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From: boyajian@akov68.DEC (JERRY BOYAJIAN)
Newsgroups: net.comics
Subject: re: superheroes in movies
Message-ID: <1669@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 10-Dec-85 06:48:15 EST
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Posted: Tue Dec 10 06:48:15 1985
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> From:	k.cs.cmu.edu!mcb
 
> Actually, I think that superheroes don't make it in movies and TV because
> real people look silly in costumes.  Because of this, superheroes in other
> media are almost always played for laughs.  (Just look at the Batman TV show
> and the Superman movies for example.)  Offhand, I can't think of a show or
> movie that wasn't "camp".  If anyone has a counter example, I'd like to hear
> about it.

Well, first, I disagree about the SUPERMAN movies. While Luthor and his
cronies were played as camp, I don't think feel that the movies as a whole
was played as such. I'm ignoring SUPERMAN III in this argument.

Secondly, there was THE INCREDIBLE HULK TV show. It certainly wasn't high
drama, and Ferrigno did look silly in that green body make-up, but the show
was still played straight, trying more for serious drama focusing on the
characters than superhero antics. I've always felt that Bill Bixby brought a
touch of dignity to the show.

Thirdly, THE GREEN HORNET was a perfectly good show, played more as a private
detective (albeit in a costume) than a superhero.

Fourthly and fifthly, though they weren't particularly good shows, both THE
SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN and THE BIONIC WOMAN were played straight and not as
camp.

--- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Acton-Nagog, MA)

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