This evening as I sit down to write this blogpost, I am trying to think about what I want to write about. It should be something entertaining I think, something as fun to write as it was to experience. So I first turned to the trusty New York Times, They’ll surely have a story for me to write about! My options were the Cyclospora parasite in the lettuce, Arizona’s food stamp crisis, or maybe the primary race for Senate in Michigan. All of those, while interesting and definitely worth a read or a listen at least, don’t really fit my mood at the moment. “I’m ruined! I have nothing left, except Spider-man”. No, I do not apologize for the blatant use of the meme, and please prepare yourself for plenty more quotes and memes as I talk about this movie in the most spoiler-free way that I can.
To preface, Spider-man has been my favorite super-hero since I was a toddler. My mom still has the Spider-man costume (PJs) that I wore when I was 2 somewhere in the house. I grew up on Sam Raimi’s movies, was carried through Highschool on the back of Andrew Garfield and The Amazing Spider-Man films, and The MCU Spiderman movies are amazing to watch as a young adult, and the Spiderverse movies are two of my top five favorite movies of all time. Spider-Man Brand New Day was an amazing movie to watch as a longtime fan, and I applaud the studios for how well this rendition of Spider-man matured to the deeply complex character that I find so inspiring.
Oftentimes in fiction you get hopeful/victorious heroes, or tragic heroes, each two sides of the same coin. Spider-Man on the other hand, IS that coin. He is hopeful and optimistic, and yet depressed and goes through so much more than the majority of heroes do in their daily lives. Everyone close to him is pushed away or killed, either as a plot device or just toxic characters. This is specifically pointed at comic book and/or Raimi trilogy MJ. In this particular case, the entire world has forgotten who Peter Parker is, and he is left more alone than any other Spider-Man that I am aware of. Tom Holland does an amazing job of portraying Peter’s depression and loneliness. My boyfriend even joked that the movie was a lot like Spider-Man v.s. the male loneliness epidemic. What inspired me was the message that despite this heartbreak on a global scale, Spider-Man still acts happy, he webslings and quips and jokes, and fights for what he knows to be right selflessly.
This Spider-Man v.s. the Peter Parker dynamic has always been what has drawn me the most to the character, how someone suffering so much can shine the brightest. A duty to uphold that “with great power comes great responsibility”. We all have great potential and great power. Sure we may not sling webs, or climb on walls, but each and every one of us has the power to make a better day…a brand new day if you will.
Excited and nerdy,
Your friendly Neighborhood Blog-Woman
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