issue 29 // vol 44 opinions // no. 15 With great power comes awful films > Why I can’t stand superhero movies Jessica Berget Opinions Editor Mi" it’s because | never read superhero comics, maybe it’s because I’ve seen only a few of the films, or maybe it’s because, admittedly, I’m a huge movie snob, but | absolutely detest superhero movies. Just last month I saw Black Panther for the first time and, although I enjoyed it, I realized that I’ve had enough superhero movie exposure to last mea lifetime. “How can anyone hate superhero movies?!” You, a possible superhero movie fan, might be asking yourself. Well believe me, I have my reasons. They're extremely predictable. I find superhero movies all follow the same plot formulas, same characterizations, same outcomes, same climaxes, same cheesy lines, same everything! I feel like I already know what’s going to happen in every superhero movie before I’ve even seen them. The heroes always win in the end, and the villains are always defeated, though they always come back a couple times to arouse suspense, and then are finally conquered in some epic last battle... or so you think., because there is almost always a scene at the end that shows that the villain is still alive, or has some successor seeking revenge against the heroes, thus setting up the plot for the next superhero movie. It never. Fucking. Ends. One movie becomes a set-up for a future movie, which means a sequel for another, movie which means more characters are going to be introduced for more sequels for more movies. It makes it seem that the set-ups for future movies are more important than the current movie itself. This would be fine if these stories developed or evolved, but I find they never go anywhere. All it ever gives you is the same formula for every superhero movie; mindless action mixed with an abhorrent amount of CGI, some suspense, a couple cheesy romance scenes and inside jokes that only the die-hard fans would understand. I get that suspense and action are important elements in film-making, but that’s practically all superhero movies are. I’m not saying they can’t also have great acting, stories, characters, and cinematography, I’m sure some do. However, the emotional response I get from superhero movies is always superficial, relying on explosions and fight scenes to captivate audiences, and that’s just not what I’m into. As frustrating as this is to me, | can understand why so many superhero movies are being produced these days. They are huge right now, so production companies are constantly pumping them out for profit because they know people will watch them. The characters and superheroes are so well-known at this point that people will watch them in anything, no matter how bad the final product may be. What gets your goat? All-female movie remakes > We need original movies starring women, not gender-swapped remakes Jessica Berget Opinions Editor here is something to be said about the film industry when their idea of female representation or “strong female roles” is just casting women in movie remakes that originally starred men. As much as I like to see women play leading roles in major movie blockbusters, when they roles they take on were originally written for men, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The problem IJ have with these movies is that they don’t represent women or give them “strong female roles” to play, it just places women in roles that were originally written for men. Some people will praise this trend of gender-swapped remake movies, regarding them as a “Female representation win!” but how exactly do these movies represent women when the roles weren't originally written The anti-vax Greg Waldock Staff Writer he anti-vaccination movement has, tragically, planted firm roots here in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. From Chilliwack to Point Grey, specific neighbourhoods have shown far lower vaccination rates than the ones around them—and, unsurprisingly, with higher rates of smallpox and whooping cough. In many impoverished parts of the world the lack of access to vaccinations is a matter of life and death, with viral outbreaks capable of killing thousands of people across generations with no cure or treatment. Vancouver (thankfully) does not have the excuse of poverty or poor education for these totally preventable outbreaks. The culprit is for them? These roles don’t represent women in any way because these were roles made for, and by, men. They're women playing a man’s character, and to me, that’s not representation. We recently had an all-female Ghostbusters, and an expansion on the male-dominated Ocean’s 11 franchise with the all-women Ocean's 8, it looks like this may be a reoccurring trend in Hollywood, with the next gender-swapped movie remake being The Expendables (renamed as The ExpendaBelles, just in case you forgot it’s starring all women). To take it even further, there has even been talks of remaking The Lord of the Flies with an all-female cast, which completely misses the point of the story. The point was that it was a group of boys and that they succumbed to toxic and violent aggressions. If it were all women, | feel like there would be a completely different outcome and story, so it makes no sense to make the same movie with a female cast and not change the story at all. 1 worry if this all-women reboot pattern keeps up, more classic films will have \ their ultimate story points and morals misconstrued. Can't movie producers make original films about a group of female friends battling some supernatural force, or a story about a class of teenage girls stranded on an island? Surely this would be more interesting than the same movie continuously regurgitated and gender-swapped in the name of female representation. movement is dangerous and needs to end now > Outbreaks of deadly, preventable diseases in Vancouver can and should be avoided not the inability to get vaccines; it’s a willingness to throw out hard facts in favour of soft, easily-digestible lies. The modern anti-vax movement kicked off in 1998 with a paper writer by Andrew Wakefield alleging connections between certain ingredients in certain vaccines with autism starting in childhood. Despite actual professionals thoroughly and publicly proving the paper wrong, it still became enormously popular with certain aggressively- contrarian crowds, particularly the kind that regularly watches daytime TV. Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz hosted interviews with people selling alternatives to vaccines, regardless of their actual medical merits. A public dialogue in Canada and the US emerged condemning “Big Pharma’, its ties to the government, and vaccines administered to children at childbirth. At first, this was just frustrating anti-scientific nonsense pushed by people with financial stakes in its popularity. But as the 2000s rolled on, the real and obvious danger of the anti-vax movement became clear: As childhood measles vaccinations slowed, measles epidemics started breaking out across the Western world. In 2013, 88 people were hospitalized in Wales, resulting in one death. In 2008, 11 children contracted measles in San Diego, all confirmed to have been unvaccinated due to their age or their parents’ choice. In the Fraser Valley, 400 measles cases appeared over the course of one month. All these cases occurred in towns and neighbourhoods with low vaccination rates. I believe the anti-vax movement isn’t a debate, a social justice campaign, Photo by Analyn Cuarto or an academic dialogue. It is a rabid, frenzied, thoughtless push towards feel- good solutions regardless of their impact. It exists exclusively because people are falling for “all-natural” or “chemical-free” advertisements that have placed children in our community directly in harm’s way. | fully believe that before this movement ends, there will be children dying in Vancouver because their parents chose not to vaccinate them. This goes beyond the government advertising vaccine information or enforcing mandatory inoculations; this is a social movement and can only be stopped by people on the ground. If you know people who support not vaccinating their kids, I believe you have a responsibility to inform them. We as a community can only hope people are open to being informed.