Eternal Arguments... Televison Preferences

Once when I was in college, I told a classmate that I was a big fan of the X-Files. My classmate then asked me if it was just because the lead actress (Gillian Anderson) was hot. Boy, was asking THAT question a mistake! I went on a 45 minute rant on all the things I LOVED about the show that had absolutely NOTHING to do with Gillian Anderson's hotness. (Any one of my friends can tell you about being on the receiving end of those rants, my dear readers. While *I* enjoy them, it seems that NO ONE ELSE does.) Since then, that particular accusation has been levied at me dozens of times by friends, co-workers, even random strangers that get caught up in my conversations because we're stuck in line for a movie. Yes, that has happened to me. A LOT.

The most recent person to levy this accusation was my sister. (Granted, this was about a year ago, but still.) Despite my best interests, I couldn't make her understand that I don't care about the attractiveness of actresses. It's Hollywood, EVERYONE there is good looking. I bring this topic up because of a show I tested to see if I would enjoy watching the show enough to really invest in it. The show is called Rogue and stars a favorite actress of mine, Thandie Newton (Mission Impossible 2, Crash, Chronicles of Riddick). And before you ask, yes, I find Thandie Newton to be a very attractive woman.

Isn't she gorgeous?

In the show, Newton plays an undercover cop whose son is killed and becomes obsessed with finding his killer. It seemed like an interesting premise. Usually a concept like that gets one episode or maybe a two part ep on another series, not its own series, so I thought I'd check it out. In my pre-watch research, I found out that Thandie Newton was cast as the cop, Grace Travis. Given the movies I've seen her in, I was encouraged by her choosing to work on the show. An actress of this caliber doesn't choose second rate material. So, I decided to watch the two part pilot episode.

When I watched the show, I found out that the main villain of the show was played by Marton Csokas (xXx, LOTR, Bourne Supremacy) this was even MORE encouraging. But as I watched the show, I found myself not connecting with the characters; not empathizing with the mother who just lost her child. Since this is the main emotional point of the show, this was disheartening. By the middle of the show, I was getting bored. Now this being a non US based show, the producers threw in a curve ball: a nude scene with Ms. Newton. I was surprised since I had NEVER even heard of Ms. Newton doing any nudity in her work. But it was a quick overhead shot in the shower, so it wasn't really a big deal. I kept watching, hoping to find SOMETHING worthwhile to get me invested in the show.


But, by the three quarter mark, there was nothing. I didn't care that the mom spent a whole 4 months obsessing over her child's death while the father seemed to have gotten over it. I didn't care that the obsession isolated the mom from her daughter. I didn't care when the mom blew her cover and then told the truth to save her life. And when she went back home and started a rough sex scene with her husband (again with all the nudity that implies, remember this is a NON-U.S. show), I TURNED OFF THE SHOW.

Yes, you read that right.

In the middle of a sex scene with a woman I find very attractive, while she was doing nudity for what I think is the first time ever, I WAS BORED. There was no interest whatsoever. I stopped the show, erased it from my computer and watched the latest episode of Criminal Minds. A show about hunting down serial killers that has no nudity whatsoever, but a great deal of blood, violence, and death; THAT is what I chose over watching a hot actress getting topless and screwing. That is my proof.

 I don't care about the attractiveness of actresses. I care about their talent. Their ability to make me suspend my disbelief long enough to get me emotionally invested in the story they are trying to tell, or the philosophy a show presents, the world they offer me a glimpse into, or at the very least, the PEOPLE whose lives they offer me to watch. And if I don't care about any of that, I won't watch the show. I won't even finish an episode!


Please, my dear readers, tell me that at least ONE of you understands where I'm coming from on this. Sound off in the comments below.

Eternal Arguments: Star Trek vs Star Wars

Dear readers, I would pay full price TWICE to see this on film!! The space battle alone would be worth the tickets. But the true awesomeness would be the interpersonal battles:

Picard Vs Emperor Palpatine
Kirk Vs Darth Vader
Data vs.... the Death Star

I have half a mind to start an internet petition to get a grassroots campaign to get the project moving. Who's with me??

BTW, I'm one of those people who supports both Trek & Star Wars. Each franchise has it's benefits. I'm not rabidly for or against either. I love them both!

Eternal Arguments: Marvel Vs DC

While there are many different comic book titles in print, the bulk of them can be traced back to the Big Two of the comic book world: DC Comics & Marvel Comics. With so much of the comic book world under their influence, it's only natural that the two companies would start some friendly competition. The fans, on the other hand, have (at times) gotten to almost Blood Feud levels over the rivalry between Marvel & DC. It's almost as bad as Alliance vs Horde in Warcraft. As soon as I run into a fellow comic fan, it is inevitable that I get asked which side I'm on Marvel or DC. My answer has inspired reactions from stunned silence, through endless hysterical laughter, to heated argument. Whose side am I on, Marvel or DC?

Both, and neither.

I'm completely serious on this. It has nothing to do with being indecisive or any derivation of the term. The reason I like both comic companies has to do with WHY I read their comics to begin with. Over the course of my life, I have found that people learn a great deal from stories. They tell stories to explain ideas, to teach others, and to have a good time, of course. Comics are unlike any other medium in that they use both visual and written storytelling to convey their meaning which gives them an awe-inspiring level of power and a unique manner in which to USE that power.

I am a logical person. In logic, it is usually necessary to distance yourself from the subject you're examining. You do that by creating constructs of real world objects that have the properties you're interested in studying and then examine how those constructs interact. This is where DC comics come in. The characters there represent people in a world far away from ours and the belief systems these characters express and the resultant consequences are a good learning experience and test for my own personal beliefs.

For example, my favorite comic character, Batman, makes a choice to act like a criminal when chasing criminals, except for one cardinal law. He will not kill. Taking that kind of choice and analyzing it from a logical, and ethical perspective is an interesting intellectual exercise. Can he really be responsible for the future actions of a criminal he didn't kill? Isn't the criminal responsible for his own actions just as Batman is? Can Batman be an agent of good if he commits evil acts such as murder? Is his personal sense of good worth tarnishing for the greater good of society? Can a society be good if that society is made up of such tarnished people? Is a society whose laws repeatedly put proven criminals back out into the population truly worth defending?

These types of questions are best contemplated in the dealings of DC comics. They are separated enough from the real world to make these questions provocative without getting buried in real life details. From these musings one could forge a potent set of ideals that one could live their life by and paint a picture of the world they want to live in. Even if it will only exist in their own mind.


While I am logical, the universe I exist in has a much more powerful logic. Unfortunately, universal logic is more epic in scale and a great deal more vicious than the clean, simple world of human logic. The clash between the cold logic of lofty ideals and the real world's red hot passion is more accurately portrayed in Marvel comics, where people who believe in those ideals and try to live by them are faced with the type of challenges only the real world can dish out. For example, my favorite group of heroes, the X-Men show the world what only an outcast feels. They show the delicate balancing act most people have to go through at some point: controlling their own emotions, while keeping a buffer between the "normal" world and theirs. So many different communities deal with this same balancing act that the X-Men can represent anybody. Think about it. At some point in time, EVERYONE goes through a period of feeling like an outcast in society, homosexuals, minorities, the handicapped, young people, old people, rich people, or poor people. The X-Men can be shown to represent any and all of them. The broad accessibilty of Marvel brings home the issues that Marvel presents in a manner that is just as provocative, but more germane to your immediate life.

You say you won't kill, but what about to save the life of your child? Why stand up and defend humanity when they hate you for what you are and will never accept you? When given power, can you really use it wisely? Why do you care if killing someone takes something away from you, when so many people will be saved by that person dying? Why are you more important than they are?

These types of questions are best contemplated in the dealings of Marvel comics. They are close enough to the real world to make these questions important because they have to be answered in the world we live in. From these musings one could see the effect the ideals one clings to could have on their life and paint a picture of the world they most likely will live in. Even if it's only for a little while.


In the end, both schools of thought are worthy of my attentions, and I find both useful in many wildly varied ways. I love DC comics. I love Marvel comics. I don't place either on a higher pedestal than the other. They are both ESSENTIAL to me, like Yin & Yang, Chaos & Order, Life & Death. Both have their place and both are cherished for what they inspire in me.

Eternal Arguments: Batman Vs Superman

There are a couple of eternal arguments going on in my life. These arguments are everlasting battles of will against any who stand opposed to my beliefs in the particular subject matter. These get so involved that most people who get into these arguments with me get to the point where we just agree to disagree on the topic and leave it at that, with a possible re-visiting of the topic at some future point in time when either of us are bored.

One of these arguments is who is the better character: Batman or Superman? Before I get started let me be perfectly clear: I'm not going to be going over the history of these characters. They are both so ingrained in American mythology that practically everyone knows some version of their history. If you don't know, look it up. There's some good story lines there!

In DC comics, there are three flagship characters. These three are the core of the DC universe, both in the comics and in the company itself. They are, in order: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman. You might wonder why the Amazonian princess isn't in contention here. The simple answer is comic books were/are/will be created mostly for boys. Girls have much more important things to do than read comics and argue about the relative strengths of the lead characters in those comics. Since Wonder Woman was created to appeal to girls, she has the privilege of being an undeniably awesome character and enjoys the presence of no real rival, whereas the rivalry between Superman & Batman has existed since Batman first came on the scene.

Let's start with the Man of Steel. To be fair, my position isn't that Superman is a bad character. There are a great many compelling story lines in his saga. I've enjoyed reading his comics, watching SOME of his shows, and some of his movies. Not to mention that Superman represents the unconscious fantasies of most American males. I will give all that to Supes. But the man is still an idiot. Superman grew up in a world that could never touch him. Granted, it took time for most of his flashy powers(like heat vision or flight) to develop, but he was invulnerable & super strong pretty much from childhood. This colors his perceptions now as an adult super-hero. Since nothing can ever hurt him, he always favors frontal assault style tactics. Bullets start flying, he gets in front of them. Lasers start flying, there he goes jumping in front. A bad guy shows up, Supes flies in through a wall and just starts breaking stuff. For someone who is loaded with so much supposedly advanced knowledge (all his training and learning from Krypton), Superman's thinking is remarkably limited. He's like a sledgehammer. There is rarely a time where he actually stops to think about what would be the most effective use of his powers in a given situation.

His greatest villain, Lex Luthor, has survived against the most powerful man on Earth for years simply by outsmarting him at every level. For all his power and personal charisma, Superman's greatest vulnerability (aside from the skittles rainbow of Kryptonite available) is his mind. The worse part is, he does NOTHING to improve himself, or expand his mind. In his mind, his strength comes from his abilities and so his abilities are the answer to everything. Superman isn't a bad character, he's just an idiotic one.

Then there's the Dark Knight. In essence, my position is that Batman is just better than Superman. I've always found it amazing, funny and exceptionally cool that the hero ranked second in the DC pantheon and biggest rival to Superman is a man who is a "super hero" (I debate that classification, but I'll use the term for ease of reference.) with no super-human abilities of any kind. Where Superman represents the ultimate fantasy of American males (some would argue males in general), Batman represents the height of human capability. No one could ever BE Superman, but with proper training, and enough money, a person can actually BE Batman. And that's a major key to the character. He represents the current pinnacle of what humanity can ACTUALLY achieve, should we CHOOSE to do it. Batman is a super hero because he DECIDED to be one. When he made that decision, he knew he would do whatever it took, make every necessary sacrifice, all to reach his goal. That decision colors everything in Batman's world.

Batman looks at every situation from a cold, pragmatic standpoint, picking and choosing his options with precision and doing exactly what is necessary to get the job done. Even DURING encounters, he's evaluating, assessing, adapting. Where Superman is a sledgehammer, Batman is a sword. Focused, subtle, yet powerful. A lot of people ridicule Bats because of all the gadgets he uses. But, look at it this way, every encounter Batman has, he learns from and makes himself better for his next encounter. He gathers information, and whatever he couldn't accomplish on his own, he designs & builds a tool to HELP him get the job done. It is my belief that the best way to beat Batman is to kill him during the first encounter. After that, he'll adapt and be able to overcome in the next encounter. It's also telling, that with all the knowledge that Superman possesses, he still goes to Batman for advice (and assistance). Ironically, Batman's greatest weakness is the very thing that defines him: he is only human. Mind-to-mind, Batman is virtually unbeatable.

At the end of the day, that cold focused determination, the determination to face the darkness of the world with the darkness inside him, the willingness to conceive of things other people, even other HEROES, don't want to see... those things are what makes Batman so appealing to me. Superman will never compare to that in a million years. Even to step on that playing field, Supes would have to become darker than he would ever allow. At heart, Superman will always be the Big Blue Boyscout and Batman will always be The Dark Knight.