Liberal values

In this absolutely insane piece, Sam Biddle of Gawker claims that the recent Spider-Man movie franchise hasn't been quite as successful because of the "traditional values" the character has been saddled with in the movies. A document from Sony has surfaced (probably from that infamous hack last year) that lists character traits the studio requires the Spider-Man/Peter Parker character to have -

And after Biddle lists these traits that Marvel and Sony have put forth for Peter Parker, he gives this utterly insightful and reasoned response (edited for taste) -

Wow, Spider-Man is a [f***ing] dork.

Master of entertainment journalism, you are.

Basically, since Spider-Man/Peter Parker is a decent, upstanding, moral individual, he's a "f***ing dork" and somehow the movie-going public doesn't appreciate genuinely good guys in superhero films anymore.

Gee - someone oughta inform those poor, deluded schlubs who made "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" such a huge success. I mean, Steve Rogers isn't exactly dealing crack cocaine or pimping out prostitutes.

Here's the thing - for every upstanding, moral Spider-Man or Captain America, you've also got that rebellious jerk Iron Man or foul-mouthed, R-rated Deadpool (how they handle THAT upcoming movie is going to be interesting). I mean, has Biddle even watched "Daredevil"? (I doubt it). That's the thing with superheroes - ANYONE can become a superhero, regardless of your moral values. Are you going to help save the world from the evilest of evil? Cool - you're one of the good guys (however morally gray you may be otherwise).

The Blaze's Chris Field has commentary on this this article and I quite like the way he summed it up (and he even admits that he's not a rabid comic book movie fan, though he does like them) -

Let’s sum up what we learned from Gawker today:

• If you refuse to put illegal drugs into your body or refuse to sell illegal drugs for others to put into their bodies, you’re a “f***ing dork.”
• If you believe that abusing alcohol might not be the best for you, you’re a “f***ing dork.”
• If you don’t use phrases like “f***ing dork, ” you’re a “f***ing dork.”
• If you hold to any sort of belief that sex is for adults within the bonds of one-man-one-woman marriage, you’re a “f***ing dork.”

The world as the left would have it is revealed by those superhero qualities Gawker and their cohorts would celebrate (or mock and eliminate).

Whatever failings of the Spider-Man movies (and as much as I like the films, I agree there are failings), they aren't inherent in the moral character of Peter Parker or the "edgy-and-oh-so-hip" lifestyle that the left wants embodied in entertainment. People still like genuinely good characters within genuinely good stories. The two aren't mutually exclusive.