The kind of faux realism applied to fantastical material so that average viewer will believe it; the point at which the idea of realism simply translates to compromising fantasy in typically fantastical material, adding lots of black, blood, sex, or making it "dark," because that means it's serious grown up business; realism that results in drunk, college idiots proclaiming "that's so badass!" and marveling how deep they must be to "get" the goings on.
A great example of frat boy realism: "So the new Spider-man will be gritty and dark this time and not fruity and lame like the other ones?"
I'm starting to feel like one day I'll be feeling something similar about Christopher Nolan's "Batman" movies... loving them as films but HATING the impact they're having on genre film, i.e. making this kind of frat boy realism the order of the day.
I'm starting to feel like one day I'll be feeling something similar about Christopher Nolan's "Batman" movies... loving them as films but HATING the impact they're having on genre film, i.e. making this kind of frat boy realism the order of the day.
by Jack Kirby January 16, 2011