When We Become Deadened

Blockbuster hits have a way of doing that. They linger on your Blogger and Facebook feeds; you see references and hashtags all over Twitter and entertainment websites. Inevitably, it makes one stop and think over their opinions about said blockbuster hits in question--in this case Man of Steel. Like many people, I spent Father's Day sitting in the theater, exposing and introducing myself to yet another superhero flick that I did not initially grow up with. (In fact, despite a dear friend of mine loving Smallville, I still hadn't done anything Superman related up until last week.)

I left the theater with mixed feelings. I'll just admit the obvious: Henry Cavill is one smokin' dude ;-) He was gorgeous to look at (and I can say that I saw him before he was Superman/Clark Kent--AKA on "The Tudors"). I also enjoy watching Amy Adams, so I wasn't going to complain about her. My issue with the film primarily lies in the last hour.

When a friend told me that "if a movie ever suffered from too much violence, it's this one," I wasn't quite sure what to believe. Frankly, it seemed like an exaggeration. Yet a week later, that is the thing I most remember about Man of Steel. Another friend on Twitter said, "Man of Steel? More like man who likes to smash skyscrapers and kill hundreds of innocent people." Truer words were, in my opinion, were never spoken.

You see, as I sat in the theater, I kept getting flashbacks to 9/11. A day that was painful for all Americans and one I would not rather revisit. But as I watched building after building crumble in on itself, I was taken back to that horrible Tuesday morning. Look at the picture off to the right--it looks like a production still and yet, it's not. It is the real thing.

Eerie isn't it?

The violence hasn't gone completely unnoticed by the critiquing public. However, there are excuses made, I am sure. "Oh, the director Zach Snyder did the film "300." Of course this one will also be violent." "This was supposed to be a darker version of Superman--much like Christopher Nolan did with Batman."

You know what? Let's just call a spade a spade.

We have become deadened to a lot of things.

We walk around in a trance. We make excuses. We become used and accustomed to things. I'm just as much of an offender as the next person. Media talks about events so much that when there is a kidnapping or some major catastrophe, our natural reflex is "oh wait, that happened? I thought that was last week."

Nothing fazes us anymore

I guess that's why I am happy about the fact that Man of Steel didn't completely sit well with me. It proves that while I tolerate innuendo, while I am content to just use a fast forward button during a sex scene, I still have things that make me unsettled. And useless violence is one of them. For some reason, even "The Avengers" or "Captain America's" violence scenes didn't bug me as this one has. Perhaps because I felt like I had someone to root for. Whereas Henry Cavill's Superman, no matter how well he filled out a spandex uniform, left me wanting a redemptive character to root for.

I know. It flies in the face of everything Superman is supposed to me.
But I didn't. I didn't root for him. I didn't NOT root for him. I felt indifferent to his character. And you never should feel that way. If you read a book or watch a movie and feeling nothing for all of the people involved, that is a sign of a problem.

I feel we have one here on so many levels. Will that feeling change with another viewing of Man of Steel? Do I care enough to find out?

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I would love to hear everyone else's thoughts. Here are some "official" reviews for your reading pleasure. =)

*Ruth's Review here
*Charity's Review here
*Rissi's Review here