2016: A. Bass Blog

At first thought, I assumed the term “flawed character” to be synonymous to “character.” However, after some consideration, this doesn’t seem to be valid in all cases. Example one: President Bartlet, aka Martin Sheen, in The West Wing, the “God figure” who was arguably worshipped by his fellow characters on the show. Much the same, example two: Dumbledore, the kind of grandfather we all wanted but never had. And lastly, George Feeny in Boy Meets World, our favorite childhood mentor and role model. These characters are not just “characters”, they are flawless characters. However, for the majority of character who are not flawless, I still believe there are fundamental differences between a character who has flaws and a flawed character. A flawed character has a certain characteristic, a flaw, about him/her that continually influences the character’s actions and decisions. Joss Whedon perfects the use of flawed characters in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, specifically in the two-part pilot, to champion the underdog, women, and introduce conflict.

At first, Buffy seems like your typical blonde, superficially pretty, run-of-the-mill high school teenager.  Joss Whedon admits that this was exactly what he was going for. That blonde chick that always dies first in a horror film? Yeah… her… Initially, the audience assigns Buffy’s character flaw: a woman, she is a woman. Although she serves as the “superhero” of the series, it is assumed that she is weaker, less intelligent, and more emotional than a man. The fact that she is a woman will negatively affect how she handles situations and makes decisions. However, pretty soon the viewer realizes that Buffy isn’t the stereotypical dumb blonde but quite far from it. Within minutes, Buffy is shown, in Joss Whedon’s words, “kicking butt.” She kicks down Angel, kills countless vampires, and saves a concert hall full of students. During these scenes, the viewer is not focused on the fact that Buffy is a woman, but on the fact that Buffy is, in my words, kicking ass. Buffy’s assumed character flaw wasn’t a character flaw at all, but instead, an audience flaw.

Joss Whedon introduces a flawed character, Cordelia, to provoke conflict in the first two episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Cordelia’s character flaw is, at first, hidden from the viewer as she generously offers her book to Buffy. Nevertheless, Cordelia’s true colors are revealed as she spews bitchy, for lack of a better word, comments about fashion and requirements to be popular. Her character flaw? Cattiness. After Buffy pins Cordelia against a wall, and saves all the students from hungry vampires which Cordelia conveniently forgets, Cordelia is heard gossiping about Buffy. Although the conflict of savage vampires is already incredibly relevant in the series, the conflict between Buffy and Cordelia supported by Cordelia’s cattiness is more relatable to the viewers. Joss Whedon’s use of a flawed character allows the audience to feel more connected to the story.

Although there are no George Feeny’s or President Bartlet’s, Buffy the Vampire Slayer displays a variety of characters with assumed character flaws and deserved character flaws. Let’s all just remember what people say about those who make assumptions…

The Cold War was littered with economic and technological scares that would haunt many Americans for over four decades. Between the Red Scare, the Vietnam War, and the Cuban Missile Crisis, paranoia was somewhat expected and even justifiable. Specifically, the fear of technological advances, whether nuclear, firearms, or espionage-assisting, from the Soviet Union or other communist states was the root cause of much of the anxiety. The creation of Ant-Man and themes within the comic speak directly to the fears shown in the late forties through early nineties.

In many ways, Ant-Man is different from the traditional superhero in that his greatest power is mental, not physical. He has the ability to shrink himself but I predict many do not lay in bed at night wishing for that “superpower.”  His greatest power is the fact that he can communicate and control ants, mindless entities that will destroy and conquer ruthlessly given the order. Sure, Ant-Man can throw a few good punches, but he defeats his enemies only through the use of his well-trained, ultra-obedient army of ants. What is scarier: One dude with superpowers, or one dude plus a million little minions following his every order? This concept alludes to the Red Scare. Americans were so paranoid about the potential spread of communism that many believed its expansion was inevitable due to the mass of brainwashed believers of the Soviet Union. Furthermore, many believed that the seed of communism needed only to be planted by one man for an army of followers to transpire, an anxiety that stemmed from the recently ended War World II.

The Cold War was also a race of technological advancements. Tensions were high between the Soviet Union and the United States to identify the world’s leader. This recognition was almost completely dependent on the countries’ technological advancements since the Cold War was not necessarily a war of physical battles. Science and technology were touchy subjects due to the failed Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis that quickly followed. Nuclear technology had inspired widespread fear. Thus, when Ant-Man created a serum that could shrink people, one’s imagination regarding the Soviet Union’s research and inventions was unleashed. Fear dwelled within the known, nuclear technology, as well as the unknown.

Along with research, espionage was a war tactic used by both the Soviet Union and the United States that caused many citizens anxiety. Nuclear espionage was at the center. People like Ethel and Julius Rosenberg and Harry Gold, Americans who provided or attempted to provide nuclear intelligence to the Soviet Union, aided the idea that the Soviets and communism were creeping into the country while American intelligence was creeping out. Fear of the unseen was quickly spreading. Simply put, Ant-Man’s ability to shrink to the size of an ant did not ease this fear.

https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/a-centennial-history/world_war_cold_war_1939-1953

When thinking of Captain America, one most likely reflects on his courage, loyalty, and passion for justice. His honor resides in defeating evil so that good can prevail. Although perhaps reductive, this mentality is also shared by the police (minus the cape and body suit to accompany it.) The police force was created to enforce laws that promote justice and peace. To assume that Captain America and the police are companions or allies would not be foolish. However, all too often in the comics, Captain America’s agenda seems to conflict with the police’s agenda. Captain America and the police may desire the same outcome, but the strategies of the two do not seem to align. To take the argument further, this misalignment creates barrier between the two such that the story becomes the police vs. Captain America vs. the criminals. For children reading Captain America Comics, the fact that Captain America and the police are not allies must mean that either a) there are situations where good people and the police are at odds or b) the police are bad. This idea is specifically apparent in Captain America Comics, “The Queer Case of the Murdering Butterfly and the Ancient Mummies” where the police are so inept that they become annoying obstacles for Captain America to avoid.

In the beginning of “The Queer Case of the Murdering Butterfly and the Ancient Mummies”, the police visit Doctor Vitrioli after the notorious killer, The Butterfly, threatens to steal treasure from the doctor’s museum. After The Butterfly easily kills two night guards and steals the precious jewels, the radio announcer ensures that the commissioner has his “best men” on the job, although his best have been completely unsuccessful and are extremely “baffled.” Bucky soon after visits the museum and conveniently stumbles upon The Butterfly’s lair, which one would think the police could have found by now if a squirmy boy found it within a few minutes. Meanwhile, The Butterfly has enlisted several crooks to rob a bank although immediately and coincidentally confronted by Steve Rodgers strolling by. Rodgers beats up the gangsters, just a “good afternoon’s work” for him, but flees the scene when the police arrive seconds too late. Skipping ahead a few scenes, Captain America defeats The Butterfly and discovers the villain’s true identity, Doctor Vitrioli. Always two steps behind Captain America, the police rush in only for Captain America to once again flee the scene and the cops. The ending sequence shows Steve Rodgers and Bucky reading the newspaper as it congratulates the police for a job well done in catching The Butterfly.

Now, just to sum up the story in a few words: police cannot find villain, little sidekick boy effortlessly finds villain, Captain America defeats crooks, police are too late, Captain America defeats villain, police are too late, police get credit for defeating villain. The takeaway from this story is incredibly obvious, the police (“boys”) are too incompetent (“baffled”) to promote and administer justice so Captain America must take on responsibility, which is really just an “afternoon’s work” for him anyway. The police become like a nagging mother or annoying fly that Captain America must shake although the police will eventually and inevitably receive all the glory. The concept inspires a deeper issue explained by Fredric Wertham, “ [A hero]… undermines the authority and the dignity of the ordinary man and woman in the minds of children.” And in this case, the ordinary man and woman are the police. If comics imply that there are justifiable situations in which a “hero” must run away and avoid the police, whether due to the police’s competence or another reason, they are creating a fine line between good Samaritans and radical anarchists.

 

Comics have successfully, and some would say flawlessly, transitioned between comic books, comic strips, television series, and feature films. First becoming prominent in 1920s, comics featured “pulp heroes”, action heroes displaying typical human abilities and experiencing normal but amusing adventures, and later matured into highlighting the more mainstream superheroes. However, even pre-superhero, comics advanced past comic strips to radio almost immediately with characters like Popeye and Doc Samson. The emergence of characters like The Phantom and The Clock in the early 1930s led into The Golden Age (1938-1956) which featured the most popular characters such as Superman, Batman, Fantastic Four, Captain America, etc. in comic strips, books, and radio. Although popularity began to decline at the end of World War II, comics have always had a passionate, loyal following that seems to be growing over the past couple decades. With increasing presence in films, video games, and television series, some would consider comics as “transmedia” due to the constant media-hopping starting from strips to radio to film. However, it is important to recognize the inherent difference between transmedia and media: transmedia is not a type of media, instead, it is a description of the mode. With this in mind, comics are not the media, but a transmediatic mode.

Transmedia, more often than not, is referred to as “transmedia storytelling”. According to the Director of Media Psychology Research Center, Dr. Pamela Rutledge, “Transmedia storytelling uses multiple media platforms to tell a narrative across time…The process is cumulative and each piece adds richness and detail to the story world.”(1) Thus, transmedia storytelling is a narrative, a process, not an actual medium. The practice is used so that one mode can be supported by several media. In this case, transmedia storytelling is used so that comics can be supported by several media. This statement is (or should be) noncontroversial. However, objections begin to rise when W.J.T Mitchell directly compares transmedia and modern media, “As media, comics are more like cinema and the computer, capable of remediating every other medium. They are a transmedium that, in contrast to the modern media, maintain a direct link to the most primitive forms of mark-making…” The comparison makes little sense because transmedia describe the strategy used within media while modern media define the actual means of communication. Mitchell goes to argue that, “Comics is transmediatic in its openness to multiple alternative frameworks in terms of style, form, structure, material support and technical platform.” I wouldn’t disagree with this statement if “transmediatic” was defined as containing a narrative across multiple media platforms. In fact, the history of Batman embodies this. Created in 1939, Batman comic books gained popularity, except for a dip in the 1950s and early 1960s, until the comic achieved a television series in 1966. Later, the movie Batman debuted in 1989 and was followed by several other films and adaptations (2). However, this proves that Batman is the mode, not the medium. Its ability to transfer from different media makes it transmediatic, but not the medium itself.

Depending on how you define “transmedia”, it can be argued that comics are transmediatic. However, I only believe this if we are going by Dr. Rutledge’s definition, and not Mitchell’s.

(1) http://athinklab.com/transmedia-storytelling/what-is-transmedia-storytelling/

(2) http://ultimatebatmancomicswebsite.weebly.com/batman-history.html