MovieChat Forums > Shazam! (2019) Discussion > Why do grown men like superhero movies?

Why do grown men like superhero movies?


In my day, the people who'd go to the mat arguing about superheroes, or going to the bother to rank them, all looked like Beaver Cleaver. Have all the men but my husband taken to wearing onesies, drinking cocoa, and going ape for DC and Marvel?

reply

Grown women like them too, Ms. Ojeniss ;)

reply

Companies make a LOT of money out of convincing men that’s it’s okay to act to like adolescents or beta males.

The anonymity of the Internet helps facilitate this.

IMO, the people responding angrily in this thread would curl up into a weeping ball if someone told them, to their face, that comic book films were for chinless nerds.

reply

👆🏻 This!

reply

Your husband ignore you in favour of comic books?

reply

Nope. He's as mystified by this trend as I am, especially amongst conservatives.

reply

ah the old politics thing. I'm not even from the US and I have never voted in the US general election so don't even try and go there with that Trump hating thing you have going on.

I notice you tried the same tactics trying to shame people in discussing who was the best Star Trek captain. Exact same wording exact same shaming of mens hobbies.

What hurts you so much about men having hobbies?

reply

Angry words. Hmmm

reply

1. Men can act however they please. There's no rule and "manliness" is a constructed cult. Ignorant men shit where other men eat.

2. You are acting like an internet tough guy while saying this. You are showing the internet with prototypal beta behaviour while calling the victims of your poop brigade beta? Are you this deluded? Is irony this lost on you?

3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmCuLJjWl2M

reply

“while calling the victims of your poop brigade...”

Go to the beach and kick sand in your own face, shit-eater

LOL

reply

Mindless escapism can be great, why so serious? I go for true quality films like anyone with taste, but damnit I love most of those Transformers flicks too. The first one is one of the finest action movies put to film.

reply

When I was a young boy I read comics. In those days the special effects couldn’t replicate what was on the printed page. Now we have reached the stage where technology can put these stories on the big screen. As an adult, I can finally see the kind of films I wish I could’ve seen when I was growing up. That’s why I like superhero movies.

reply

Okay, but what about cocoa and onesies?

reply

I wouldn’t be seen dead drinking cocoa or wearing a onesie.

reply

Fair enough.

reply

I definitely like them more than I should but its a little different for the context of this movie because this one is geared more for kids than movies like WW, Black Panther, Infinity War etc.

Most comic book movies can be bottled up into a similar demographic but I feel like this one goes out of its way to cater to kids more than any in the DCEU and MCU.

reply

I don't like every superhero movie that comes out, but some are really good.

reply

I'm talking about the obsessives -- the folks who argue which is better, DC or Marvel.

reply

Yeah, I don't get that either. They need to get laid or find something else to do in their lives. It is pretty childish that grown men act that way.

reply

Rather than trying to argue with the TC, I am going to just post this song since she seems to want to be a stereotypical woman like Jill on Home Improvement. Who if that show was still going on today would hate Superhero movies just like she hates action movies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzTyQZD3UVs

reply

I like action movies. Not that you’re stereotyping or anything. 😉

reply

I’m very secure and comfortable with myself and who I am, so I don’t need to get my personality defined by interests in beer, cowboy clothing and manly films. I don’t like beer, so I’m not going to drink beer just to prove how manly I am.

Especially the ridiculous caricatures - onesies and cocoa - to emphasise how wrong and unmanly it is for you to like a genre, stand out. People who attack a group over their preferences always come across to me like they themselves are incredibly insecure, and from that perspective have to convince others by said ridiculous caricatures. Like teenagers fishing for reinforcement by dragging others down. Except topic starter emphasised how adult she is, yet still shows this behaviour. I definitely don’t need my identity confirmed by such people.

reply

No, I just wanted you to know how an obsession with comic book characters comes across to people my age. As someone else here pointed out they used to be obsessed with comic book characters, but then they turned fourteen.

I don't think he's insecure, either. He's just expressing facts. Generations that hang onto childish things into their adult years make me wonder of that Obama trope actually was accurate.

Nothing insecure about the bold type in your post, either -- while we're playing armchair psychiatrist.

reply

I just wanted you to know how an obsession with comic book characters comes across to people my age.

I don't think that was your purpose at all. If it were curiosity, you would have asked why adult men like superhero films. You however had to not only ask that, but also ridicule those that like these films by moulding them into onesie wearing cocoa drinking "why are not more men like my husband"-kind of people.

I don't understand why people like horses. I could walk up to people who like horses, and ask either: "Where does your interest in horses come from?" or "Why do grown people like horses? Back in my day only teenage girls liked them but then they grew up instead of dressing up like idiots and drooling over these creatures. Have all men but my husband turned into nancies??

One is being curious, one being a condescending bully who actively attacks someone because they have a different interest and preference in genres than you have. And it does make this armchair psychologist wonder why you so much feel the need to mould others into your genres and preferences.

reply

MovieShootturd Thank you! My opinion as well. The OP keep stating that the post was not meant to attack any one but this comment about comic book fans is a degrading generalization and is extremely patronizing. If the OP REALLY was curious about this , the question would have been " I do not understand the love some adults have for comics, can someone explain it to me?" there was no need for that drinking coco and onesies rubbish. Like destinata you mean to tell us you can re-read your question "Have all the men but my husband taken to wearing onesies, drinking cocoa, and going ape for DC and Marvel?" and claim that it's an "innocent question" with zero hints of sarcasm and that it is not condescending to comic book fan at all? lol

reply

>>> [–] Destinata (1080) 16 days ago
[–] Destinata (1080) 16 days ago

No, I just wanted you to know how an obsession with comic book characters comes across to people my age.<<<

And what is your age, since you keep bringing it up. 110? Because I'm 62 and still love comics and superhero films. (And other things as well.) Because you don't understand doesn't mean those who do are infantile or going around "wearing onsies."

Because I don't do woodworking or autos or whatever doesn't mean I'm childish. It means I have different interests.

Like many, including I, have said, you don't have to share the interest (or obsession, since that's the word you seem to like.). However it is infantile (yes, I am going to use that word.) to denigrate and attempt to shame those whose interests differ from yours.

reply

Escapism - the tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fantasy.

And more to addressing your point, I don't recall any kid on the playground ever stating "When I grow up, I want to work a 9-5 job, have a boss who berates me and gives me lots of tasks to do in a narrow window of time."

So YES, grown men do enjoy superheros, like comic book movies and debating other grown men about whether DC or Marvel is better. They also imagine themselves possessing super powers and doing something great, like saving the world. Sure, it's not the riveting topics ladies spend their water cooler time discussing, like who did the best on "Dancing with the Stars" or Oprah's latest weight loss, yet it matters to men so who cares what you think?

reply