Day after day, I am confronted with the reality of suffering and just plain evil that exist. Right now, there are so many serious and heartbreaking things going on in the world. From racism and prejudice over justice to sexism and classism over equality to wars and conflict over resolution, there is plenty for me to be upset about. But you know what? I just don’t feel like dealing with it at the moment. Even with all of that happening…I am simply determined not to care about anything controversial right now. Instead, I want to talk about something else that is upsetting and, therefore, important to me…
Has anyone noticed that nearly every superhero film seems to be ending in the exact same way?
Don’t get me wrong, the characters are different, and the acting, casting, effects and script phenomenal. But, more and more often, I can spot the formula in the film. It goes a little something like this:
Male Lead: Push the button/pull the lever/flip the switch/turn the dial/type on the keypad!!!
Female Lead: But it’ll kill you!!!
Male Lead: I am a hero! My life is meaningless! To save the world, you have to push the button/pull the lever/flip the switch/turn the dial/type on the keypad right now!!!!
Female Lead: (pushes the button/pulls the lever/flips the switch/turns the dial/types on the keypad.)
Cue explosion followed by wreckage and the apparently dead body of the Male Lead, while the Female Lead looks and/or yells on. Fade the scene to black. Shift to next scene and observe Male Lead with no significant (i.e. permanent) injuries.
This pattern holds true (in some shape or form) in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Maria Hill and Captain America), Iron Man (Pepper Potts and Iron Man), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Gwen Stacy and Spider-man), The Avengers (sort of true with Black Widow closing the gate before Iron Man was back through), The Incredible Hulk (Betty and Banner right before the final fight scene) and probably several others, with Honorable Mention being given to the Dark Knight Rises, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The First Avenger and a gender flipped X2: X-men United.
Maybe it’s sadistic of me, but just once it would be nice to see someone lose a hand or an eye that doesn’t regenerate (and Nick Fury doesn’t count.). Even a permanent and visible scar would suffice.
At least, that’s what I wanted to say. Then I took a good long look at some of my own works.
Can you say, Pot calling the Kettle black? Sure, I knew that you could.
Granted, mine wasn’t an exact duplicate of this model. Nevertheless, there was some screaming, an explosion, a dead bad guy and no permanent injuries to any of the main cast members. Is that a convention they’re teaching nowadays, or do we just want to have (i.e. expect) that happy ending, in clear defiance of all common sense and logic? Would anything else even be accepted? And what does that mean in the grand scheme of things? What impact does that have on real life?
(Yeah, I said I wasn’t going to get heavy this time, but we have already established I can’t be trusted when it comes to plot twists and endings.)
We are consumed by this desire for a happy ending, even when that is technically impossible…and maybe that’s not a bad thing. Maybe that’s hope. Maybe that’s human beings never quite giving up, even when common sense (and probably everybody we know) indicates that surrender is the best course. Maybe we need a little impossible to make what’s normally possible a little bit more bearable. Or, maybe we have the need to leave enough of the storyline intact to justify a sequel. Just a thought.
Now, for the sake of this article, you must push the button/pull the lever/flip the switch/turn the dial/type on the keypad/click the like, comment or follow button!!!!! It’s the only way.
Nothing to Fear...Except Everything 