Innovator

I should add that The Hunger Games is not the Twilight that many of my contemporaries think it is, there's a true message in this with people who do things that matter, and very little romance. It's a girl power film that I hope and want my nieces to see.

I just watched Hunger Games last night on IMAX, and though I'm not a teenager (way way past that) and definately not a girl, I liked it a lot. The negatives is the pacing is kind of slow at times (but to be fare in a realistic way), and the violence is toned down by shaky cams so you couldn't really follow what was happening until the aftermath.

The positives are it is extremely well acted, especially by its lead Jennifer Lawrence who plays Katniss Everdeen and Woody Harrelson who plays Haymitch Abernathy. Also, I liked its many subtle social commentaries. I liked how smart Katniss was, and due to Haymith and Cinna's (played by Lenny Kravitz) tutoring she made sure everything she did during the Hunger Games mattered in the real world even when she couldn't see its effects from within (though with help from the Haymitch spin doctor). It's like she was a born politician, and you could see why President Snow (played by Donald Sutherland) became truly frightened of her.

I could see how kids could love the book, but I loved the movie for it's mature undertone. My friend (also not a teenage girl) who came with me loved Battle Royal, but he also liked Hunger Games a lot for much the same reasons I did.

1. What is your age?
42

2. What is your gender?
Male

3. What nation(s) are you a citizen of?
United States

4. At what age did you first read comic books?
5 years old, but mainly my exposure to superheroes were from TV shows like Adam West’s Batman, and George Reeves’ Superman. I really started reading comics seriously at the age of 7 and up, after I found and went through boxes and boxes of comics owned by a babysitter’s son.

5. Do you presently read comic books?
Yes

6. Have you ever read an online superhero comic?
Yes. I read Spinerette and Side Chicks regularly, and other online superhero comics off and on.

7. How have comic book heroes affected you personally?
I’ve developed a hero complex cause of them. I’ve had friends that used to liken me to Captain America, as I was always jumping in to help people in trouble without much thought of my own safety. I once stopped a purse snatching, helped an old man being assaulted by a younger attacker, stopped someone from beating his girlfriend, tried to help a guy who was shot in a gunfight, ran through a rain of fire from a burning tree to knock on doorways to make sure everyone was safe, among other things, and always feel awful when I can’t do more to help.

8. Do you value the abilities/powers of a comic book superhero or the character/story development of the superhero?
I value the character’s character development; how they develop their moral compass and sense of justice. For instance, I loved that Tony Stark was a playboy and a ruthless weapon monger shark before seeing the error of his ways, and became a hero. I like that Tony still makes mistakes and struggles with his morality, because it’s what he’s always known. I like that Peter Parker tried to make money with his powers, but was changed when his self-serving attitude caused his Uncle to die. I like that Peter still faces everyday problems even with his powers, and that he is always tempted to cross the line to try to solve them.

However, my favorite hero is Captain America. Comparatively, he’s not very powerful. I like that he’s always a good guy in and out of the mask, and that he constantly inspires people to do good and be heroes themselves in spite of his lack of strong powers, and because of it.

9. Do you think superhero comic books have had a significant impact on society?
I don’t think that many people read comics, and for those that do, like most literature, people take in only what applies to their own ideals and outside influences.

10. What value(s) do superhero comic books bring to modern society?
Again it depends on the person reading it and the society they surround themselves. However, I do feel comics do inspire people to be whatever they think they should be.

11. Do you think the value(s) superhero comic books provide has changed over the last 20, 30, 50 years?
During the golden age, good and evil were black and white and were written for young children. Silver age comics became darker with many heroes and villains crossing in and out of the grey areas or even to the other side very easily. The Silver age tried to appeal to an older age bracket of teens and young adults who were collecting comics at the time. Lately, the comics appear again to widen the gap between good and evil as the writers write again for a younger age of kids, though not quite what is was like during the Golden Ages.

12. What era or decade do you think superhero comic books had the greatest impact on society?
Probably the Golden Age comics probably had the greatest impact on the kids of that generation, as it was clear cut what they wanted to teach the kids.

13. What have you thought about the movies in recent years that are based on comic book superheroes?
I love them, I collect them, give me more. I feel like a kid again watching them.

14. Do you think modern technologies (e.g. video games, MMO’s) have affected the creativity of recent superhero comic book publications?
Of course, you can see their influence on pretty much every book, but it’s the same in all generations. Creativity has always been influenced by the technology the writers submerse themselves in. In the Golden Age it was Television and Action and Sci-Fi Movie Serials. During the Silver Age, it was mainly TV Cops, along with Action and Vigilante Grindhouse Movies and Exploitation films. Presently, video games stories add to an influence of Action Movies and Cartoons.

I should also point out the opposite is also true…that developers and pioneers of technology have also been influenced by the literature they read throughout the ages. This is especially true more so today than before, as the new technologies have also made many things more possible.

15. What, if any, new superhero publications have you seen in the last two years?
Shanna the She-Devil, Bomb Queen, Batman, and many Marvel comic titles and series. I’ve also read runs of non-superhero books like Walking Dead and Y the Last Man.

There was kind of an homage to the Doctor on an episdoe of Deep Space 9 called "Time's Orphan" involving Obrian and Keiko's daughter Molly in which she accidently fell into a Time Portal created by a long lost Time Traveling race. I remember the controls for the time portals being very TARDIS like.

Please, make it so!

I thought the "Chick dig the car" quote was something Robin had said, not Batman.

Just came back from it. It's a superhero origin film in the line of Cloverfield meets Unbreakable/Akira. I loved it!