The University of Baltimore — Go Eubies! — announced today (via a press release) a new course the university will be offering, scrutinizing “the intricately plotted world of Marvel films — the Iron Man, Thor and Captain America series, characters from The Avengers, and now the Guardians of the Galaxy movie,” which they say “is widely expected to be the highest grossing film of 2014”. Wrong! But hey, you’re a college that offers a course examining Marvel movies, which you refer to as “intricately plotted” so I’ll forgive you unless you have sources as to whom is widely expecting it to be the highest grossing film of 2014, but I digress.
The course, which will be called “Media Genres: Media Marvels” and taught by “comic and pop culture historian” and “world renowned zombie expert” Arnold T. Blumberg, will…
[U]ncover the unprecedented efforts by Marvel to establish a viable universe of plotlines, characters, and backstories that leave no question unanswered, no story or character abandoned or otherwise unexplained. Blumberg says this critical look will encourage students to better understand the culture’s fixation on superheroes, fictional global threats, and other “widescreen” novelistic tales that have pushed the comic book-to-film ethos into new territory.
If Blumberg seriously believes Marvel movies to be this impressive I almost have to take this course, just to listen to the conversations and debates that arise.
In the press release Blumberg says, “One thing we’ll do is dive into the impact of the Guardians of the Galaxy film, which proved two things: Mainstream movie audiences are not remotely tired of superhero movies; and Marvel Studios can now release a sci-fi adventure that actually features talking trees and raccoons. It’s not that they’re getting away with it — they’ve created a universe in which fans completely accept these developments, and they’re ready for even more.”
Uhhh, okay… and…?
Sure, the Marvel movies have managed to make money, more than $7 billion worldwide in fact, but I guess I don’t see what is to be learned here, and I can only wonder what educational value a course such as this can hold. I don’t necessarily see audience acceptance of a franchise of films as being a cultural touchstone worthy of an entire college course. Am I wrong?
A more culturally relevant course would be to teach, examine and explore great movies general audiences ignored and/or didn’t see rather than the PG-13, for everyone blockbuster that sold a ton of lunchboxes and Halloween costumes.
