Since Superman flew onto the silver screen in Donner's 1978 film of the same name, movie theatres have been adorned with superheroes of all shapes and sizes. Making the transition from comic books to television sequels, and then to feature films, the Superhero has taken on new dimensions in the 21st Century.
Previously a predominantly family friendly genre targeting younger audiences, Superhero films began to take on a darker tone in the late 1990s with darker independent comics shifting the direction of comic book film adaptations; the success of Marvel's Blade in 1998 marked this change, prompting the development of their X-Men and Spider-Man series, films which achieved critical and commercial success. As Liam Burke comments, 'With the dawning of the new millennium, the super-hero evolved. Gone were the lycra suits, risible puns and juvenile antics. Superheroes were new men’. Employing more ‘realistic tone[s] and reverence for its source material’ these films ‘appealed to fans and newcomers alike’ (Burke 2008: 10) and ‘rejuvenated and legitimised ‘the blockbuster’ (Burke 2008: 11), leading to the consolidation of the Superhero genre as a flurry of directors tried to jump on the superhero band-wagon in a bid to fly high superman-style at the box office.
A trend of sequels and franchises followed as ‘movie studios began to see the financial incentive in keeping these heroes in subterranean lairs and figure-hugging jumpsuits' (Burke 2008: 12). As Burke comments, 'The overriding practice seems to be, why have one good idea produce only one good film, when you can pillage it for a number of films?’ (Burke 2008: 12).
The appeal of superhero movies for audiences has always been partly due to their synergy with comic books and subsequent status as post-literary adaptations; Thomas Leitch attributes the pleasure of watching such adaptations to the 'playful use of familiar elements from the original source whose recognition in a new context will evoke pleasure, the activation of narrative potentialities already implicit in the source text' and 'the filling out of circumstantial detail by evoking resonant historical settings or piggybacking on established narrative texts of genres’ (Leitch 2007: 262). Superhero and comic book movies readily lend themselves to sequels and franchises as post-literary adaptations, falling into the category of 'Expansions' as termed by Rabinowitz, ones that have a market driven approach to adaptation (Rabinowitz 1980: 248).
The trend of post-literary franchising and sequels in the 21st Century that illustrates the 'channelling of genre literacy into marketing synergy’ (Leitch 2007: 273) is reflective of a changing Hollywood film industry increasingly reliant on cross-media marketing strategies. ‘Whatever particular features they borrow, the feature that is most important' in the contemporary Hollywood film 'is the marketing aura of the original’ be it indicated by the title, character, or imagery; ‘The bottom line remains the ability of the original to presell the adaptation’ (Leitch 2007: 278). Hellboy (2004) is a post-literary film adaptation, based on Mike Mignola's Dark Horse comic, which falls into the trends outlined above.
Hellboy was produced by Revolution Studios, which, although a privately held company, had strategic partnerships with Sony Pictures and Fox Entertainment which is indicative of its media marketing ties (Sony and Fox heavily invest in electronics and technology trades, something that contemporary action films both utilise in their production process, and promote to audiences through the on-screen use of products). It was also backed, and distributed by Columbia Pictures, a member of the ‘Big Six’ and part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group (owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment) that traded the rights to Casino Royale for the Spiderman franchise. Hellboy was released off the back of the success of the Spider-man (2002) franchise and, although its box office performance may not have been at the same level as some of its earlier superhero film counter-parts (grossing $23,172,440 during its US opening weekend, in comparison with Spider-Man's $114,844,116), the film is illustrative of the industry's focus on creating a package that will maximise profits and spread risk. Hellboy's financial gain lies not so much in its box office performance then, but in the profits made from the cross-media products released alongside and after the film; the video game adaptation, multiple DVD treatment and sequel of the original (Hellboy II: The Golden Army, 2008) are some examples that highlight its position as a blockbuster package rather than just a single film.
The superhero movie may have proven itself a successful film genre in industrial terms, but its economic success is ultimately a result of its cultural appeal. So then, how is the superhero film symptomatic of contemporary society? What is it about the 21st Century superhero film that appeals to audiences? How does Hellboy fit into this cycle of contemporary superhero films?
Innate to human nature is the desire to escape at times of peril. Other-worldly stories have consistently satisfied readers' or viewers' desire for this and contemporary narratives continue to bear resemblances to classical and mythical stories that hold universal significance. Heroic figures have always featured in the arts in some form or other; from Odysseus (in Homer’s Illiad) and Beowulf in classical literary narratives, to Indiana Jones and Harry Potter in contemporary Hollywood films, their shared traits are that they are the epitome of goodness and power and resonate with audiences, be it through books, games or films.
In their visualisations of a fantasy world, superhero movies like Hellboy provide a filmic vehicle for viewers' escape. In director Guillermo del Toro's opinion, 'One of the best ways to address reality and truth is fantasy... because the important truth cannot be addressed menially, by normal drama. The reason why we carve gargoyles and angels is because we cannot explain what we feel other than through those figures. It’s intrinsic to the human endeavour to have these creatures be part of your life’ (del Toro quoted in Graham: 64). The audience's desire to escape reality is relative to their own historical and social context; in contemporary times the need for escape most often derives from the impact of global uncertainties, recession, unemployment, and political change. One way Hollywood responds to local and global instability is by producing films to counteract the negative news images saturating the media, which send the message that the American way is still worth fighting for. As Burke comments, 'today, with the events of 9/11 and the subsequent War on Terror, the world finds itself in uncertain times as constant television images remind us how powerless we can sometimes be’ (Burke 2008: 13). Because of US hegemony Hollywood feels well placed to challenge world events through the production of films, and it is through the superhero genre where the protagonists use their power to overcome evil that they can be seen to do so by subverting a certain truth.
Fantasy and escapist films, it could be argued, are for an audience that cannot face themselves; they invite viewers to suspend their disbelief and immerse themselves in a story world that is removed from reality, where the lines between fact and fiction are blurred. Suggestive of an inability of the audience to engage directly with real-world problems, it presents a potentially problematic avoidance of reality. This notion is subtly addressed through the historical back-story in Hellboy. Although the film doesn't directly engage with the history that the story is rooted in (it appears to be only of superficial relevance), when Professor Bruttenholm (also called ‘Broom’) is questioned by Myers about the events leading up to the birth of The Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD) and his comment that Hitler died in 1958, not 1945, Bruttenholm's response, "Did he now?" suggests a distortion or suppression of historical facts by authoritative powers in society.
According to Alford, ‘films do not tend to play party politics. But movies use politics in the broader sense constantly in the way they present the US, its enemies, its victims, the effectiveness of state violence and so on’ (Alford 2009). So then, by using Nazi history for its back story but stretching and exaggerating it to fit into a fantastical setting, does Hellboy suggest that historical facts are unreliable? Bruttenholm’s conversation with Myers seems to suggest that distorted facts are fed to the public by authorities and consumed without question. It implies that the government and authorities are not necessarily sources to be trusted, holding the power to hide the truth from society, and doing so through forms of propaganda (the montage of fake newspaper clippings where Hellboy becomes projected to the public as an urban myth is an example of this, as is when FBI agent Tom Manning appears on TV to deny the existence of the BPRD). The Thule Society is immediately presented with evil connotations as a Nazi-affiliated group, but the amalgam of Nazi symbols used throughout the film do not appear to be a specific comment on the Nazis themselves, but on the more general notion of evil that the group represents.
According to Burke, the superhero archetype does not exist without a villain. Fighting evil forces, and winning, garners the superhero with moral standing, and builds the hero's cult status. Bruttenholm explains to Myers in Hellboy, “There are things that go bump in the night... and we are the ones who bump back”. Fighting back for truth, justice and the American way of life, Hellboy follows in the footsteps of other action heroes charged with embracing the American dream and fighting for the justice of their nation. His responsibility is an American responsibility and ‘Big Red’s’ cigar-smoking, beer swigging, Babe Ruth candy bar eating ways are just some of the symbols of his stars-and-stripes identity. As Burke summarises, 'Arriving on Earth as an orphan from a distant world, Hellboy was taught by a caring adoptive parent to use his otherworldly powers to fight for the American way’ (Burke 2008: 137); the film’s taglines (1) ‘From the Dark Side to Our Side’ and (2) ‘Here to Protect’ are indicators of this, highlighting both Hellboy’s origins, and how he is called to overcome them and utilise them for good.
Hellboy's 'origin has an age-old familiarity’ but his character is contemporary. His sarcastic wit and comic dialogue is of our time, fittingly delivered by Beauty and the Beast’s Ron Perlman. The film is littered with intertextual references to pop culture and its self-awareness is characteristically modern; Hellboy’s introduction on screen is an example of this. As Myers, being given a tour of the BPRD by Clay, picks up the illustrated comic (shown through a close up shot which pans up on the graphic novel), a husky voice from off-screen is heard saying “I hate those comic books”. The camera then focuses in on Myers’ face, his eyes widening with surprise. The husky voice continues, “they never get the eyes right” as Hellboy is finally pictured on screen, lifting weights and chomping on a cigar in the shadows. The introduction of the hero does not only set up his quirky character, but also addresses the separation between the comic book and the film, Hellboy the mythical creation and Hellboy the real character.
The superhero’s dual identity is central to his character. He is an ordinary guy with whom the spectator can identify, but also has a secret identity, that of the superhero, the figure that the audience secretly dreams of becoming. Burke describes how ‘the superhero archetype relies on the secret identity, not just to accentuate the hero, but to ensure the hero’s image is not beyond the reach of the spectator’s self-identification’ (Burke 2008: 18). ‘With both Superman and Hellboy in the service of Uncle Sam these American immigrants try to blend in with the locals as best they can’; while Superman’s Clark Kent can masquerade as a normal citizen however, working a normal job and detaching himself from his supernatural alter-ego by simply removing his cape and donning some glasses to help him fit in, Hellboy’s ‘monstrous visage’ (Burke 2008: 137) renders him unable to do so with such ease. Hellboy cannot masquerade as anything other than he is (despite his attempts to grind down his horns so that he can “fit in”) and his monstrous appearance prevents his integration into society; he also works for a secret agency and the authorities literally impose a secret identity on him as they force him to stay hidden from the public sphere.
Here, the 'duality of the hero and villain extend[s] beyond the obvious opposition of good and evil’. A ‘large, hulking demon with red skin and right arm made from stone’ (Burke 2008: 136), Hellboy’s appearance is a marker of his hellish origins. Yet it is his villainous roots and use of his powers for good that makes him a supernatural Superhero. Burke classes these types of heroes as ‘rare cursed souls’ that ‘choose to keep their curse and use it against the evil that spawned them, and, in enduring their torment and making this sacrifice, these supernaturals become superheroes’ (Burke 2008: 126) .
The existence of evil brought about by the Ogdru Jahad (Gods of Chaos) is what determines Hellboy's calling to fight. But although Hellboy’s conflict with Rasputin’s men is the main driving force behind his superhuman activities, he is also faced with everyday, real-world problems. While he may be the spawn of the devil and have supernatural powers, he agonises about it. He uses pedestrian language, expresses normal worries (that “Father’s still mad at me”) and struggles with how best to articulate his romantic feelings for fire-starting team-mate Liz. This dichotomy holds universal appeal especially as, according to Del Toro, ‘we’re all teenage Frankensteins and it’s a very adolescent feeling of being an outcast' (del Toro quoted in Graham: 63).
Hollywood action genres are usually packed with fight sequences which display their ‘commercial aesthetic’ (Maltby 2004: 51) most obviously. Here, advanced special effects are employed to naturalise magic and seduce the viewer with moments of visual and aural spectacle. CGI and special effects, which are key for enveloping audiences, can also sometimes seem ‘more important than characters or casting’ (Leitch 2007: 271) and can be criticised for being used at the expense of the story. The film’s narrative substance is what connects the audience to the characters on screen, and the use of typically Hollywood themes such as relationships and loves, setbacks and struggles are what resonates with spectators. Therefore, extraordinary characters need to be imbibed with ordinary problems so audiences respond to, and really root for their superhero. While heavily-crafted fight sequences certainly feature in Hellboy, they seem to be less prominent than in some action-packed superhero films. Instead, it is Hellboy’s (in)human interactions and relationships, and his emotional and personal growth as a character that are at the forefront of the film. His defeat of Rasputin is motivated by a personal need to avenge his father’s death and the climax of the film, arguably, is not actually in the final fight sequence and defeat of evil, but in Hellboy’s eventual admission of his love to Liz and in his acceptance of his status as an outsider.
‘Bizarre and loopy, romantic and dynamic’ (Bradshaw 2004), Hellboy breaks away from the archetypal superhero in many ways. Looks aside though, Hellboy follows tradition in that he is an ordinary figure with extraordinary powers who fights crime in order to bring about peace, providing spectators with a comforting sense of hope that positive change can be achieved by any man. ‘Now that the comic superhero has largely replaced the monster feature, Hellboy happily combines the two’ (Mackie 2005). However, it also combines the Hollywood mission to show that good overcomes evil and that the American way of life is worth fighting for, imbuing viewers with a sense of responsibility for their nation, suggesting the importance of individual action to bring about this change. In reality, the studios have a formula for success which plays with the audience’s need for reassurance to produce a successful, popular and lucrative product. Yet this action-packed genre, a vehicle for the visual spectacle, in Hellboy’s case is not all style and no substance. Hellboy successfully balances spectacle with story, proving that Superhero films can be flexible and dynamic modern day myths that help us understand our world.
-Pippa Selby, Queen Mary, University of London, 2010
References:
‘Hellboy’, Sight and Sound (Sept 2004)
Burke, Liam (2008), Superhero Movies (Harpenden: Pocket Essentials)
Leitch, Thomas (2007), ‘Postliterary Adaptation’ in Film Adaptation and Its Discontents (The John Hopkins University Press), Chp.11, pp257-279
Rabinowitz, Peter J (1980), ‘What’s Hecuba to us?’ in Suleiman, S. R., and Wimmers, I.C. (1980), The reader in the text: essays on audience and interpretation (Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press)
Graham, Jamie, ‘Total Film Interview: Guillermo del Toro,’ Total Film, Issue 137 (April 2008), pp.61-65
Alford, Matthew (2009), A Propaganda Model for Hollywood in Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture 6(2) p148 (University of Westminster, London)
Maltby, Richard (2004), Hollywood Cinema (London: Blackwell)
Bradshaw, Peter (2004), ‘Hellboy’ in The Guardian, August 27, 2005
Mackie, Rob (2005), ‘Hellboy’ in The Guardian, January 7, 2005
