From the Moon to the Abyss
“…one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Neil Armstrong of Apollo 11 proclaimed these words on the surface of the moon on this day back in 1969. This moment defined the United States as the world leader in space travel. For the first time in history, humans had landed on the moon. We were not on top of the world, we were above it. The Space Race was over and the United States had won. We were #1.
Nearly a decade was dedicated to achieving the mission of venturing not only into space, but a place we could only before look at with wide-eyed wonderment and curiosity: the moon. A challenge was presented and with hard work and determination completed despite incredible obstacles. It was inspiring and triumphant. (Cue “The Launch” from the ‘Armageddon’ soundtrack). It was an American moment.
Fast forward to July 20, 2012 and it feels as if we’ve missed our target. Instead, we’re slowly floating away from the place we know we should be landing in order to make groundbreaking new discoveries. Current policy needs dramatic changes and some politicians need to be replaced. The mission isn’t clear and there is nobody leading the charge. This all feels uneasy and even downright wrong to many. Quite frankly, it feels un-American in the sense that struggling in all the ways we are is what other countries do, but not US.
“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” President John F. Kennedy
Who will be the big dreamer and have that winning mentality to lead a nation into a space we’ve never been before? The American people want it, the country deserves it and the world needs it. The United States and its people need a defining moment, one that will change the course of history for the better as the U.S. has done so many times in its young and impressive history. In 1969, the U.S. was #1. It takes exceptionally hard work and vision to remain the best. The question is who has the flashlight to direct us out of the darkness and proudly plant the American flag into the ground to declare victory and superiority like three brave astronauts did 43 years ago on the moon? I repeat, the moon.
The Pleasures of Past “Inconveniences”
It’s Friday evening and after unwinding from a long and “stressful” week at school, my family and I embraced the TGIF-mentality much like the family did from the movie “ET.” We gathered in the family room that was perfect for watching movies and enjoyed a film that was just released. Surrounded by and in between all of us was a steaming hot Donatos pizza box, a half-gone two liter of Coca-Cola, cups and plastic Dontaos themed plates everywhere and an opened blue and white movie container with the word in bright yellow block letters “BLOCKBUSTER” showcased down the cases’ spine. This was a Friday night spent with family during my childhood. It was awesome.
Once the 3:00 p.m. bell sounded on that Friday during my elementary school days, the opportunity to make the weekend great had begun! After discovering my mom’s car from the usual lineup I opened the door and said hello. When asked what I had learned that day, I just responded with what had become protocol: “stuff.” With a humorous roll of the eyes, she put the car in drive and we went home.
Knowing that a very cool new movie had arrived that day at the movie store, I waited for the right moment. “Mom, you look really great today!” Thankful for a split second, she quickly saw through my transparent motive. Uncertainty still in the air, time had passed to early evening, around 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. Contemplating for a few moments, I finally mustered the courage to ask the two biggest questions of the impending weekend: “Mom, can we get pizza tonight?…and stop by Blockbuster?”
Pausing for dramatic effect (which worked in ways you cannot imagine), she replied, “Sure.” It was official: Friday night was going to be legen-wait for it…
The Blockbuster just a couple miles from my house was packed with fellow kids, parents, teenagers, adults and every age demographic you could picture. Looking at every movie box with precise analysis, I searched for “the one.” Once discovered in the “New Releases” section, I picked up and gazed at the cover box with amazement. Next step, I nervously and excitedly look behind it and hope for a VHS to be available for rental. As an FYI, a VHS is what us ‘old people’ used to call movies. Talkies is another popular expression.
At the counter, I hand the movie to the clerk who is sporting a welcoming smile and a happy attitude for the young man about the experience a cinematic adventure. My mom hands her the official membership card, the clerk swipes it, opens the case to ensure the correct movie was ready for rental, snaps it closed and then a white receipt is printed and stuck inside the top with the due date included. With a smile as wide as a mile, we walk out of the brightly lit, magical Blockbuster store and return home to then order a cheese pizza just like in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “Home Alone” that is at our front door in a speedy fifteen minutes. Once the pizza guy is paid on our warmly lit front step, the moment had finally arrived and it was officially Friday Movie Night.
Today, at virtually any hour and day of the week, I turn on my laptop, open up iTunes, go to the iTunes store, click on the movie I want, confirm the download through my iTunes account and in less than an hour I’m watching the movie…alone and with total convenience in the comfort of my own home. Ughh.
The British Aren’t Coming…They’re Here
From the 1770s to Word War II to the Beatles in the mid-1960s to…now. The British have a history of being connected with the United States of America (before & after formally becoming the U.S.), and in one way or another, changing the course of our country for years to come. Whether it be a revolution of historic consequence or a partnership against evil or a cultural transformation played out by four well-dressed gents from Liverpool, those with the classy and dignified accents seem to have a permanent corner reserved in the hearts of the American people. However, there is one major difference between ‘British Invasions’ of yesteryear to what has been occurring throughout the past decade or so. Can you hear it? Not always.
Piers Morgan, Sharon Osbourne, Simon Cowell, Kate Beckinsale, Chris Martin + his mates in Coldplay, David Beckham, Sienna Miller, Daniel Radcliffe, Ricky Gervais, Sacha Baron Cohen, Adele, Russell Brand, Daniel Craig and Christopher Nolan are just a few names of people who hail from England and have made quite a popular connection with the American people in the first decade of the 21st century. When Kate Beckinsale begins talking (about anything really), it’s nearly impossible not to be fully seduced by her amazingly adorable accent and equally cute smile. For anyone who has seen and/or heard Coldplay knows about their universally relatable storytelling weaved throughout their lyrics and their power to inspire an audience of one in a bedroom or twenty thousand at the Hollywood Bowl.
There is no doubt that despite disagreements over preferring a democracy to a monarchy (with the exceptions of Duchess Kate and her sister Pippa), our love affair with those from across the pond will surely forever be a bridge between our two cultures. This regardless of the fact we can’t always hear them coming.
What do Spiderman, Superman and Batman all have in common? They are all trademark characters and heroes born and raised in American culture. But in the past ten or so years, each of these characters have, are or are going to be played by British actors. How? They lost the accent.
Andrew Garfield first wowed American audiences with his brilliant portrayal of Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin in “The Social Network” by submerging his natural speak of the tongue to convincingly sound like an American college student who helped define social networking from his dorm room. Now having taken on Spiderman, the reviews are in and they are glowing. From their performances on screen, I have never heard of any observations, let alone complaints, as to whether Christian Bale or Gary Oldman didn’t genuinely sound as if they were residents of the Gotham universe. They did and were fantastic.
With complete sincerity from an American movie fan of the listed heroes above, all of the actors connected to these parts have done an excellent job, and should note we are still waiting on Brit Henry Cavill to debut as Superman in the summer of 2013. If they were American citizens (yes, I know Garfield was born in LA), this article wouldn’t exist. This entry is not about their performances because they have all been incredible and memorable. It’s just an observation that the first decade of the 21st century in America has showcased the newest “British Invasion” and its players, some to standing ovations of sorts.
It must be noted that in the middle of an economic recession/depression in America where a superhero to save the day is wished more with every passing night, I must confess that despite my views of each actors’ wonderful portrayals, it is still an unnerving feeling knowing American icons Batman, Spiderman and Superman have been outsourced to England. I just don’t think anybody heard it coming.
Superheroes of the 21st Century: A Turning Point
A little boy is three years old and is with his family visiting Niagara Falls. It’s like any other day full of tourists taking a gander at the pure grandiosity of the waterfalls. Then, on that warm summer day, that young boy makes a break for the railing of the falls. Immediately, the mother sees her child gunning for the edge and sprints to catch the soon-to-be-punished for a very long time boy. She saved him from going over the edge of the waterfalls and when she frantically asked him why, he replied, “Well, Superman saved a kid when he fell over Niagara Falls.” The motive: wanting to meet Superman.
Comic Con 2012 just finished its annual gathering in San Diego, complete with your neighbors whose lifelong dream is to be a superhero. To be fair, who doesn’t wish he or she were Superman or Thor or Wonder Woman or Batman or Cat Woman or He-Man? Even just holding a light saber (insert chills and feeling a power unlike you’ve ever felt before) and the full belief of being Luke Skywalker…Anyways, last year the biggest movie stars were Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig and of course, the one and only, Steven Spielberg. All were there promoting “Cowboys and Aliens.” For this year’s crowd, Christopher Nolan’s films had one of the upper hands with the movie fanatics. The hype surrounding the release of “The Dark Knight Rises” just one week away and an exclusive first glimpse of 2013s “Man of Steel” contained some of the highlights of the conference. Nolan’s Batman took an already dark Bruce Wayne and stripped him down to an even more raw caped crusader in a Gotham more directly tied to a world we live everyday. To elaborate, his Batmen movies are not filmed so much on sets as just filming at locations in a major city. But is this more true to reality setting good for superheroes?
Anyone who has seen Nolan’s two (and soon to be third) Batman films and/or has googled “Man of Steel” knows that his versions showcase a darker and again, more raw look at Batman and Superman personally as well as with regard to his surroundings. Is this good? My first impression of Clark Kent/Superman was portrayed by the best actor that will ever play the part (my opinion), and that of course being Christopher Reeve. His version had one clear difference to Nolan’s interpretation and it’s very simple. The “S” for Reeve is significantly brighter than what Henry Cavill is set to sport to the world in summer 2013. This is not just a minor costume change, but the large contrast on how Christopher Nolan and his team envisions this cherished All-American super hero: darker and more human. I always thought that superheroes were above the fray of us mere humans and that that was why we looked up and admired the man flying through the skies in a red cape holding onto the woman he just saved from a falling helicopter on the top of a skyscraper in New York city. Should Superman fans of years past be concerned?
From Bruce Wayne & Batman to Clark Kent & Superman, Christopher Nolan has reinvented both characters and their respective worlds for a new generation. For those seeing them for the first time, he will leave a very impressionable imprint in their minds of what to expect with these super heroes and for others to compare with movies/classics of the past. Pre-Nolan, the settings for superhero movies had elements of suspended belief and whole worlds created for the audience. With Nolan, the viewer is seeing more of the streets they walk everyday (especially in “TDK”) and heroes who appear to be more like us with flaws as well as sharing some of our vulnerabilities for getting seriously hurt by the bad guys.
One scene that comes to mind in “The Dark Knight” is when the Joker forces Batman to choose who he will save: Harvey Dent or Rachel? In a split second decision, he goes for Rachel, leaving Harvey’s rescue in the hands of Commissioner Gordon and the Gotham police. Except that the Joker tricked Batman and Harvey is saved by Batman, barely. Rachel doesn’t make it. In one of the following scenes, the sky is a blueish colored overcast with a gloomy mood overwhelming Wayne’s penthouse windows as he dwells on his decision. It’s as if the audience shares and can even feel the bone-chillingly cold emotional moment with the reflective Bruce Wayne. He couldn’t save everyone…he couldn’t save the day. He was human, like us. It all felt very real.
Without a doubt, this generation is seeing famed super heroes Batman, and the full Superman reboot in a year, through a new lens. I wonder though if people are seeing these new versions as a natural evolution of the characters and simply the next chapter of their stories or as the new status quo? Do fans want the more epic and personable saviors or the heroes who get knocked down, but have that super-human quality that always gives them that push to overcome even the most insurmountable obstacles to save the day in a world ultimately filled with optimism for good?
Fans of superheroes are at a turning point and must determine how we will see the man flying faster than a speeding bullet as well as the caped crusader in crime-ridden Gotham city: with us or above us?
Jimmy's Daily Planet 