Ramin Sheikhani; ali abbassi; Nayer Ntahoori
Abstract
"Superheroes" are one of the most important products of popular culture, which with unique costumes and powers, have been spread since the second quarter of the 20th century in comic strips and comic books, and in the last twenty years, they have been one of the dominant filmmaking trends in Hollywood. ...
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"Superheroes" are one of the most important products of popular culture, which with unique costumes and powers, have been spread since the second quarter of the 20th century in comic strips and comic books, and in the last twenty years, they have been one of the dominant filmmaking trends in Hollywood. Regardless of critical views, these films have affected the economic cycle of cinema, and have become a dominant discourse and a common language, so this article is trying to provide a coherent interpretation of them. In this study, based on the ideas of Walter Benjamin, German theorist related to the Frankfurt School, about the disenchantment of myth in modern culture, the anxieties caused by urbanization in superhero movies are focused on, and the psychological, social and political crises after the attack to New York on September 11, 2001, has been examined as one of the most important reasons for the prosperity of this type of cinema. The study method is based on library data, and describing and analyzing the visual and thematic features of the movies adapted from the more well-known superhero characters, including Superman and Batman (from DC) and Spider-Man (from Marvel), separately. In the conclusion of this study, the anxieties caused by the dominance of technology over nature, crime and terrorism, anarchism, the culture industry and human distortion in capitalist society, aliens and the fear of death and the destruction of humanity, is considered as the most important factors in the demythology of superheroes in today's cinema.
