Friday, July 18, 2008

Batman and bobbins

Since I know that people will be asking for it I’ll just post it now. Here are my initial opinions on the first episode of Project Runway. First off, does every female contestant have long straight black hair? Now that isn’t really a complaint on my part, since I really dig the look and it pretty much assures that there will be one contestant I like due to her look alone making it deep into the show, but I seriously cannot tell any of them apart. Also, if I have to listen to that douchebag say “girlicious” every freaking episode someone is going to pay big time. I hate people who try to come up with their own catchphrase. It is like giving yourself a nickname, it is just not acceptable. Such as calling yourself Suede. Once I saw that I figured that I should just rename myself Pleather or 90% Rayon.

As to the winners and losers I pretty much agreed. Even someone with as little fashion sense as me realized how horrible Jerry’s outfit was. I mean, it was a white shower curtain on top of more white and had almost no form whatsoever. The yellow gloves also gave it that whole murederous housewife vibe. Kelli’s skirt (made of vacuum cleaner bags and colored with bleach, dye and apparently cigarette burns) turned out rather stunning. On first look I had a Jackson Pollack feel going where you didn’t know if it was going to be art or noise. It came out on the art side and she won as well. Overall, not a strong showing by the cast but it is only the first episode.

(And yes, I obviously admit to watching Project Runway. For some reason I find it a very interesting show. You’ve got cool contestants, since it is fashion everyone can have an opinion on who is better, and I get to watch scantily clad women walk around. Pretty much a win-win all around. Only thing that could beat it is the return of Australia’s Next Top Model, which is the same as America’s Next Top Model except with much cooler accents.)

So the big thing this weekend is the new Batman movie. I doubt that I will go see it this weekend but I will probably check it out during the week (at least that way I’ll be able to avoid some of the crowds). Now while I will always admit to being a Marvel guy more than a DC guy I have to admit that the Batman character is rather cool. In fact, he is probably the least DC like of any of their major heroes and that is what makes him great.

What bothered me most about DC comics as a kid is that their heroes were basically gods. That is what Superman is. He’s just this undestructible force with an inscrupulous moral code. Wonder Woman falls into the same realm. Then you have Green Lantern (the space traveler with a bizarre weakness to the color yellow) and Martian Manhunter (a Martian) and Aquaman (less of a superhero and more of a host of an exhibit at SeaWorld.) Those aren’t heroes you can relate to easily. That is the wonder of Spider Man (who is a bit of a loser teenager) or the X Men (teenage outcasts) and Iron Man (a lovable drunk). I know what that is like.

Batman, on the other hand, is different. Because at the end of the day Batman is entirely human. All he has are his wits and his inventions and his focus. No super powers, no magical gifts, just a man with his flaws taking on evil. That makes for a great character because you can play to his weaknesses. Plus there is the entire fact that he is a vigilante. In fact, he is a lawbreaker. There is the entire ethical dilemma of whether or not Batman is in fact doing the right thing by going outside the law to stop crime. That makes for some heady plots. And it sure sounds like the movie hits on them. Should be a good one to check out.

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