Bill Maher claims that the recent outpouring of superhero movies and tv shows sends the dangerous message that instead of everyone being in charge of their own destiny, we need to wait for someone more powerful than us to come and fix all our problems
Is he onto something?
No, he's a self important jew cocksucker. He's extremely condescending, and arrogant, and you shouldn't listen to a god damned word he says even if it has a modicum of truth because he doesn't deserve the satisfaction.
More like in our current world where everyone is told they are special and unique we desire to see ACTUAL special and unique characters on screen.
>we need to wait for someone more powerful than us to come and fix all our problems
Something Americans are REALLY good at: Letting others fix their shit and taking credit for it.
He's right, you know.
Ironic, considering he's one of those technocratic faggots that think the government can solve all our problems.
Isn't that how Liberals See Government?
Sides the only problems Trump is fixing is when the Big Strong Government has tried to help.
>instead of everyone being in charge of their own destiny, we need to wait for someone more powerful than us to come and fix all our problems
Religion in a nutshell
That sentiment existed before the cape wave, so no.
Yeah, because atheists are all astronauts.
Fun fact: Religion is the most effective means of fostering progress, while atheism only manifests itself as a force in times of social decline. So maybe you fedora-tipping freeloaders should learn your place.
Doesn't his show send the message that he's the prophet that is always right and everyone should agree with him or they're idiots
Not watching that but there's also the typical theme of the hero taking charge and fixing the problems they see. And we're typically meant to relate with the hero.
So nah it can easily be interpreted that capeshit wants us to feel as though we're the hero, which makes sense given how most heroes are usually in some aspect down to earth people ignoring the likes of the super millionaires.
It reminds me of that shitty video I saw years ago parroting the same exact shit.
But that is religion in a nutshell
Why are you getting triggered?
>it's a new episode of The Cletus Show
>the dangerous message that instead of everyone being in charge of their own destiny, we need to wait for someone more powerful than us to come and fix all our problems
That's real funny coming from a liberal who claims that we can only save the country if we get Democrats elected
Maher is a Hillary shill who can't see her loss was the fault of everyone knowing she's a shitty person and that votets were willing to risk electing Trump, who despite clearly being full of shit, spouted some good populist rhetoric.
Why would I take his POV seriously when I can already see this a way to bash "Bernie bros".
Hollywood Hates Superhero films as much as they love money.
Because is funny when bernie bros trash Hillary and how he tries so hard to defend her
And as usual the most sensible post in the thread goes ignored.
I thought they were about the exact opposite.
Capes really upset people who think things like popcorn movies and comics are somehow important.
shitty political bait thread so kill yourself OP
but yes that is a criticism of superhero stories in general, and has been a plot point in superhero stories for as long as superheroes have existed
debatable on the merits but can make for fun stories/conversations when you aren't baiting Sup Forums
...
>But that is religion in a nutshell
Religion launched the Age of Exploration, Fedoras want Black Science Man and Bill Nye the (((Science))) Giy to save them.
So Bill Maher's now Lex Luthor huh
I think that's an intentionally misleading, mean-spirited and completely pointless observation.
Superheroes are all about dealing with your own problems while also helping other people. They're not about people waiting for a hero, they're about heroes putting themselves out there and doing what they can.
This theme is, sometimes actively and usually passively, explored in many cape titles and movies. Superheroes are rarely government-issue and many of them run into problems where they're not licensed or the government is trying to stop/control them in some way. Just look at Winter Soldier or Civil War, for movie examples. Both the Batman and the Superman movies have themes that touch on this as well. It's not about someone telling you what to do or fixing your problems, it's about using your own talents, whether "super" or mundane, to solve problems and not expect the cops or the government or whatever to do it for you. Batman doesn't sit back and expect the cops to get the Joker, he gets the Joker because he knows he's the best qualified to do so.
It's almost never the case that the hero is some sort of deus ex machina who swoops in and fixes the main character's problems. Rather, the hero IS the main character, and he's fixing people's problems because he can and because it's the right thing to do.
Isn't this one of the arguments Wertham made?
Wertham, by the way, was a literal commie.
If that's the case, why are all superheroes painfully average and normal in terms of personality? Why are we always invited to feel exactly what the superhero feels when the suits try to tell him he can't do this or that? If anything, it's the exact opposite.
The only exceptions to the "averageness" rule I can think of are Batman and Iron Man, but that's because their powers come from their own planning and decisions, which means they need unusual personalities. And wads of cash, of course. They tend to be wish fulfillment characters, though, because of their vast array of toys and high social status, unlike someone like Clark Kent.
Wait, I thought one of the reasons he thought comics were so insidious in the first place is that their messages had a socialist slant?
It is the other way around. They make the public feel like heroes. That is way the average person actually being a super hero is a common theme with capes.
And it is an old theme in american media too. A relatable guy becoming the hero is a common cliche in movies. Die Hard and such.
No, he accused them of crypto-fascism I think. I'll look it up again.
Hey quick question do you know who Giordano Bruno is
If we're just counting movies I'd say that Starlord, maybe Bruce Banner if you count the Hulk, and Paul Rudd.
when democrats are in charge
>don't do anything your self, except slave away for the banks and pay taxes. let the government do everything.
democrats not in charge
>row row, fight the power! everyone needs to be an activist and get out and do things.
Some LARPer who went around Europe bothering everybody with his DnD bullshit until they got sick of him.
science20.com
Don't forget
>You didn't build that.
Starlord's pretty normal outside of the space bullshit, your classic emotionally stunted manchild millennial.
Ye I'm not gonna trust this site
Till we stop dreaming of a time where peace and love is all we can find we need a hero.
I can tell this thread is gonna have a lot of good discussion and won't be derailed by anything even remotely political.
Isn't that 99% of protagonists?
There had to be at least three more buzzwords you could have worked in there.
>these editorials by different people clearly discredit these established historical facts by this author, so I'm just going to believe whatever I read on r/atheism
He's almost right.
Anyone who says "X popular trend sends Y message" has causality backwards. Things get popular because people want to see them, not the other way around.
It's not that superhero movies send the message that we should all just wait for someone superpowered to save us, it's that people feel impotent and wish for someone with power to champion their interests.
No, does he not understand what a fantastical world superheroes live in? Seriously, does he want people to get involved in eldritch horrors? Galactic war monsters? A SUPER NAZI WITH THE FACE OF A MONSTER AND SUPER HUMAN STRENGTH?
On top of that, the super heroes themselves do not wait for someone else to do these things for them. They clearly get proactive.
>Things get popular because people want to see them, not the other way around.
Eh. It's a two-way street.
>Bill Maher claims that the recent outpouring of superhero movies and tv shows sends the dangerous message that instead of everyone being in charge of their own destiny, we need to wait for someone more powerful than us to come and fix all our problems
Meh, I'd say that this has been a big part of the US fantasy for a while. The glamorous image of the self-reliant independent homesteader. The lone gunman who can save a town because he has the guts to stand up to the bad guys. The entrepreneur who starts with nothing and creates a multi-million dollar business.
The US is very individualistic and tends to look at history/issues as being solved by small handfuls of competent individuals while the feckless majority putzes about with minimal input. Emergent/collective systems don't make as entertaining a narrative and it's easier to praise/condemn one person than an impersonal system or complex ongoing process.
...
Is that really a fact, however?
Why can't it be that people are inspired by those fictional characters like Batman and Cap to be better versions of themselves and persevere against adversity?
maybe if every superhero story was from the pov of regular people and not superheros
but they arent so he isnt
once again famous assholes talking about what they dont know anything about.
when are we going to gulag these people
Yes. Secularism is a cultural dead end. Why do you think Russia has rebounded so far towards religion after being an atheist hellhole for almost a century?
What? I'm not using buzzwords, that's literally his character. He's emotionally stunted because of his mommy and daddy issues, he's a manchild that clings desperately to the nostalgia of his childhood, and he was born in the 80s so he's literally a millennial. His arc is very typical "charming manchild learns to grow up and be responsible" just applied to a sci-fi action story.
because religion is the opiate of the masses and KGB Comrade Colonel Putin knows this.
What about all those religious hellholes?
Stupid goyim! Bow down to the (((chosen))), not to superheroes!
>Religion launched the Age of Exploration
also started the inquisition which murdered men of science
Capes are popular right now and talking about trump is popular right now.
Is Bill Maher our universe's Lex Luthor?
if only we got good Superman movies...
no because lex is smart
>Eh. It's a two-way street.
No, it's just that sometimes we figure out new ways to exploit what people want. Advertising/manipulation/conditioning doesn't make you want shit you naturally hate so much as it USES shit you already like to get you to like stuff that you're potentially open to not hating.
And then there's the fact that people aren't 100% rational robots. The interplay of novelty and familiarity (among other things) is a dance of emotional contradictions.
no.
Maher at best is a poor man's Livewire, with out the super powers or hot female body.
Musk is Luthor.
The craziness thing is he uses the superhero metaphor appropriately at the end of his bit without getting what they're really about.
Lex is smart and actually somewhat cares about proving humanity's worth.
Maher is a tool with no actual skills who just virtues signals for money.
filthy Jesuits did that
You mean (((superheros)))
>Bill Maher claims that the recent outpouring of superhero movies and tv shows sends the dangerous message that instead of everyone being in charge of their own destiny, we need to wait for someone more powerful than us to come and fix all our problems
>Is he onto something?
A few thoughts...
First of all, this is hardly a unique premise. It was the main premise behind the movie Waiting for "Superman" which came out in 2010 and was criticized itself as being inaccurate.
(This is a tangent: but on the subject of documentaries, Maher has never addressed the controversy surrounding his own documentary Religulous about him making up an Egyptian deity called Anup the Baptizer, he claimed was a precursor to John the baptist from the Jesus story).
This is not a surprising viewpoint from a postmodern militant Marxist atheist. Superhero's and their mythologies resemble religion and myths, and myths are a part of how a culture understands itself. Superman in particular is a particularity American mythological cobbling bringing to mind parts of Moses, Jesus and Hercules.
To postmodernists, any kind of archetype needs to be deconstructed and picked apart. The story of superheros point to objective "Good" and objective "Bad" which postmodernist hate because they are against any kind of binary or system that somthing they are doing could be wrong. Which is fine, logic is not something to be afraid of. But the problem with the bloody marxists is that they forget to rebuild and reconstruct the archetype from the pieces.
So what where left with is just a jumble of facts, that somehow where supposed to make sense of.
"We need to be out own Superhero's?" what the fuck does that mean?
>Boo-hoo, the Inquisition killed a few (((scientists)))
Shouldn't have been a filthy Heretic then.
Because people are weak and scared. They want big government to deal with everything, they want police at every corner, they don't want to feel personally responsible for their own safety. They want to blame something other than themselves.
As opposed to never getting your shit together at all. Right, third worlder?
Only if you're emotionally crippled to the point where the lines of reality and fantasy are blurred beyond recognition.
no
desire for valuable trade goods with out having to deal with the Ottomans, launched the age of exploration.
Did he say that when I Obama was in office? Because people treated him as if he were some kind of messiah.
So he's saying Trump is a hero?
Remember what the Romans used to do to christians? They should have never stopped.
>"We need to be out own Superhero's?" what the fuck does that mean?
It mean he want the ending of supergod to be real, where every nation has or tries to create their own super hero but that hero end up having their own agendas and fucking up the world.
I think it's less about self-inserting, more about inspiring. As Man of Steel or any Superman comic book suggests, heroes are meant to show humanity a better path. To lead them to self-improvement and a better tomorrow.
Everyone is the hero in their own story
>because religion is the opiate of the masses
Sure, that's why communists governments force secularism. Atheism makes people docile and easier to control.
>also started the inquisition which murdered men of science
Name one.
The Jesuits were scientists, user.
>So he's saying Trump is a hero?
He's suggesting that Trump portrayed himself as one, what with all the "I Alone Can Fix It" and stuff.
The analogy is crap because as most have pointed out, superhero comics are less often about some average joe sitting around and waiting for someone with super powers to save him, but rather average joes finding out that he himself has super powers and then dedicating his life to the service of others.
Anyone who watches movies to "think" is a brainlet.
Columbus saw his mission as an explicitly religious one. He wanted to finance a new crusade.
but I want to be Superman, not be saved by Superman
I want to be Judge Dredd too
communists wanted the State to replace religion and family.
because people might disobey the State if they are still loyal to their family or church.
>Remember what the Romans used to do to christians? They should have never stopped.
Treated them as another cult until it grew enough in popularity that several high ranking members in Roman society joined the cult and promoted it as the official religion?
Why on Earth would you want to live in the Big Meg?
>where every nation has or tries to create their own super hero but that hero end up having their own agendas and fucking up the world.
That's funny because Hillary Clinton would have been that exact person if the American media had its way.
Nero did nothing wrong
THEY SAY THAT A HERO WILL SAVE US
I'M NOT GONNA STAND HERE AND WAIT
>Almost.
>I just want to add, "Except Lex Luthor" to all of those things.
>To heck with that stupid palooka.
\Reeve Superman came out in the wake of Watergate so he's kind of not wrong
Bill Maher is an asshole and I'm so far left and atheist it would make Warren Ellis blush.
Dude makes us all look bad, lowers the standard of public discussion with his bullshit.
The Inquisition was by far a more fair system of justice than what came before, and modern science as such would not exist without the work of medieval churchmen.
ignatiusinsight.com
jameshannam.com
>lowers the standard of public discussion with his bullshit.
Pretty much this.
user with Superman's powers in the Big Meg works out as some horrible mix of Judge Cal and Johnny Bates.
yeah
Like I'm often condescending and arrogant, but Jesus Christ I don't understand how a human being could be as condescending and arrogant as Bill Maher is
Modern science also wouldn't exist without the preservation of texts and ideas by other cultures that were more open to outside ideas. The golden age of Islamic science ended right around the time where they got super uptight about their religious societies.
Everyone was religious back then, so it's stupid to say that religion caused every discovery everyone made. That's like saying the sound of dogs barking can inspire genius... I mean, I'm sure almost every great scientist has heard dogs bark, right?
>Maher admits to owning guns for self defense.
>still wants UK tier gun control
>wants everyone else's guns taken first, before he will give up his.
he is a limo liberal, champagne socialist