, and can Captain America really give up his mantle and decide to live out a live with Agent Carter without screwing things up? How about the fact that Thanos comes through time with Gamora to fight them - and Gamora isn't dead? Or what about Wanda's actions - and her grief and power? Or the fact that everyone put all their resources into this? And what are the effects of wiping out half the population for five years then magically bringing them back? Spiderman and his friends were gone for five years? Wanda, Ant Man, Vision were all gone. And Wanda gets to come back but why doesn't Vision - won't she be upset about that?
Guess which fan I am?
What the MCU did was cater to fan 2, and provide the details. It's what Marvel does best. It's what comics do best. It's what daytime serials and serialized television and novels do best - they ask the hard questions, the uneasy ones. Like how did Black Widow's sister handle her death, did Black Widow have a family - how did it affect them? How did it affect Hawkeye that Black Widow sacrificed herself in his place? How did it affect his family? How did everyone react to this?
And they discovered that there's a lot of folks who love the details. Game of Thrones kind of proved that too. As did the Lord of the Rings. People like epic fantasy, world-building, and character driven stories that focus on the details. As long as it is cast, directed, and written well.
[ I never know how much to hide in these posts.]
2. Crazy Workplace
Co-workers (who've seen it - and are all Black) did not like Nope.
Chidi: Boss came by to discuss it with Mel - and told her that Nope was the worst movie he'd ever seen. That there was no plot, no character development, and it didn't make sense - just plot holes. And he never does that.
ME: Well, actually he does. And he has odd tastes. He came by and told me to see various films at different points.
Chidi: He is right, my friend a film auteur - NYU Film School - saw Nope and was underwhelmed as well.
Me: I take it that you didn't like it?
Chidi: Not really, no. It had plot holes. It made no sense. Western? I'm not even sure it is one - it has horses and that's it. I mean this Jordan Peele who did Get Out and US, and now we have Nope - and it just doesn't live up to those other two films - it just isn't worthy!
Me: Well, these things are subjective. And he was blending genres...I know people who love the film. It's kind of like Everything Everywhere All At Once, you either love it or hate it -
Chidi: It's not ever really a Western. It has horses, so what. Westerns take place in the old west -
Me: No. There's modern Westerns. They take place in the West, and focus on horses, guns, cowboys, and ranches usually.
Chidi: Can't wait for you to see it!
ME: It's going to be a long time...
It is - I'm not dragging my sorry ass into a movie theater to see Nope with those reviews. Although, am curious. Now if I lived in the outskirts, had a multi-plex with arm-chair seats, easy to book tickets, and no one in the theater, tickets about 5-10 bucks - than yes. But alas, I live in the city where tickets are $15-$20 bucks, theaters are crowded, folks don't wear masks, and the seats are not arm chair recliners.
I'd rather wait for it to pop up on demand and watch from home.
3. Commute - Today
Tired. Overslept by thirty to forty-five minutes, so shouldn't be. But oversleeping resulted in racing about this morning. At any rate, I raced through my morning routine, then raced to the station to make the train. I shouldn't have bothered - the conductor was late, the supervisor was there, but not the conductor. We waited ten-fifteen minutes for the conductor, again. Frigging Transit needs to gets shit together. They keep making folks late for work.
On the way home, a twenty-something woman, sat in the middle, didn't leave much room, and wasn't wearing a mask. I kept sneezing today. I was half tempted to take off my mask and sneeze on her. But I didn't. And I moved away from her when I got the chance.
Commute makes my day 11 hours instead of just 8. I notice it more now than before. It's also exhausting. And unnecessary.
Fresne apparently went to Hall H this year at the SDCC, and saw the Marvel, Sandman, and Star Trek panels. She posted about it on FB. Take away? Marvel explained their intent behind Phase 4. (Which I'd figured out on my own as had fresne). Phase 4 was all about the consequences of Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Iron Man, Ant Man, Hulk, et al's decision to go back through time and retrieve the Infinity Stones, in order to stop Thanos. The nice thing about serials - is they delve into the consequences of the characters actions. It's why I love superhero comics like Marvel - because it will delve into the consequences. And explore every conceivable angle of an action, also every character thread, and every character.
It's very hard for novels, movies, short stories, or medium that is not serialized to do that effectively. But serials can. MCU is the first time I've seen a movie franchise attempt this and pull it off. Star Wars tried and kind of failed miserably, as did Star Trek. It's VERY hard to do. Mainly because "mainstream" audiences like "plot" heavy stories, with beginning, middle, end - clear cut actions, and good guys and bad guys. They don't tend to "generally" speaking like non-linear plot threads, character motivational/emotional arcs, and the nitty gritty details and consequences.
So in the MCU fandom - you two types of fans - the ones who want a plot heavy movie - with A to B to C. Very clear plot structure, know where things are going. Voila. They think like sports fans. Big Bad (Thanos) fights heroes, heroes lose, they go back in time and Big Bad eventually defeated, heroes move on with their lives and fight next Big Bad.
The other type of fan is into the characters and world building. They want to know - wait a minute what are the consequences of going back in time and Loki getting dislodged through time, and becoming a temporal variant. Surely there's a consequence to that? And what are the logistics of time travel? How does it work exactly, and can Captain America really give up his mantle and decide to live out a live with Agent Carter without screwing things up? How about the fact that Thanos comes through time with Gamora to fight them - and Gamora isn't dead? Or what about Wanda's actions - and her grief and power? Or the fact that everyone put all their resources into this? And what are the effects of wiping out half the population for five years then magically bringing them back? Spiderman and his friends were gone for five years? Wanda, Ant Man, Vision were all gone. And Wanda gets to come back but why doesn't Vision - won't she be upset about that?
Guess which fan I am?
What the MCU did was cater to fan 2, and provide the details. It's what Marvel does best. It's what comics do best. It's what daytime serials and serialized television and novels do best - they ask the hard questions, the uneasy ones. Like how did Black Widow's sister handle her death, did Black Widow have a family - how did it affect them? How did it affect Hawkeye that Black Widow sacrificed herself in his place? How did it affect his family? How did everyone react to this?
And they discovered that there's a lot of folks who love the details. Game of Thrones kind of proved that too. As did the Lord of the Rings. People like epic fantasy, world-building, and character driven stories that focus on the details. As long as it is cast, directed, and written well.
[ I never know how much to hide in these posts.]
2. Crazy Workplace
Co-workers (who've seen it - and are all Black) did not like Nope.
Chidi: Boss came by to discuss it with Mel - and told her that Nope was the worst movie he'd ever seen. That there was no plot, no character development, and it didn't make sense - just plot holes. And he never does that.
ME: Well, actually he does. And he has odd tastes. He came by and told me to see various films at different points.
Chidi: He is right, my friend a film auteur - NYU Film School - saw Nope and was underwhelmed as well.
Me: I take it that you didn't like it?
Chidi: Not really, no. It had plot holes. It made no sense. Western? I'm not even sure it is one - it has horses and that's it. I mean this Jordan Peele who did Get Out and US, and now we have Nope - and it just doesn't live up to those other two films - it just isn't worthy!
Me: Well, these things are subjective. And he was blending genres...I know people who love the film. It's kind of like Everything Everywhere All At Once, you either love it or hate it -
Chidi: It's not ever really a Western. It has horses, so what. Westerns take place in the old west -
Me: No. There's modern Westerns. They take place in the West, and focus on horses, guns, cowboys, and ranches usually.
Chidi: Can't wait for you to see it!
ME: It's going to be a long time...
It is - I'm not dragging my sorry ass into a movie theater to see Nope with those reviews. Although, am curious. Now if I lived in the outskirts, had a multi-plex with arm-chair seats, easy to book tickets, and no one in the theater, tickets about 5-10 bucks - than yes. But alas, I live in the city where tickets are $15-$20 bucks, theaters are crowded, folks don't wear masks, and the seats are not arm chair recliners.
I'd rather wait for it to pop up on demand and watch from home.
3. Commute - Today
Tired. Overslept by thirty to forty-five minutes, so shouldn't be. But oversleeping resulted in racing about this morning. At any rate, I raced through my morning routine, then raced to the station to make the train. I shouldn't have bothered - the conductor was late, the supervisor was there, but not the conductor. We waited ten-fifteen minutes for the conductor, again. Frigging Transit needs to gets shit together. They keep making folks late for work.
On the way home, a twenty-something woman, sat in the middle, didn't leave much room, and wasn't wearing a mask. I kept sneezing today. I was half tempted to take off my mask and sneeze on her. But I didn't. And I moved away from her when I got the chance.
Commute makes my day 11 hours instead of just 8. I notice it more now than before. It's also exhausting. And unnecessary.
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Date: 2022-07-29 01:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-07-29 01:40 am (UTC)