Batman v Superman Essay by Abigail Nussbaum

You honestly don't see how your entire argument boils down to Batman being an immature white male's fantasy life and that that is inherently so disgusting? I think you proved it very well yourself in your original post. Nothing ad hominem about the other poster's reply, it's just what you wrote. You even take it up a notch and say that it's indicative of the unhealthiness of our modern culture, which is resolutely ridiculous.

Young men or boys enjoying Batman being a "bad ass" is the very least of our worries culturally, how is it any worse than the glorification of vacuous non-contributing ciphers like the Kardashians for example? You really have to explain why "immature" males enjoying a superhero film is such an abject awful thing before you make that point the crux of your argument. It's just coming across as "young white male fantasy= sick modern culture glorifying psychosis" and that's all there is to it. Young men have always and will always idolise those who appear larger than life and have the things they fantasise about having in, it's the human condition. It has nothing to do with "whiteness" or "masculinity" or I would argue modernity in general. People want what seems glamorous. It's your specifying of a certain race and gender that seems unnecessary and is hard not to take issue with. I'm sure some black females like Batman too and find him and his lifestyle "cool".

For the record I think the movie is really awful and that the modern superhero movies' popularity may well be indicative of some dysfunction in our culture but for none of the reasons you outline, especially not how young males' idolising of the "Zenith Of Masculinity" that is Batman is so completely terrible.

/r/TrueFilm Thread Parent