The Red/Blue/Green Menace!

[herewiss13]

I'm was the middle of watching the latest episode of 'Smallville' when a thought struck me (don't look at me like that, it's the last season!  The only other one I watched was the first...it seemed symmetrical!).  When are superheroes going to stop re-hashing McCarthyism?  

If that trope was a dead horse, it'd be pulped by now.  Every single team/universe, either in comics or on TV has, at one point or another, been attacked by a hysterical populace/media/government as a "Hidden Menace".  Occasionally X-Men delves deeper into racism/xenophobia, since some mutants are visible, but superheroes?...they look like everyone else (but dangerous).

The irony of this reverse-McCarthyism trope can be seen if you replace "Superhero" with "Commie".  "There are hidden Commies out there, superior human beings who are needlessly persecuted as they work for the betterment of humanity."  If McCarthyism is soooo bad (and, mind you, I'm not saying it wasn't) then the people it opposes must be really swell folks indeed!

...kinda makes you wonder if some sort of Soviet propaganda meme has been tireless churning away beneath the surface long after its instigators faded away.  Did Stan Lee ever visit Russia? :-P

Comments

[ase.livejournal.com]

Smallville is still on?

IMO, McCarthyism in comics will go away when Marvel and DC realize their target audience isn't buying it anymore. As in, never.

[herewiss13.livejournal.com]

Smallville is coming to a close after 10 years. Clark just proposed to Lois and they (and the other Justice people) are going into hiding due to the Vigilante Registration Act.

But it isn't just Marvel & DC. 'Heroes' did it too, as have many other shows. Even "The Incredibles" had a bit of popular (if not governmental) paranoia/hysteria (until the end).