Heidi discovered this in-depth Washington Post story (you’ll have to register to read it) about Virgin Comics and Deepak Chopra:
“Kids all over the world are reading comic books,” he says, “and if we could create a transcultural hero that appeals to kids in countries like Iran and Syria, that could have a huge impact. We’ve even made a proposal to the State Department to study celebrity heroes in Islamic countries and make superheroes out of them. It’s a good way — ”
Wait, you called the State Department?
“Yes.”
Elsewhere, there’s this Cox News piece about how much kids really, really like anime:
In fact, when you mention American animation around her or any other anime fan, with the exception of a few series like “Family Guy” and “The Simpsons,” they usually toss around adjectives like “brain-dead” and “childish.”
Anime, on the other hand, deals with universal issues, says Susan Napier, a professor of Japanese studies at Tufts University outside Boston.
“Themes of loss, adventure, romance, nightmares and dreams. It also confronts the darker side of things that, up until this point, Hollywood has avoided; stories where heroes [sometimes] die,” Napier said. “Particularly since 9/11, I think younger Americans have been looking for something that is, in some ways, more real.”
And finally, Time posts an early review of 300:
The result is a gorgeous, dreamlike movie that’s almost too perfect. Every frame is neat and composed, like an oil painting, not a hair or a grain of sand out of place. All noise and dissonance have been digitally eliminated. It’s beautiful, but it’s more beautiful than it is real.
March 5th, 2007 at 10:04 am
There WAS a great new optimistic, transcultural character..
but then he got eaten by his croc pal.
March 5th, 2007 at 10:27 am
I had written a comment that made would have probably made me sound like an asshat, so I’ll just say that I think there’s more reasons kids are drawn to anime than it being more real, though it doesn’t hurt.