"I rhyme with tyre - And cause pollution - I think you'll find - It's the best solution: What Am I?"
"And that's the essential problem with 'Planetary' right there. When Elijah Snow says, 'The world is a strange place'... he gets Dracula, Doc Savage and Godzilla... When we say it, we get The Captain Fire-Cock Rock 'n' Roll Spectacular."
~ Pól Rua
Already, the police-based Blue Bloods is kind of the show that the OP is hinting at. All it would take is an executive to give it the green light. Make it about an extended family of "duly deputized" crimefighters.
Within the context of the times, the 1960s Batman show hewed to certain "conservative" tropes. It was very clear from various dialogue that Batman and Robin were not 'vigilantes'. All the mildly admonishing statements from Bruce/Batman to Robin/Dick about various topics.
Last edited by Hypestyle; 02-10-2020 at 06:48 PM.
For all its supposed bias, I'm surprised at how Gotham City is run on BATWOMAN. The Crows are supposedly the good guys, yet they're a private police force using extreme para-military tactics. And they're Kate's family and friends. That seems extreme corporate right wing to me.
Mega fan of: Helena Bertinelli (pre-52), Batwoman, Birds of Prey, Guardians of the Galaxy, Secret Six
Fan of: Batman, Cassandra Cain, Wonder Woman, Silk, Stephanie Brown, Captain America, Hellcat, Renee Montoya, Gotham Central, King Shark
Quasi-Fan of: Aquaman, Midnighter, Superman, Catwoman, Nightwing, Green Arrow, Squadron Supreme, Red Hood
Other likes: Low, Hush, Arkham Asylum: ASHoSE, Watchmen, A-Force, Bombshells, Grayson, Unfollow
Team Cap (both Rogers and Danvers)
I think of Agents of Shield as being right leaning. They hold people without due process for whatever length of time they please. Even the hacker character justifies it in the first season. "They don't have time".
I realize that Republican and Democrat presidents have both ignored due process in regards to terrorism as well as practicing torture, but, on the level of the average citizen, conservatives have a tendency to justify it while liberals have a tendency to condemn it.
You also have people like Mac and Yoyo who are solid Christians but they are not presented as heartless or condemnatory to others nor idiots.
The show also tends to avoid social issues or at least any social issue that would be controversial to more than one person in thousands.
Power with Girl is better.
Hmmm, this has given me a lot to think on. Maybe what I'm wondering is if there could be a show where right-leaning audiences can watch and see a superhero that voices issues from their side? I'm still trying to think of what good conservative values are where the whole audience can admire the hero but still get a conservative vibe from the show.
The Punisher did come to mind when thinking of superhero shows that feel more right of center.
If Jefferson were more of an "absolute authority" figure, he would feel more conservative to me, but things like him losing his position as principal turns him into the underdog fighting against "The Man".
That's a good comparison.
It's not that I'm saying what Batwoman is doing is a bad thing or that I want to see a show with the opposite values presented there. I'm wondering what issues a conservative hero would focus on the same way Batwoman promotes LGBT rights.
I wonder if that would have muddied up their message too much? It would have been an interesting angle to take.
This is all true. Also the fact that they've existed for many generations and through many world events means superheroes can never be categorized in such a way. It seems like creators mostly want to show a sense of progressiveness and superheroes being at the forefront of changing times.
I could see that working well with conservative audiences, but making it a period piece might be a bit of a cop out if it wants to appeal to modern conservatives.
I'd say Flash is somewhat like this, but I'm wondering if something to counter-balance the shows that look at modern issues from a liberal point of view would need something stronger and to take a solid stance on something.
I never watched 24, the violence was a bit much for me, but it had the benefit of being a very pro-American program in a post 9/11 world. These days things might not be so easy.
This is true. A conservative hero may be one that doesn't even have a secret identity and follows a chain of command.
That's true. Agents of SHIELD manages to promote the idea of competent officials appointed by the government that don't address any hotbed issues.
It not being easy isn't the problem, it was making propaganda for the government which didn't want to give any rights to anyone in their custody.
That's not conservatism. It's possible to have a chain of command, whether it be from the government or a super-hero team and be liberal.This is true. A conservative hero may be one that doesn't even have a secret identity and follows a chain of command.
One, half the time they're fighting corrupt government officials, including in America and two, acknowledging government officials aren't all terrible isn't being conservative. In fact, it's quite liberal since liberals believe that the government can be used to help people.That's true. Agents of SHIELD manages to promote the idea of competent officials appointed by the government that don't address any hotbed issues.
I don't think conservatism lends itself well to art. There's a simplicity to conservatism where stories need to have some type of complexity to be interesting. That simplicity is not a bad thing per se, but when I look at some of the positive ideals of conservatism like unfettered patriotism and a steadfast adherence to law and order unswayed by criminal intent, I don't see where an interesting show can come from that.
Then there's the fact that most superheroes do tend to lean conservative. They're individuals working outside a government structure, often setting their own rules to tackle crime. Superheroes spend their lives living out the fantasy of "the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." If you can't see that and are more concerned with the shows being pro-Civil Rights and Pro-LGBT... I don't know, man.
Yeah, the concept of a lot of heroes is 'the cops / law / government *can't handle this* so we have to step up.'
Granted, when 'this' is, like Galactus or an invasion of para-demons, they are quite right.
But when they are just taking out muggers or declaring a war on organized crime (a la the Punisher) because 'the cops are crooked / incompetent,' then it's back to the same sort of 'government can't protect us, we need moar guns!' kind of logic. The nature of the power fantasy has been ultimately, 'we have great power, and use it to react to over the top threats, and beat up crooks' not 'we have great power, and use it to *change the world.*'
My impression is that a conservative audience wouldn't really care about or need the hero to be a spokesperson for their political ideology. Based on the opinions I've seen seen, many conservatives would just rather not deal with societal or overtly political issues. Generally speaking, many seem to either not realize or not care that the standards on which they were raised and which bring them comfort are just as political, but it was the status quo and there were no (or very few, easily marginalized) voices to compete with the worldview that was all from their perspective. When complaints arise of, "don't be political, just tell a good story", what I hear is, "I want stories that are already from my perspective so that I don't have to bother understanding another perspective to enjoy a story not told from my point of view."
As with all things political, I'm of course speaking in generalities and that's just one opinion...
I think this also illustrates the problem. If there is so much as one element that might remotely be interpreted as liberal in any way by anyone, we are so divided politically as a nation that the whole thing counts as being liberal (or conservative depending on your point of view). Even if a corrupt official is acting independently, poof, it's liberal.
Power with Girl is better.
My understanding is that a lot of so-called conservatives in the United States are actually libertarians. And it seems to me that a lot of super-heroes now play out libertarian fantasies. Maybe that's why Steve Ditko was such a prolific creator of super-heroes. Conservative should actually mean that you support traditional institutions and advocate a prudent approach to change--whereas, many right wing Americans want to dismantle institutions and push radical changes to the existing system, one that rewards individual entrepreneurs (the so-called "job creators").
Their approach to problems, the makeup of their "crew". Slight differences in morality (Willingness to kill/torture/etc)
Both would stop a mugger from mugging someone on the street, but the cases they elect to take could be significantly different.
Left Slant: Evil corporation illegally polluting the environment for profit, trying to silence leaker who can expose information.
Right Slant: Eco-terrorists trying to stop oil pipeline from being built and giving energy to badly needed communities.
Last edited by titanfan; 02-11-2020 at 09:46 AM.