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[reposting here from the original on tumblr]
So, here’s the thing. I give precisely no fucks who has played, is playing, or will play Batman (or any other superhero, even The Doctor). The actor fills a role, and will do what they can with the script and direction they’re given.
The humongous pile of internet wangst over Ben Affleck’s announcement as the next actor to portray Batman, on the heels of a conversation I was having else-net recently about the subject of nerd rage and cosplay shame (I think it was with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
matociquala), are simply iterations of the same theme, namely, that when someone takes on the role and inhabits a fantasy someone, as a fan, has built up in their mind, there is shear, and disconnect, and anger.
"This person can’t fulfill my imagination’s demands!" Well, how about, one, you let them try; two, you elucidate those so that someone, if they’re of a mind to listen, can see if they *can* (if they’re so inclined); and, three, you step the fuck away from the center of the entire universe and stop being such a special goddamned snowflake that the entire system must cater to.
I admit, I am not a fan of superhero movies (I’ve seen a few and skipped lots more, and there will probably be a fairly robust wall of text on the topic in the fairly near future, but the basic thesis is “superheroes are boring (to me)”), so I’m far less invested in this than someone for whom Batman is The Shit.
Batman is the new James Bond is the new Doctor - it’s a role to be inhabited by a neverending string of actors, but without even the pretense of continuity that the other roles kind of maintain, since it’s being “rebooted” or “re-imagined” or retconned or whatever it is that gives each actor/director/whomever carte blanche to paint over the corners they would otherwise have been painted into. And that’s fine, and liberating for the people crafting the newest take.
I haven’t always been a fan of Ben Affleck, but he seems to be no better or worse a choice than any other similar dude. And, hey, good for him to be paid to put in the gym time to look the part. I know I’d be down for that.
So, here’s the thing. I give precisely no fucks who has played, is playing, or will play Batman (or any other superhero, even The Doctor). The actor fills a role, and will do what they can with the script and direction they’re given.
The humongous pile of internet wangst over Ben Affleck’s announcement as the next actor to portray Batman, on the heels of a conversation I was having else-net recently about the subject of nerd rage and cosplay shame (I think it was with
matociquala), are simply iterations of the same theme, namely, that when someone takes on the role and inhabits a fantasy someone, as a fan, has built up in their mind, there is shear, and disconnect, and anger."This person can’t fulfill my imagination’s demands!" Well, how about, one, you let them try; two, you elucidate those so that someone, if they’re of a mind to listen, can see if they *can* (if they’re so inclined); and, three, you step the fuck away from the center of the entire universe and stop being such a special goddamned snowflake that the entire system must cater to.
I admit, I am not a fan of superhero movies (I’ve seen a few and skipped lots more, and there will probably be a fairly robust wall of text on the topic in the fairly near future, but the basic thesis is “superheroes are boring (to me)”), so I’m far less invested in this than someone for whom Batman is The Shit.
Batman is the new James Bond is the new Doctor - it’s a role to be inhabited by a neverending string of actors, but without even the pretense of continuity that the other roles kind of maintain, since it’s being “rebooted” or “re-imagined” or retconned or whatever it is that gives each actor/director/whomever carte blanche to paint over the corners they would otherwise have been painted into. And that’s fine, and liberating for the people crafting the newest take.
I haven’t always been a fan of Ben Affleck, but he seems to be no better or worse a choice than any other similar dude. And, hey, good for him to be paid to put in the gym time to look the part. I know I’d be down for that.
