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It's superheroes and not their super-villain counterparts that we should really be afraid of. This idea has been explored in a number of superhero movies, including such diverse fare as The Incredibles, Watchmen, and the post-Sokovia adventures of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In each, lawmakers shackle our protagonists in response to the collateral damage caused when they step in to save the day.
But perhaps collateral damage is not what we should be worried about. According to a new study, the "good guys" are actually significantly more violent than the antagonists they're trying to stop. These findings were presented on Monday at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Pennsylvania pediatrician Robert Olympia and his colleagues sat through 10 superhero movies released in 2015 and 2016, cataloging each specific act of violence and noting whether it was committed by a protagonist or villain.
As anyone who has sat through a recent summer superhero tentpole can attest, there is a lot of violence to catalogue—on the order of 23 acts per hour for the good guys, with just 18 violent acts per hour for the bad guys. And it is mostly guys—male characters were five times more likely to engage in violence than female characters.
Well, it's edgier that way.
[For the sake of discussion, here's a 3-minute clip on YouTube: Incredibles 2 Fight Scene in Full: Jack-Jack vs. Raccoon (Exclusive). How many violent acts do you count? --Ed.]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 09 2018, @06:54PM (8 children)
Comic books and video games? What happened to the "Stuff that matters" from the site that must not be named?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by nitehawk214 on Friday November 09 2018, @06:58PM (2 children)
Look, it's either this occasionally or it's 24/7 politics.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 09 2018, @10:29PM (1 child)
So, what happened to the stuff that matters?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 10 2018, @01:50PM
Stuff that matters becomes overrated and ignored once you start allowing Sign In with Facebook
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Friday November 09 2018, @08:11PM (1 child)
I thought it was interesting as a discursive shift. Heroes have been twisted into anti-heroes. Not universally--Wonder Woman was refreshing because it hearkened back to concepts of duty and honor that used to be the meat of every superhero mythos. It used to be that even Batman was an upbeat character that believed in peace, justice, and the American way. Then he morphed into a dark character that you really couldn't root for. Everybody else followed that lead and now torture, murder, and mass destruction seem to be standard operating procedure.
I think that says a lot about the state of humanity's dreams, which have been dark of late.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by ilPapa on Saturday November 10 2018, @04:37PM
Heroes have always been antiheroes. The ultimate outsiders.
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 09 2018, @09:29PM (1 child)
Comic books, check!
video games, check!
superheros, check!
It appears to me that all of the above are on the standardized list of topics which could be deemed "news for nerds".
You clearly don't belong here.
Door is on your left, but the furry convention is in a different building across campus.
Please be sure to turn in your nerd card on your way out.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Phoenix666 on Friday November 09 2018, @11:00PM
It seems an odd criticism to me, as if nerd culture wasn't always inclusive of sci-fi, fantasy, and superhero topics. I vividly recall topics like this being discussed on /. from the beginning; anyone else recall the "Natalie Portman and hot grits" meme?
Disinviting this AC from SN seems a bit severe at this point, but he should go back and double-check his "news for nerds" history before repeating his assertion.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 10 2018, @07:10PM
Actually, those comics show the correct way to gain and control power. They are commentary of the US police state...
To control any force, you must be worst than that force. You must win at ANY cost.
1) America's nuclear bombing of Japan.
2) America's fire bombing action of Toyko
3) Carpet bombing for Germany
6) and on and on
US Police, the miltary force that is unanswerable to American public...
1) Civil Rights marches
2) Waco, Texas
3) Ferguson
And now corrupt court system...
The most resent... an uninvited Sexual Predator on the supreme court.
Based on a corrept legislated branch...
Who call themselves "Republicans" but are actaul "White Nationalish", stoking fears of "Alien Invastion" that they created with H2B slavery system.