But then, May 5th isn't much of a holiday in Mexico. September 16th is their big one (the equivalent of 4th of July in the USA, including gunfire and fireworks and drunken toasts), but for some reason it gets short shrift up here. Maybe the ex-pats don't feel all that patriotic? I don't know...do U.S. ex-pats celebrate July 4th?
Well, whatever. Actually, despite the food it was a good time, though I had hoped to see The Avengers today. Unfortunately, there were scheduling conflicts due to naps and swimming lessons. Perhaps tomorrow the wife and I will get to take in a matinee...the forecast is optimistic. And that's cool, 'cause I've been in a superhero state of mind lately.
I should probably save any superhero discussion till after I've seen the movie, of course. If it turns out disappointing, I'll probably junk the whole thing and go back to crafting my war game (in between proofing CDF and brow-beating my artists for TCBXA project). There's no use getting all hyped up before the inspiration hits. I avoided that pitfall with the most recent Mission Impossible film (prior to seeing it, I was already starting to edge back into the ol' Top Secret waters; afterwards I was, like, meh).
But, hey...what else am I going to post? I've got an eight-page, meandering diatribe that I'll need to post in chunks but which doesn't really seem to have a point, and I've got a short essay full of glowing remarks about my play-test from two weeks ago. Yeah, I've been slack in the blogging arena...I've been on vacation, yo. Plus I've been in immense pain for awhile (the back is better, but I sprained my left wrist a couple days ago and I can't do shit with it...ugh!).
All right, all right...I'll keep this short. Here are just a few of my thoughts on the whole superhero genre:
- It's hard to define any type of supers (i.e. people with superhero powers) without referencing comic books and the usual hero vs. villain/alien menace/crook mentality. And I mean, it's tough regardless of the medium, whether film (see Jumpers) or RPGs (look at Aberrant). So far, I don't think anyone's been successful except when sticking to the traditional "caped crusader" concept.
- And yet, caped crusaders seem incredibly dated...have seemed incredibly dated...for some time as, I think, Alan Moore's Watchman series shows. I know a lot of gamers who say they're just not into the superhero genre, period. Sometimes, it seems like the successful films are only making money based on 1) special effects, 2) nostalgia, 3) kids. None of these are really going to help sell a NEW supers RPG aimed at a mature audience.
- Which is so damn frustrating to ME because isn't the supers genre kind of the epitome of the role-playing ideal? I mean, to have "super powers" in "our modern world" is kind of the premise of the genre, right? Superman didn't live in ancient Atlantis; Spiderman doesn't reside in a city on Mars. And since fantasy role-playing allows folks to experience living a wildly different life (slaying dragons, casting spells, etc.) you'd think that a game of wish fulfillment like the supers genre is would have mass appeal. But it doesn't.
Not only is it frustrating, it's a bit strange. Maybe folks feel their RPG habit is "nerdy enough" without mixing in a comic book angle. Personally, I don't see how that can be more embarrassing than telling someone you pretend to be an elven whatever on the weekends, but that's just me. Is it just that the challenge is too repetitive? How many times must we fist-fight the new, weekly arch-villain before the genre gets old? Maybe that's the deal...I know that some of the criticism of the second Iron Man movie was the similarity of the villain (in motives and methods) to the one in the first movie.
Mmm...there's a lot of different things to say here, and really no guarantee that the discussion will bear any fruit (since, if I don't make or play a supers RPG, what's the point of bringing it up?). I'm going to shut-up for now, maybe do some dishes and throw on a DVD. Should I watch Iron Man or Captain America?
