No More Tights

Posted on January 23, 2017

Description:

I love science fiction and genre films. But as superhero films continue to dominate the box office and the studios continue to push more stories about people in tights. I find them entertaining but these are not especially compelling stories. With a limited amount of time to watch movies and television am I better off eliminating the superhero material from my media diet?

This proposal would eliminate all movies and television based on either Marvel or DC properties, with exceptions for any films that win academy awards for best picture, director, or best performance (so not including those that win for music, special effects, or other non-televised awards).

Even without superhero fare there is still plenty of nerdy, escapist, and juvenile content to enjoy. This proposal will have no effect on reading actual comic books, watching bad sci-fi, WWE, or movies relating to superheroes (like Birdman or Unbreakable). It just feels like dropping Marvel and DC from my film and video viewing is “healthy” like giving up fried foods or artificial sweeteners.



Past Discussion

Pat Castaldo (25.0 shares, voted no)
Equating the film and tv properties of Marvel and DC shows this proposal isn't as well thought out as it could be. DC's latest movies are awful. Marvel movies are wonderful. DC's tv shows are good. Marvel's tv shows are a mixed bag. DC's television shows — particularly Supergirl are doing things within a family-friendly show that hasn't been done before. Supergirl's sister coming out to her was one of the best episodes of television this year. Writing that off "because of capes" seem short sighted.
Claire L. Evans (11.0 shares, voted yes)
Voted yes, because Michael has never once mentioned superheroes to me.
brendanjones (50.0 shares, voted yes)
Glad this important issue was presented to shareholders. Hate the genre (except Batman).
geraldpringle (11.0 shares, voted no)
I'm confused to what a yes and what a no vote means. The question is not stated anywhere
egli (6.0 shares, voted no)
I like the idea of pushing consumption to things that are smaller and more interesting, but I would be more inclined to vote for something that was time limited or focused more on what the replacement would be. Still kind of on the fence about this one.
csdavis08 (25.0 shares, voted no)
I like Pat Castaldo's justification so voting No
E*Rock ☕️ (2.0 shares, voted yes)
I feel like the genre's only redeeming qualities are for point of reference for what the popular movie audiences are watching. The main reason Hollywood keeps pumping this garbage out is because of foreign markets, action always exports easier than say comedy or anything original.
Curt ☕️💼 (62.0 shares, voted no)
Sure, cutting out Marvel and DC removes some crap, but it also removes some good stuff, like the Marvel shows on Netflix. If a media diet is the goal, a more appropriate rule would be not watching anything that has below a certain value on Rotten Tomatoes or MetaCritic. Or maybe you could establish a TV/Movie advisory board and ask shareholders whether a movie is worth seeing.
Iankerr (4.0 shares, voted no)
I'm voting no but would suggest that you use a reasonable third-party rating system (i.e. NOT the Oscars) to assist you in avoiding catastrophes like 3/5s. If you were to limit your intake of super-hero movies to those scoring 80 or higher on MetaCritic for example, then you would have avoided all the Spiderman movies but #2. It's hard to argue against that. I'd also caution you that Lego Batman is soon in theatres....
Mike Merrill
Sorry for the confusion. This is a proposal to STOP watching these films/TV. So a yes vote means no Channing Tatum as Gambit or Lego Star Wars for me.