Myths and what can be made of them

[fajrdrako]

When I was a kid reading "Adventure Comics" and "Superboy", not to mention "X-Men" before it became "Uncanny", there was essentially only one story. I suppose there was Earth-1 and Earth-2 but I never paid attention. There had been a Superman radio show, but I never heard it; and a TV show, but it wasn't aired in Ottawa. There were no movies or novels about Superman. Life was pretty simple.

And there was one X-Men, with a finite set of characters.

Watching "X-Men Evolution" today, I realized how wide and deep the myths have become. We have become so accustomed to overlapping realities - there's the movie Superman, the "Lois and Clark" TV version, the "Superboy" TV version (remember that?), and now "Smallville". There's the pre-Crisis Superman and the post-crisis Superman. Version after version, sometimes in the same medium and the same continuity, sometimes not. Sometimes versions contradict themselves, sometimes they steal ideas from each other, sometimes they stand alone.

"X-Men" is the same. When Marvel (in an amazing leap of inspiration) decided that there was not just one X-Men reality, the possibilities were suddenly infinite. I was marvelling - er, I mean expressing amazement that there is so much Pyro/Iceman slash suddenly, since the second X-Men movie. But that's because the movie is so much its own reality, its own continuity. In one version, Rogue is Anan paquin, scared t fly a plane. In the next version, she's a kick-ass kid not scared to fly anywhere without a plane. Ages and situations are as fluid as plot developments are.

That has happened in both cases is that the idea has exceeded the characters. Instead of Superman (or Clark Kent) as an individual we have the concept of "a benign alien who uses his unusual abilities to help people". Instead of any particular group of X-Men we have the concept of a world where Mutants and humans are estranged, and some Mutants fight humans while others protect them.

I see it as a sort of coming of age of the comic book concepts, but also as a sign of how adaptable culture is. Those themes are the classic paradigms of comics, they aren't confined to comics. It's like a genie out of the bottle: the world at large is becoming conversant with ideas only a certain segment of fans used to know.

Myths of our time.

Comments

[isagel.livejournal.com]

To me, this is the main attraction of a show like Smallville. Superman, like Batman and to a growing extent other comic book heros like the X-men, has become a modern myth. A myth in a sense very similar to that of the ancient Greek and Roman heros and gods, or medieval characters like the knights of the Round Table. The skeleton of the Superman story is so well known to us that it is barely of interest. What fascinates us with every new retelling of the tale is instead the flesh on the bones, the treatment of character and twist of plot that will make this specific version different from any other. Because the myth is familiar to us, it opens easily to endless varieties of meaning. It can be used to convey almost any message, because the safety that lies in its familiarity will anchor it with the readers no matter what. In SV, for instance, I think that the rock solid concept of masculinity associated with the mythos of Superman has allowed for a deeper exploration of the diversity of real masculinity than even the shows producers are aware of. While Lois & Clark may have tried to be Superman for the era of lipstick feminism, Smallville cannot help being Superman for the era of queer. And the strength of both shows comes from the fact that they use a culturally absorbed mythos to make people listen to something they ought to hear. Like any good myth, the Superman mythos adapts willingly to the needs of the time when it is told. The day it no longer does, it will end up on the scrap heap of mythology along with tales we can't even remember the names of today.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

What happened to the message I wrote here? Did it get lost in the ether of the Net? Will it turn up tomorrow?

Ah well, I'll write it again, and if it turns up... so be it.

To me, this is the main attraction of a show like Smallville.

I agree absolutely. It makes it so much more than it appears at face value. The creators know this too, and are putting considerable efforts into semiotics, iconography, and subtle allusions. I find it incredibly creative. Even when viewers don't necessarily understand what they're seeing, they get the effect.


The skeleton of the Superman story is so well known to us that it is barely of interest. What fascinates us with every new retelling of the tale is instead the flesh on the bones, the treatment of character and twist of plot that will make this specific version different from any other.

Yes, and every new telling adds something that fits the needs or interests of its time. "ACtion #1" was not about the same things that "Smallville" is about: partly because of the growth of the myth, but also because of the perceptions of 2003 compared with 1939.

it will end up on the scrap heap of mythology along with tales we can't even remember the names of today.

But cultural memory is a strong and retentive thing. We have myths that were going strong 800 or 1,000 years ago: King Arthur, for example, or Alexander the Great - much cited by Lionel and Lex. Beowulf was redone as a movie for our time with Antonio Banderas; Xena, Hercules and other TV shows play on the Greco-Roman pantheon; and these predate known history. Of course we don't know the myths that died, but the longevity of the good ones is staggering.

The medium changes. The themes change. But the myth lives on.

P.s. I love your 'fighting destiny' icon.