A film studies graduate student ruins Spider-Man

My spidey sense is tingling

In the summer of 2002 Sony Pictures released the highly anticipated adaptation of the popular comic book series Spider-Man.  The film, staring Tobey Maguire and directed by Evil Dead alum Sam Raimi, would go on to smash box office records and usher in a new era of superhero driven cinema.   While many passed off the movie as “popcorn fare”  others saw it as something more.

While the film does brush up against such intriguing topics as the military-industrial complex post 9/11 and the effects a non-traditional family has on adolescence, the most gripping storyline involves young Peter Parker.

Sammuel Jackson does Shakespeare

Yes, they deserve to die, and I hope they burn in hell.

The inspiration for this comes from two sources: First, this scene from Pulp Fiction, and second this sketch from season two of the Chappelle Show. With that in mind I have reinterpreted Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” speech for Mr. Jackson. As a fair warning, I don’t really know who is reading this still so both the links and the speech after the jump contain copious amounts of swearing and violence. Not really for the faint of heart.

Why so serious?

Batman is Jung

Because I am a dork I am about to reference a deleted scene from Pulp Fiction. It occurs when John Travolta’s character goes to pick up Uma Thurman’s character for their date. As Travolta sits their rolling a cigarette, Thurman comes out from wherever she was with a video camera and begins to interview Travolta. The question that generates the most conversation between the two is when Thurman asks Travolta if he is a Beatles man or an Elvis man. I forget exactly how it goes, but the agreement the two characters come to is that while it may be perfectly acceptable to like both, you can only truly love one.

I believe the same thing goes for Batman and Superman. Of all the superheroes, except for maybe Spider-Man, Batman and Superman are our two greatest and most recognizable. Like the Beatles and Elvis, everything that came after them bears their mark. A story can only be told so many ways, and Batman and Superman not only did it first, but they also did it the best.

So, I am a Batman guy, pure and simple. I can watch Superman movies and shows and enjoy them, but nothing else in the Superhero world gives me the joy of something involving the caped crusader. Even the goofy ’60s TV show starring Adam West ranks higher on my list of hero-centric entertainment than anything featuring Clark Kent. But the real reason I like Batman more than Superman is that he’s just a better character.