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Of Superheroes, Remakes, Flashbacks/Forwards/Sideways and more

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TaoPhoenix:
In the realm of literature, superheroes occupy a funny place.

Except for your choice of X older precursors, the modern superhero genre is a 20th century phenomenon.

(Tangent: It's one reason I thought Warehouse 13 was brilliant in concept, because the people mostly stayed people, and it's the objects that wandered around and did strange (and usually dangerous) stuff. )

So a lot of superhero concepts are based on really simple concepts.

For the next day or two, I am comparing the original 1990 Flash TV series with the brand new remake. (We'll see if the new one lasts ... the old one got canceled after one season! I haven't yet looked up the reason why. Was it semi ahead of its time? Are we more attuned to superhero shows now?)

The people concepts tend to be pretty simple. Flash. Fast Man.  The fastest man alive. (Almost? "Oh look, it's someone faster than you are!")  End of power.

It's the surroundings that move. The 1990's series was based on the days when police were losing the battles vs gangs. The new one clearly has the police in control of gangs, and went straight for the super-villain angle. Gangs are a thing of the past, sorta. Now there's hints that the police are too strong, and dipping a bit into Orwell's Big Brother. How times have changed!!

And the Flash show is supposed to feature a crime-solving-partner with cutting edge tech ... trouble is, that's just really hard to portray even for good writers with decent scripts. You just have the context of the times. So the 1990's show had all these DOS boxes around, (with a few Hollywood blips and beeps!). The new one has more hi-res display stuff.

wraith808:
For the next day or two, I am comparing the original 1990 Flash TV series with the brand new remake. (We'll see if the new one lasts ... the old one got canceled after one season! I haven't yet looked up the reason why. Was it semi ahead of its time? Are we more attuned to superhero shows now?)
-TaoPhoenix (November 20, 2014, 09:58 AM)
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The older one was not well done- we'd not entered into the time where writers on superhero shows/movies realized one important element.  They have to be good shows/movies with a good plot first.  There are some decent analyses of the episodes on avclub.com that deconstruct them and the underlying themes therein.  There are some (several) points I disagree with... but it does inspire conversation and thought.

TaoPhoenix:

Besides the tech, I think it's important to figure out the roles of the police when a superhero is around.

I'd think with billion dollar Homeland tech, a vigilante would have a far harder time now than 20+ years ago.

I think that changes things.

I'm not quite sure how.

Stoic Joker:
Besides the tech, I think it's important to figure out the roles of the police when a superhero is around.

I'd think with billion dollar Homeland tech, a vigilante would have a far harder time now than 20+ years ago.

I think that changes things.

I'm not quite sure how.-TaoPhoenix (November 20, 2014, 02:34 PM)
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The Homeland tech is largely irrelevant in this case, as it will - and is -  only used for targeting crime/criminals with high political (e.g. vote generating) value. This way they don't have to run the risk of exposing how thoroughly they spying on everyone by accidentally eliminating - or largely denting - crime in general - As that would be bad for "business"..

So Superheroes will become the stalwart few that actually are foolhardy enough to attempt to protect 'We The People' from all criminals and criminal organizations ... Including the highly organized, funded, and outfitted paramilitary street gangs that have an undue fascination with the color blue..

40hz:
The Homeland tech is largely irrelevant in this case, as it will - and is -  only used for targeting crime/criminals with high political (e.g. vote generating) value. This way they don't have to run the risk of exposing how thoroughly they spying on everyone
-Stoic Joker (November 20, 2014, 03:08 PM)
--- End quote ---

+1 :Thmbsup:

Prosecutors will even withdraw evidence from a trial in some cases just to avoid revealing how they obtained it.

Spoiler
<link>

Baltimore Prosecutors Withdraw Evidence of Cellphone Tracking because of FBI Non-Disclosure Agreement
Thursday, November 20, 2014


The federal government’s blanket secrecy on cell-phone tracking technology provided to local police may wind up jeopardizing criminal cases aided by the equipment.

In Baltimore, police were suspected by a defense attorney of using the StingRay system, which mimics a cellphone tower and can capture information about cell phone calls and users, to collect data about their client.

So the lawyer pressed Detective John L. Haley in court about how the department obtained certain evidence against the accused. Circuit Judge Barry G. Williams sided with the defense and compelled the officer to answer the question, threatening him with contempt of court. But before that could happen, the prosecution withdrew evidence, including a handgun and cellphone, from the case so they wouldn’t get in trouble with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

An attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union agreed with the judge’s decision. “You can’t contract out of constitutional disclosure obligations,” Nathan Freed Wessler, who has been tracking these kinds of cases, told The Baltimore Sun. “A secret written agreement does not invalidate the Maryland public records law [and] does not invalidate due process requirements of giving information to a criminal defendant.”

The FBI has provided StingRay to law enforcement agencies around the country as long as they agree not to discuss it with anyone.

“Law enforcement officials in Maryland and across the country say they are prohibited from discussing the technology at the direction of the federal government, which has argued that knowledge of the devices would jeopardize investigations,” the Sun’s Justin Fenton wrote.

A similar case came before Williams in September. Again, a suspect was traced by means that the prosecution would not disclose and the state was forced to drop the evidence gained via that search.

-Noel Brinkerhoff
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