Exploring Our Favorite Characters

Who is your favorite fictional character?

Hudson Phillips: Indiana Jones

Colby McHugh: Yorick Brown, from Y: The Last Man

Monica Beard: Spider-Man

Alex Oakley: I don’t know that it can get better than Gustave H, a relic of a bygone world of civility, and also maybe polite madness, in Wes Anderson’s beautifully crafted European analogue in ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’

Jacob York: It has basically always been Magneto. He's just such an intriguing guy.

CK Love: Jessica Jones because she’s so anti-hero (in her own mind). Sherlock Holmes. Yes. All of them - but especially played by Jonny Lee Miller.

Who is your favorite sidekick?

Hudson Phillips: Bang Bang from The Brothers Bloom

Colby McHugh: Tim Drake’s Robin

Monica Beard: Kid Flash

Alex Oakley: When it comes to kickin’ it with protagonists, it doesn’t get better than Samwise Gamgee. That kind of friend is more valuable than gold.

Jacob York: Drywall from Scud the Disposable Assassin! A sad young man made out of zippers who found heroism (among other things) inside himself.

CK Love: Robin - Stephanie Brown. Watson in the new Sherlock on BBC and as played by Lucy Liu in Elementary. 

Who is your favorite villain? 

Hudson Phillips: Severus Snape

Colby McHugh:  Brick Top, from Snatch. Every monologue he has is just perfect. 

Monica Beard: Loki

Alex Oakley: THE MIGHTY MONARCH! Adult Swim’s Venture Bros. Had so many memorable characters over its 7 seasons but the shrill Malcolm Fitzcarroldo ended up having one of the most interesting backstories in the whole series!

Jacob York: Psycho Mantis from Metal Gear Solid.

CK Love: Joker in the comics. Moriarty as portrayed in the new Sherlock on BBC, and played by Natalie Dormer in Elementary. 

Sum up your “origin story” in one sentence.

Hudson Phillips: After the death of his father, a preteen Hudson disappeared into movies as a way to cope. Now, as an adult, he makes movies that hopefully help the next generation do the same. 

Colby McHugh: Born as an accident (?), the youngest of four kids branches out on his own in hopes that he can find at least one decent story in his pop culture jumble of a brain. With great knowledge of dumb/useless stuff, comes great pretentiousness. 

Monica Beard: Born and raised in small town Georgia, turned to villainy post college graduation. 

Alex Oakley: A young boy discovers that you really can lie for a living if you do it on stage! (Or in office)

Jacob York: It was all over the moment he realized he loved the attention. 

CK Love: I was born to extraordinary parents with family gifts of clairvoyance, healing, and prescience, but I was kidnapped from a family picnic by an evil child who wanted a little sister. 

If you had to wear one character’s costume every day for the rest of your life, whose costume would you choose? 

Hudson Phillips: Speed Racer

Colby McHugh: The Dude. Comfort is key. 

Monica Beard: Wonder Woman’s (preferably the movie armor)

Alex Oakley: I value comfort over appearance in most environments so I’m gonna have to go with The Dude himself.

Jacob York: Who wears a lot of hoodies? I dress like Rocky during training montages, but without the fitness. 

CK Love: Batman’s. I like the cape and mask. Haha

Fill in the blanks while describing yourself: _________ with a heart of _________.

Hudson Phillips: Writer with a heart of even more heart.

Colby McHugh: Dog with the heart of a Cat. It’s a weird combination. 

Monica Beard: Goof with a heart of ball

Alex Oakley: Beautiful idiot with a heart of more idiocy.

Jacob York: Human with a heart of E-MO-TION by Carly Rae Jepsen. 

CK Love: Rebel with a heart of harlequin. 

When you look back over your life, what do you want people to remember as your defining character trait? 

Hudson Phillips: Empathy

Colby McHugh: I’m a simple guy. I just want to be remembered as a good hang.

Monica Beard: That I was always there for them when they needed me. 

Alex Oakley: I want people to think of me primarily as kind.

Jacob York: Empathy. Or good looks. Both?

CK Love: Fiery compassion with a sense of humor.

Avengers Week - Captain America: A Tree Beside a River of Truth

Welcome to Avengers Week here at Mirror Box! Each day, we’ll feature a piece from our incredible writers that highlights each original member of the iconic team and discuss the cultural impact and relevance these characters have on the big screen! As a fitting end to our series, Jacob York gives us his take on the first avenger himself, Captain America!

It’s cool to be cynical. The stakes are lower. If you appear to not care about the outcome of most decisions, or feel like they’re out of your hands, you don’t run the risk of disappointment. It’s a very human reaction to the modern world, when we’re all under someone’s thumb. 

That’s not how most of us work, though. Despite our best efforts, we care. We keep showing up for the beating we know we’re going to get because it’s the right thing to do. We’re put together to give a shit.

Captain America has rarely been cool, but he has always given a shit. 

I tend toward folks some people think are “vanilla”. What’s so funny about truth, justice, and the American way, right? And we could talk all day about the image America projects into the world as opposed to the stark reality we live with, but superheroes are supposed to be aspirational. As with any comic book character, Captain America has served at the whims of his creators since his debut in 1941, but Cap’s North Star has always been his standing up for the downtrodden, fighting for justice, and finding good when surrounded by darkness.

Comparing movie Captain America vs. comic book Captain America is a fool’s errand for me, even though that’s the assignment. My heart keeps pulling back to the core of the character, found throughout all media. Perhaps that’s why I find Chris Evans’ portrayal so successful. His career started as a face on Mystery Date 2000 (Thank you, Twitter…). After a series of comic book projects of varying success (it’s truly gobsmacking that he was in two Fantastic Four movies.), he found the part that has defined his career to this point.

I have trouble talking about Captain America without bringing up the other “vanilla” superhero du jour. I’ve always been convinced that if you could make one comic book character real, you would want to pick Superman. A benevolent god whose internal compass drove him to do everything he could to make the world a better place. Cap is the version of this that you can touch. He’s obviously a super soldier, but he can be defeated by conventional means as opposed to rare minerals from his home planet. Superman is, at its heart, the idealized story of the immigrant, coming to a new land to make a new life, the world prospering in response. Captain American, though, is the story of what any of us could be. Steve Rogers’ superpower was never his ability to throw a shield or bicep curl helicopters (though, those things certainly help …). It was the same grit and determination to stand up to bullies that was ground into him in as a kid in Brooklyn.

I don’t have any interest in recapping movies you’ve already seen, but it’s worth remembering what happens to Cap from film to film. In Captain America: The First Avenger, he goes from being a short, sickly street rat to an American icon, socking Hitler in the jaw at USO shows and saving the world from a Marvel-ized version of white supremacy and Nazism. He sacrifices himself to save the world and, in a heartbeat, is brought back seventy years in the future. Everyone he knows is gone. His conception of the world is shattered. And yet, he rises to the occasion to lead the team in The Avengers. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, he gets his first reminder of normalcy; a friend he thought was dead returns. He solidifies his place as leader in The Avengers: Age of Ultron, shows that he’s willing to give it all up in Captain America: Civil War, loses everything he’s built since coming back in Avengers: Infinity War, and finds everything he thought he once lost at the end of Avengers: Endgame.

Captain America’s films are defined by heroism, but that doesn’t mean they’re superhero movies. Captain America: The First Avenger is a war movie. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a Cold War Era conspiracy film. His humanity allows for a variety of interpretations. I can’t say he’s the audience avatar, but he’s my avatar. The person who is surrounded by monsters and gods but takes it in stride. Not just that–he leads them. 

What do we owe ourselves? What do we owe each other? Those questions live at the heart of Captain America. This character pre-dates Marvel (Timely Comics published his first appearance) and Cap punching Hitler in the face happened a full year before the attack on Pearl Harbor brought America into the conflict. Cap was in the war before America was. Why? Because of what we owe each other–the opportunity to do good.

Cap has changed over the arc of the MCU, but he is still who he always was. The kid from Brooklyn trying to do good. The same as Chris Evans. The same as any of us, God willing. Just trying to do good.

“Doesn't matter what the press says. Doesn't matter what the politicians or the mobs say. Doesn't matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right.

This nation was founded on one principle above all else: The requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences. When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world –

‘No, YOU move.’”

-Captain America

Avengers Week - Hawkeye: Eyes, Ears, and Backbone of the MCU

Welcome to Avengers Week here at Mirror Box! Each day, we’ll feature a piece from our incredible writers that highlights each original member of the iconic team and discuss the cultural impact and relevance these characters have on the big screen! In this piece, Sonya May takes a deep dive into one of the most underrated (and underused) characters in the Marvel Universe, Hawkeye!

When thinking of the original Avengers, all too often, Hawkeye is forgotten. But I’m here to set the record straight; as demonstrated in Hawkeye’s arc in the MCU, it is clear that he is the glue that holds the Avengers together. Many tend to overlook him simply because he isn’t a hero with superpowers. Instead, Hawkeye is the most regular human guy out of all the Avengers. In all reality, Hawkeye is the father figure in the messed up family that is the Avengers.

S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent

We are first introduced to Hawkeye very briefly in Thor. This cameo appearance helps to establish his character as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent as well as his preference for using a bow and arrow while observing from a high vantage point. On the surface, it looks like he’s merely a trusted agent with the best marksman skills. Dig a little deeper and you start to see the foundation of his empathetic and fatherly side being built. Even though he has his bow and arrow locked on Thor at all times, he admits to Agent Coulson that he’s rooting for Thor. It’s likely that he is rooting for Thor because he sees the demigod’s potential, much like how he saw the potential and good in Black Widow when he had been sent by S.H.I.E.L.D. to kill her (which Black Widow admits to Loki in The Avengers).

Loki’s Minion

Admittedly, the worst movie for Hawkeye’s character development would be The Avengers. Even Jeremy Renner wanted Hawkeye to be killed off after discovering that his character was not really going to be fleshed out in the film. While being Loki’s pawn for the majority of the film, Hawkeye is simply being used for his fighting abilities and inside knowledge of S.H.I.E.L.D., which are two character traits already established by his short cameo in Thor. His only ties to the Avengers are his pre-existing relationship with Black Widow and his professional obligation to Nick Fury. Let us not forget that unlike most of the Avengers, Hawkeye is still just a regular guy who is really good at fighting and has keen sensibility. After Black Widow literally knocks the sense back into him, Hawkeye joins the Avengers, mostly because he wants to kill Loki in revenge for having been mind controlled. So his reasoning for joining the Avengers paints him once again solely as a fighter and nothing more. During the Battle of New York, Hawkeye plays a quintessential role, as he perches up high and calls out enemy movements for the rest of the team and defends the city from there. Even though Hawkeye is mostly just set up as a one dimensional character, he can still be seen as the glue that holds the Avengers together. Without Hawkeye, the Avengers were unable to beat Loki on their own, but with his help, they were able to save New York.

Family Man

Finally, in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Hawkeye gets the character depth he deserves. He goes from being just a regular man who has insane combat skills to a man with a heart and family. After the Avengers face a major beat down from Ultron, they realize that they need to get off the grid. Hawkeye has the solution and brings them to a “safe house,” which turns out to be his family home. There the Avengers come face to face with Clint’s pregnant wife and two children. 

Now, we begin to realize how much the Avengers truly do rely on Hawkeye. His wife, Laura, admits to him that she thinks they need him too much and that they may not always have his back in the future. This plays out later in Captain America: Civil War when he gets dragged out of retirement due to his desire to help Scarlet Witch and winds up having to sacrifice himself so that Captain America and Bucky can escape the airport battle, which results in his arrest. 

It is also at the Barton homestead that we learn what he thinks of the Maximoff twins, and it seems like he even has a bit of a soft spot for them off the bat. In his words, they’re just punks. He realizes that they were young and desperate, which made for them to be easy targets to manipulate by the evil that was Strucker and later Ultron. After the Maximoff twins join with the Avengers, Hawkeye truly shines as a father figure when Scarlet Witch begins to have a breakdown, blaming herself for all the turmoil happening around her. Even though the twins are partially to blame, Hawkeye steps up and gives her the pep talk to end all pep talks. He puts on that dad hat and tells her that it doesn’t matter whose fault it is; none of it all makes sense seeing as he’s out there fighting robots with a bow and arrow. Like a good dad would, he gives her the option to stay hiding and her brother will come get her later, or she can step back outside and become an Avenger. That’s a defining moment for the future of the Avengers, and it’s all thanks to Hawkeye. 

Retirement

In Avengers: Infinity War, we learn that Hawkeye bargained with the government, allowing for a real chance at retirement while under house arrest. It is during this time that, dare I say it, shit hits the fan. Now I’m not saying that Hawkeye’s lack of participation in stopping Thanos led to the snap, but I’m just going to put it out there–a good chunk of the time that Hawkeye is around, things get resolved. Such as defeating Loki in The Avengers, convincing Scarlet Witch to join the fight in Age of Ultron, and admitting that in order for Cap’s team to succeed, the rest of them need to be left behind during the airport fight in Civil War. Time and time again, Hawkeye has the Avengers’ backs and the one time he doesn’t, he loses everything.

Ronin

Avengers: Endgame opens on Hawkeye and his family, so right off the bat you know that this is not going to be a happy opening scene. He seems to truly enjoy his retired life, getting to spend time with his family and teaching his daughter how to shoot, but once again, he turns his back and all of that blissfulness disappears into thin air. That’s the catalyst that turns Hawkeye into Ronin. Now, I don’t believe they outright refer to Clint as Ronin after his five year turn to vigilantism and the dark side, but anyone who’s read the comics knows about Clint Barton’s stint as the lone warrior when he joined with the New Avengers. I’m not going to delve into the comics because the timelines do not precisely align, but when we see Clint again in Endgame, he has a new haircut, is a loner, and is mercilessly killing bad people in Japan. So even if he has not adopted the Ronin persona, he is still rogue and clearly not over the disappearance of his family. He hops from country to country, killing all the criminals that got to survive the snap, seeking vengeance and trying to make the world more fair. 

Even when Black Widow appears before him with a plan that could potentially bring his family back, he tries to deny her in fear of becoming too hopeful. At this point, he is truly a broken man. His brokenness is further explored when he and Black Widow go to Vormir to retrieve the soul stone. He realizes that even if his family does return, he’s not the same man, and he doesn’t deserve to be with them. He’s seen Black Widow’s character development, and yet again, he so eagerly wants to have her back. This results in their heartbreaking battle of who should die so that the rest of the world may carry on. Despite their epicly choreographed sacrificial fight, Hawkeye was not able to sacrifice himself in the way he wanted to. He lost his best friend, but regained hope in being reunited with his family. Black Widow promised him hope at the beginning of the film, and through her sacrifice, she was able to give it to him. He may not have been the same Clint Barton as five years prior, but he had something to live for again. 

At his core, Hawkeye is not just a fighter, but also a lover. He has the perfect doses of compassion and loyalty mixed in that help him to be the best Avenger that he can be. He is always dedicated to protecting those that cannot protect themselves and defending the innocent. No matter how much he wants to have just a regular family life, whenever the Avengers are in desperation, he is there for them and always helps them to succeed in their mission with whatever it takes. Through the course of his time in the MCU thus far, we’ve seen him grow from being a focused S.H.I.E.L.D. operative to a selfless Avenger and backbone of their missions. Hawkeye can assess situations in a way that most people and even other superheroes would overlook, so please world, stop overlooking Hawkeye. 

Avengers Week - Thor: Ragnarok and the Hero's Journey

Welcome to Avengers Week here at Mirror Box! Each day, we’ll feature a piece from our incredible writers that highlights each original member of the iconic team and discuss the cultural impact and relevance these characters have on the big screen! Today, Violet Conner takes a deep dive into the God of Thunder, Thor!

Much has been spoken on the myth and lore of the hero’s journey. The archetypal protagonist navigating through miles of mud and mire to reach the pinnacle has been sought, written, and studied for centuries. Joseph Campbell once spoke about it in his book, The Hero With A Thousand Faces: “A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder, fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”

Taika Waititi’s take on the Marvel character Thor completely embodies this narrative. Thor: Ragnarok meets us where our hero is captured. He’s woeful and musing on his past, but finds the humor in his almost gloomish situation. Which is how all great comedies start–from great tragedy. Throughout the film, Thor dredges through the comparative mythology, an adventure of sorts. Campbell describes these three stages of themes in his monomyth, a simple narratology: 

1: Departure. This is where the hero is called on an adventure. He also has some sort of mentor in this calling. 

2: Initiation. This component “begins with the hero then traversing the threshold to the unknown or "special world", where he faces tasks or trials, either alone or with the assistance of helpers.” He is pursued, challenged, and must overcome an obstacle that helps him reach his highest potential.

3: Return. This is the catalyst. The hero must stand on the bridge of two worlds. He takes his knowledge from the journey and alchemizes it into the zenith of wisdom and spiritual strength. The entire process is to strip the hero of everything that is held dear and close to the heart. The trials and struggles serve as a means to peel each layer, until the very essence of who the hero truly is remains. At the end, it is this naked, weary soul who triumphs in the story.

“The Departure” is at the beginning of Ragnarok. Thor shares how he has nightmares of his childhood home up in flames. A premonition, if you will. The evil devil that has him entrapped solidifies that this will in fact happen.Thor laughs in the face of danger. I want to pause here for a moment: a typical “hero’s journey” encapsulates a hero that starts at the lowest level with very little hope. The classic hero in this narrative generally has some sort of a tumultuous beginning. Yet, this isn’t the case with Thor. If we look at Thor, he had an almost idyllic start. Born with the power to wield thunder, he knew his strength from day one. His father, Odin, gave him a hammer called Mjolni to harness this force. It was when Thor was denied the right to become king over his realm of Asgard, that his journey truly began. In a sense, Thor’s story is almost the “inverse” hero’s journey, starting when he made the decision to fault from his roots.

When we meet our hero in Thor: Ragnarok, he still has a bit of his old ways traipsing around his persona. It’s almost as if Thor knows he can still laugh, charm, and call upon the trusty hammer daddy gifted to save himself from any sketchy situation. Which is true in a sense. Until the wildcard is thrown in.

Thor soon finds his father in exile. Odin is almost delirious, ready for the end of his days. Remember this: Thor views his father as the pinnacle of strength and wisdom. As Thor is almost overcome with grief, Odin shares that there is a long lost sister who is ready to take down Asgard. And, oh … she’s stronger than Thor and Odin combined. This is when “The Initiation” of the story occurs. The lost sister ends up destroying Thor’s beloved hammer and sends him into the abyss of cosmos, one of the nine realms of Asgard. Here, Thor is treated less than human, forced to watch Dharma Initiative-type propaganda videos and then sold as a slave. This is the complete antithesis of Thor’s entire life. He is told he can remain in chains or regain some sort of autonomy by participating in gladiator games. Thor chooses the latter. 

As an homage to 1980’s sci-fi cinema synth score plays, Thor’s beloved hair is shaven right before he enters the arena. All seems at peace when he meets an old friend in battle, until the old friend beats him to the brink of death. The pain pushes Thor to the point of delirium, where he envisions his beloved father and remembers his strength. Ultimately who he is–The God of Thunder. This is the exact moment that Carl Jung describes in his idea of the “center of the field of consciousness”. It’s tapped when all ego is shredded from the psyche. It’s when feelings, intuition and memory collide, the precise moment when the internal meets the external world. The place that Jung calls “the interaction between the collective unconscious and one’s personal growth”. Thor captures this in the arena. 

Until now, he thought his powers were only harnessed by the external. But in his deepest pain, he found the power was within the internal core of his being. Not in the hammer that was given to him. Not in his long, blond luscious locks of hair. But in the center of his consciousness. After this, Thor’s enlightened. He wants to help others become liberated like he is. He chooses to run towards his problems and not from them. But literally, he runs to the very thing that risks the livelihood of himself and his people. This is “The Return”, the catalyst where Thor stands on the bridge into his realm. 

Armed with all of the wisdom and strength he’s gained, Thor confronts his sister, The Goddess of Death. She belittles him, pierces one of his eyes out and tells him he has no right to become king. In the final moments, just as Thor is about to give up, knowing Asgard will go up in flames, he enters the same hallucinogenic consciousness he was in before, envisioning himself at the feet of his father. Odin speaks: “Even when you had two eyes, you only saw half the picture. Are you “Thor, God of Hammers? That hammer was to help you control your power, to focus it. It was never your source of strength.” Thor concedes, saying he won’t ever be as strong as his father. 

The next moment is the moment of all cinematic moments: Odin tells Thor, “No. You are STRONGER.” Thor embodies all of us as a collective. We all have or will embark on the hero’s journey. In the end, it’s that very realization when you’re on the journey of personal growth–when you realize you can see clearer when your body has been broken and that the strength has been inside of you all along. You are more conscious when you surrender the walls of the ego. To lose everything. To break open. To be brought to your knees. To remember the core of your strength ... this is the journey.

Avengers Week - Black Widow: The Strongest Avenger

Welcome to Avengers Week here at Mirror Box! Each day, we’ll feature a piece from our incredible writers that highlights each original member of the iconic team and discuss the cultural impact and relevance these characters have on the big screen! Hudson Phillips gives us his own take on the big screen history of the redheaded (and sometimes blonde) Russian assassin herself, the Black Widow!

Black Widow, aka Natasha Romanoff, aka Nat (to those closest to her), played by Scarlett Johansson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, first showed up in one of the worst MCU films, Iron Man 2, under the guise of Tony Stark’s personal assistant, Natasha Rushman. Natasha is, of course, revealed to be a SHIELD spy but unfortunately comes off as a bit of a Mary Sue in the film. She’s beautiful, talented, speaks multiple languages, holds her own in a fight against a hallway full of goons without messing up her hair … but there’s seemingly nothing there underneath it all, despite Johansson’s best attempts.

While the character (and the film) left a slightly bad taste in my mouth, in hindsight, I’ve also realized that Natasha is a spy who does what it takes to get the job done and in this case, that job was getting close to Tony Stark, who just happens to be into vapid women (with true love Pepper Potts being the exception). She needed to be a bit one note to get the job done. And if Natasha is good at anything, it’s getting the job done. 

Then along comes 2012’s The Avengers with Joss Whedon at the helm. Whedon has a long history of writing smart and funny and vulnerable women, and he brings a new depth to Natasha’s character in the film. 

We catch up with Black Widow while she’s “working”. Seemingly taken captive, she’s doing what she does best. Undercover spy work. She’s a master of convincing others that they are running the room when she’s secretly in control the whole time, as we see many times in this film. 

In fact, you get the feeling that Natasha never enters a room without guaranteeing she’s in control. When she later goes to recruit the Hulk, she’s prepared with a small army surrounding the building. When she meets Thor and Loki, she tells Steve, “I'd sit this one out, Cap. These guys come from legend. They're basically gods.” She knows her limits. 

However, after the Hulk is let loose on the SHIELD Helicarrier, Natasha is forced to move far past those limits. She finds herself in a situation where she’s no longer in control and coming face to face with the Hulk, she is petrified. Maybe for the first time in her life?

We also learn a bit of her backstory in The Avengers. An assassin in the KGB, Natasha killed the wrong people and SHIELD was tasked with taking her out and sent their top bow-and-arrow sharp shooter (and Nat’s future best friend), Hawkeye, to do it. Instead, he saved her life and recruited her into SHIELD. And for this, she owes him a debt. 

She’s constantly plagued by her past. This “red in her ledger” that she’s trying to wipe out. And this seems to drive her story through all of these films.

Having faced down the Hulk and survived, we finally find Natasha standing side-by-side with her super powered team by the end of The Avengers, diving head-first into fighting aliens. A situation she has zero control over. Control issues feel much smaller when the world’s about to end.

In The Avengers, we learn that Nick Fury, head of SHIELD, has secrets. He keeps things from the team in order to manipulate the results. He is a spy after all. And Natasha, unlike the rest of the team, isn’t phased by this. She understands how the world works. She’s okay with lies. And this theme is fully explored when we catch up with her in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

There is no truth to Natasha. Truth is fluid. Truth is whatever it takes to get the job done at the time. But, after so many years of living lies, Nat ends up not knowing who she truly is. 

After SHIELD is revealed to be secretly run by the terrorist organization HYDRA, the lack of truth starts to take its toll. Natasha says: “When I first joined S.H.I.E.L.D. I thought it was going straight. But I guess I just traded in the KGB for HYDRA. I thought I knew whose lies I was telling, but ... I guess I can't tell the difference anymore.”

And at the end of the film, she makes a choice to release all the secrets of HYDRA, and therefore SHIELD into the public. Including her own “ledger.” This decision is her ultimate acceptance of who she was and a defining moment in who she’s become. 

We’ve seen Natasha the spy, we’ve seen Natasha the soldier, we’ve seen Natasha the friend. And by the time we catch up with her in Avengers: Age of Ultron, we get to see Natasha, the human being. 

She becomes the one who helps Hulk get back to Banner with her “the sun’s getting pretty low big guy” lullaby. And of course Natasha would fall in love with the one guy who scares her the most. We’re teased of a romance between her and Banner: “He's not like anybody I've ever known. All my friends are fighters. And here comes this guy, spends his life avoiding the fight because he knows he'll win. He's also a huge dork.” 

And in one particularly touching scene, as they discuss their future together, Banner says he can never have kids because of his affliction. And Natasha says she can’t either, having been sterilized as part of her training. “They sterilize you,” she says. “It's efficient. One less thing to worry about. The one thing that might matter more than a mission. Makes everything easier. Even killing. You still think you're the only monster on the team?”

A few people got up in arms claiming that she was referring to not being able to have kids as being a monster, when in reality she meant being made a killing machine, her humanity being stripped from her. Banner and Nat see a reflection of themselves in each other in this way. 

Natasha is softened even more when we learn that Clint has a family. And she is a part of this family, with Clint even naming his unborn child after her (although it turns out to be a boy and the name becomes Nathaniel), and them calling her “Aunty Nat.” 

By the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron, after Natasha has yet again stood beside her fellow superheroes as an equal and yet again saved the world, she takes on a new role–that of leader–as she agrees to whip the “new recruits” of the Avengers into shape. 

In Captain America: Civil War, the Avengers are ripped apart after their actions come under scrutiny as the world continues to lose lives in the wake of their battles. They are asked to come under the guidance of a UN lead oversight committee, or live as fugitives, with Iron Man, War Machine, and Vision agreeing, and Captain America, Falcon, and Scarlet Witch refusing. Black Widow initially agrees, but also finds the grey in the middle, allowing Captain America to escape at a pivotal moment in the film. 

Natasha is in Civil War what we all should strive to be in the world of politics. To be so vehemently on one side or the other means you lose all your humanity, turning friends into enemies. Yet, you’ll notice, the only one who shows up at Peggy Carter’s funeral to be there for Steve, is Natasha. She’s able to do what’s right for her friends, even if it doesn’t align with her beliefs.

By the time we get to the Infinity Saga (2018’s Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame), Nat must face the toughest question of all: What do you do when you are in charge of a supernatural army and even all the supernatural people can’t keep the world safe? Black Widow leads her team to battle … and loses, with big bad Thanos’s snap wiping out half the life in the Universe.

At this point Natasha has given her entire life atoning for her wrongs … and once she’s done that, with interest, what’s she left with? This is the only world she knows. But at some point it went from being a job to being a family. “I used to have nothing,” she says. “Then I got this. This job ... this family. And I was ... I was better because of it. And even though ... they're gone ... I'm still trying to be better.”

She throws herself into her job, leading a team, not just helping the world, but the entire Universe, with the likes of Captain Marvel and Rocket Raccoon under her leadership. And this is her entire world. She is plagued by the snap and feels the weight of it. No matter how many great deeds she does, she finds herself unable to atone for something so massive. Or does she? 

When the two “men” (Ant and Iron) come up with a plan to time travel and collect the stones, it’s up to Natasha and Clint to collect the Soul Stone and undo Thanos’s snap. The two non-super powered Avengers travel to the far off planet of Vormir where they are put to the ultimate test. In order to get the Soul Stone and defeat Thanos, they must make a sacrifice. One of them must die. And after a brilliant, edge-of-your-seat battle between the two of them to commit suicide, Natasha ultimately wins and sacrifices her life for the soul stone. This act saves the world. 

The thing that makes Black Widow such a great character is that as opposed to her other human counterpart Hawkeye (“The city is flying, we're fighting an army of robots and I have a bow and arrow.”), Natasha never once considers that she’s NOT super-powered. She is right there standing toe to toe with them without blinking an eye.

And I think that’s because she does have a super power. That power is her humanity. Her willingness to sacrifice everything for the greater good. Her willingness to put her own desires aside to be there for her family. And that’s something we can actually strive for.

The thing about The Avengers is, I’ll never have a chance to build an arc-reactor, or turn into a green giant, or to be a god. But I can be like Nat. 

Black Widow is our window into this fantastical world. She is human. She is vulnerable. She makes mistakes. But she might just be the strongest one of all.

Avengers Week - Hulk: Always Angry

Welcome to Avengers Week here at Mirror Box! Each day, we’ll feature a piece from our incredible writers that highlights each original member of the iconic team and discuss the cultural impact and relevance these characters have on the big screen! In our next piece, Colby McHugh explores the cinematic career of a certain gamma irradiated individual who could probably benefit from some therapy. Of course, I’m referring to the Incredible Hulk!

“You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”

That famous line has been quoted for almost forty years now, originating in the Bill Bixby led television show that began back in the 70’s, and has since (hopefully) been taken over by the cleverly written line from the original Avengers (2012), in which Bruce Banner quips to Captain America, “That’s my secret, Cap. I’m always angry.”

There aren’t many superhero led productions that have been both successful in the early years of the comics AND still in the modern day.

The Hulk is one of the few. Yes, yes, I know he hasn’t had a solo movie since 2008 and probably won’t anytime soon, but he’s still an integral reason that the films he does appear in are so successful.

Bruce Banner has had one of the stranger cinematic histories of the Superhero Age of movies. His first appearance in film was Ang Lee’s Hulk, which I’m shocked to say came out all the way back in 2003. I was very much a child back then, so it’s crazy to think that the Hulk has more or less been in the consciousness for nearly twenty years, and most of my life.

Back then, the only other superhero movies with any critical acclaim were Spider-Man and the X-Men franchise. Daredevil, an unfortunate Ben Affleck led film, also came out in 2003, but the less said about that, the better. (I definitely also saw this one in theaters and liked it, but don’t hold it against me. I was naïve.)

Lee’s Hulk was not very well received and frankly, has not aged very well. Ang Lee deserves some credit though. His Hulk was more introspective and not quite as destructive or violent as he’d previously been portrayed in the comics, and audiences just didn’t get it. The story itself is a bit too convoluted and don’t even get me started about the weird, comic book-y editing. Either way, not the best cinematic debut for our big green friend, despite some solid casting in Eric Bana and Jennifer Connelly as Banner and Betsy Ross.

The next effort, 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, directed by Louis Leterrier, was a shift from Lee’s film in many ways. Bana and Connelly were recast, with Edward Norton and Liv Tyler stepping in. Leterrier, who previously directed the first two Transporter films, certainly had more of an eye for action than Lee had, so the CGI was much more expansive than the last film. It’s been a few years since I’ve seen this one, but I definitely remember enjoying it much more than the first. Plus, who doesn’t love Tim Roth chewing up scenery as the villain? It still wasn’t a huge success with critics though, and I think this was around the time Marvel realized the Hulk wasn’t really built for solo movies.

Thus, his next appearance in the aforementioned Avengers film was a breath of fresh air. Recast yet again, this time with personal man crush Mark Ruffalo. Needless to say, I was pumped. With Joss Whedon taking the reins of the still fresh Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was so refreshing to see both Banner and Hulk play important roles. With all the quippy, clever writing that Whedon was known for, he was able to create scenes and conversations that thrived off of the characters being themselves and interacting with one another. This was the first right step Marvel had made with the Hulk cinematically, and it’s easy to see why they’ve let Ruffalo keep the role. He’s just great.

And with that right step, the MCU almost immediately took a step back with Avengers: Age of Ultron, which tried to cram far too much into a single movie, including a poorly thought out romantic relationship with the Black Widow. It’s not a bad movie, by any means, just not quite up to the level of the films leading up to it. Plus, from everything I’ve read, there was a fair amount of studio meddling that all added up to make Joss Whedon leave the franchise, and eventually help DC finish Justice League.

The Hulk would be entirely left out of Captain America: Civil War for reasons that would be explained in his next appearance of Thor: Ragnarok. This Taika Waititi led sci-fi comedy really opened both Banner and Hulk up to an entirely new style of film that they both were very much able to thrive in. Getting to see the Hulk himself interacting and speaking with Thor throughout the film was such a refreshing change of pace. They gave the Hulk a personality! And with that, it added tons of depth to the internal conflict that he has with Banner; a conflict that would be explored further in 2018’s Infinity War.

Within the first five minutes of that film, the Hulk is beaten SO badly by Thanos that he essentially refuses to make an appearance throughout the rest of the three-hour long movie. That bold choice would allow Banner to be the hero and make his mark on a film that is chock full of superheroes that are interesting in their own right. And of course, being one of the original Avengers, he survives that fateful “Snap” at the finale.

Which leads us into our most recent, and potentially my favorite, Hulk appearance. Endgame deserves credit for MANY unexpected choices (the five-year time jump, FAT Thor, etc), but giving us Professor Hulk was such an inspired decision. As an avid comic book reader, the idea of having a smart Hulk/Banner hybrid is not that crazy to me, but I NEVER expected to see that kind of fan service on screen. And to make things even better, it totally worked, at least in my humble opinion.

Almost every interaction and conversation he has in Endgame made me smile, particularly when he offers Paul Rudd a taco after he loses his own. Talk about a wholesome moment.

With all the characters from Endgame, we don’t really know where this next phase of the MCU will take us, but after seeing Professor Hulk on the big screen, who knows what’s possible!

Are we going to get an Amadeus Cho as the Totally Awesome Hulk? I certainly wouldn’t be opposed. What about Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross as Red Hulk? Ridiculous, but maybe not too far fetched. My hope is that eventually, they’ll introduce She-Hulk, because who doesn’t wanna see a green skinned, super strong lawyer that could kick your ass? I know I do.

I’m pretty excited for the future of the MCU, regardless of what they decide.

Avengers Week - Iron Man: I am Human

Welcome to Avengers Week here at Mirror Box! Each day, we’ll feature a piece from our incredible writers that highlights each original member of the iconic team and discuss the cultural impact and relevance these characters have on the big screen! This first piece is from Alex Oakley, as he takes a deep dive into the hero that started it all: Iron Man!

“The truth is … I am Iron Man.”

Robert Downey Jr. improvised this shocking revelation at the end of 2008’s Iron Man, and set the tone for the future of what would become the most successful and ambitious film universe since Luke Skywalker first stepped out across the sandy Tatooine in 1977. In an interview with Deadline, cinematic-universe-runner Kevin Feige revealed that the improvised line and the success of Iron Man gave Marvel Studios the confidence to take chances and treat the Marvel Comic Universe like guidelines, not scripture. 

Now, 11 years and 20-odd films later, and we’ve reached Endgame–a cultural event so massive that it is a global phenomenon. Avengers: Endgame featured the culmination of the Infinity Stones arc, radical changes to some of our favorite characters, and great successes and character moments for others …

…

…

…

And the death of Iron Man.

The death of the character that started it all.

The end (maybe) of Robert Downey Jr.’s onscreen life in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

From a box of scraps in a cave that saved his life to the snap that ended it, Tony Stark has appeared as a major or supporting character in nine Marvel films (not including his cameo in the post-credit scene for The Incredible Hulk (the one from 2008, not to be confused with The Hulk from 2003 directed by Ang Lee that Monica and I talked about in April on our podcast Shot for Shot which you can check out Here). Arguably more than any other character in the MCU, we have seen Tony Stark grow, and change, and learn, and mature, and suffer. We have seen his character arc in every peak, and every trough. 

And quite frankly, Tony Stark’s arc has been analyzed to–pardon the pun–death:

You can find thinkpieces comparing the rise of Tony Stark to the rise of Marvel Studios; The Washington Post called him the ‘best thing’ to happen to the Marvel Universe; and there are even pieces explaining how he could come back!  (Not that resurrection is particularly uncommon for the superpowered jetset.)

There are pages and pages and pages of world-wide-web-wordsmiths looking at the nitty gritty details of each and every scene. People who binged every movie in chronological order without sleep in preparation for Endgame. I am not those people. I am a 12-year-old who saw a movie in theaters about a Marvel superhero that I kind of knew about but wasn’t super popular, and grew up to be a 22-year-old who cried audibly at the funeral for that same superhero. Discussions of masculinity, emotional imbalance, and a crushing fear that displaying negative emotions in any context will label me as ‘weak’ all aside, I don’t cry often. Particularly at movies. I can count the movies that have made me cry on one hand, and most of them center around the death of a dog. (Here’s lookin’ at you, Marley & Me.) So why, all of a sudden, did I, and countless other Marvel fans in movie theaters the world over find ourselves crying at the death of the character? Crying at Pepper Pots sending the ARC reactor out onto the lake by their cabin? Crying at Happy telling Morgan Stark how much her father loved cheeseburgers? What about Tony Stark got us so heavily invested? The character arc of Tony Stark has been, and will continue to be, analyzed literarily, narratively, and figuratively until the end of time. But I think what often gets overlooked in these nitpicks and video essays is not how Tony Stark changed and evolved from Iron Man to Endgame, but what that change means to us as an audience. Why did we feel so strongly about the death? Why was his change in Iron Man, and in Civil War, and in Endgame so impactful to us.

A film is a narrative. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Point A to point B. The protagonist starts one way, evolves through the narrative crucible, and comes out the other side changed. And that’s it. That was Iron Man. But then Iron Man 2 rolls off the assembly line. Point A for Iron Man 2 is not Point A for us or Tony Stark. Suddenly it’s Point C. We begin the film with knowledge of and investment in Tony Stark. But this is not unique. 

What makes our investment in Stark at the beginning of Iron Man 2 any different than our investment in Woody and Buzz in Toy Story 2? Or Luke in The Empire Strikes Back? The short answer is that it isn’t. But after Iron Man 2, Tony Stark truly begins to tread on untested Hollywood ground. The Marvel Cinematic universe expanded beyond the scope of the Iron Man films, and we see the origins of Thor, and Captain America. And then we get the big fish: The Avengers, an ensemble movie FOUR YEARS in the making. (It seems almost silly to think about how ambitious this was in 2012.) Avengers was new, exciting, and different. And while we still get to see our swaggering Stark take on Loki and the Chitauri, he is sharing the screen for the first time with a full roster of costumed crime fighters and super geniuses. He is still a main character, but he is no longer the main character. We see him grate with Captain America and Thor and Hulk and Fury. We get the famous “genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist” line. We get all sorts of trials and tribulations for our super-roster that culminates in the splash-page-like panoramic shot that defined the Battle of New York for us. And at the end of it all, Iron Man has become a leader, a fighter, and more of a hero than ever; willing to sacrifice himself for the safety and survival of mankind. And then they go get Schwarma.

Then comes Iron Man 3. A radical shift in the Iron Man film MO. Tony’s confidence is gone. He is paranoid. He is suffering from PTSD brought on by his near-death experience destroying the Chitauri mothership in the Battle of New York. The events proper of this film aside, what makes Iron Man 3 stand out amongst Iron Man’s arc for us as audience members is that we see him truly suffer as a human being. Not suffer as a genius. Not suffer as a man in a super-powered suit of armor. But suffer as a man, as any of us could, and many of us may have suffered. We see Stark grow in Iron Man 3 in ways that we haven’t gotten to see any of our other heroes change yet, because here, he grows not only through external conflict, but through internal conflict that occurs on a much more personal level than the normal subset of superhero problems.We get to see how this internal change further affects him in Age of Ultron, in which Tony actually manages to create the villain in an effort to protect Earth from another invasion. 

However, I think what truly was able to cement Tony Stark into the heart of Marvel’s audience, after all of this, is that Age of Ultron marks the moment in the MCU where Stark is no longer our central protagonist. Following Age of Ultron, Tony Stark appears in four films: Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. Civil War and Homecoming are where Tony Stark really evolves from a superhero protagonist to a well-rounded character developed beyond the scope of any character in a film universe we’ve seen.

 Let’s start with Civil War. The protagonist of Civil War is Captain America, clearly. And we know that, from behind the scenes of it all, Helmut Zemo proved to be the puppetmaster antagonist. Yet, even with all the manipulation, Civil War gave the audience a rare opportunity–to see Tony Stark as an antagonist. I’m not saying Iron Man was a villain in Civil War, but I am saying that he was directly against the ideology of the protagonist of the film, and served as an obstacle for Cap and Falcon. We got to see Tony play the bad guy. 

On the absolute inverse of that, we have Spider-Man: Homecoming, the not-an-origin story for Tom Holland’s plucky portrayal of Peter Parker that we were introduced to in Civil War. Here we see a penultimate new development for Tony Stark. The audience has gotten to see him as a playboy, a genius, a protagonist, a hero, an antagonist, and now we get to see him as a mentor. This movie cements a new kind of relationship for Tony, one that ages him, and makes him very different from the womanizing, high-roller we first met in 2008. We all know we gasped when Tony actually stepped out of the Iron Man armor to chastise Peter before taking away his suit for his recklessness, leading to a much more stressful and high stakes final battle with the Vulture.

This relationship is further fleshed out in Infinity War, where suddenly Tony finds himself not only a mentor to Spider-Man, but a protector, as they both become stranded on Titan and have to face down Thanos with Doctor Strange and the Guardians of the Galaxy. A role which he fails as Thanos defeats them, takes the time stone from Strange, and finally, the mind stone from the Vision, and snaps. Successfully eliminating half of all life, including Peter Parker, from the universe. We all know how harrowing it was to watch “Mr. Stark …. I don’t feel so good” in theaters in 2018.

And then we get to Endgame, with what proved to be the most heartbreaking (for us) development in the life of Tony Stark yet–fatherhood. If you, like me, went in to Endgame with the sneaking suspicion that the MCU was gonna have to lose either Cap or Stark, the reveal of little Morgan Stark, as cute as it was, dropped a rock in your stomach. Tony was willing to sacrifice himself at the end of Avengers back in 2012, so how could it be possible to make it more difficult for him to be willing to do it again in Endgame? Morgan. Give him something that he never had that truly could bring him to doubt the worthiness of sacrifice. Early on in Endgame, it does. Stark refuses to take part in the Time Heist because while he is still the hero that we have known and loved for over a decade, he is that hero with a child. A family. A cabin on the lake with his wife and his child. Unlike Natasha, unlike Clint, unlike Cap, the Iron Man we see in Endgame moved on. He found happiness through it all. He was lucky, and we got to be there with him. 

What made Stark so different from any other character in the MCU, or in any film franchise ever at this point, was not that he appeared in more movies, or had the best lines or the coolest fight scenes or the most interesting conflicts–it was that we, the audience, got to see so many different facets of him grow and change over a decade. Eleven years is a long time. No one is unchanged after eleven years, which means, more than any other character on screen, we didn’t just get to watch Tony Stark grow and change, we got to watch him grow and change with us. As our hero, our mentor, or our friend. And now we have to go on without him. But we will, just like the MCU will. We will go on knowing that we are all the better for having had Tony Stark on our silver screens.

June's Theme: Character

Anyone who has ever watched a movie or read a book has a pretty good idea of what the character journey looks like. A character starts in a place of longing. They are pulled out of their safe world. They go on an emotional or physical journey to new worlds. They face an antagonistic force that pulls everything away from them. And then, when they are at their lowest, they learn from the lessons of the journey, rally to defeat the antagonist, and grow and change into a better version of themselves. Or something like that.

This is the same story from Toy Story to Scott Pilgrim to Jesus to Bridesmaids. 

We understand that in order to get to a place of change, a character must first face obstacles and crisis. When a character is stuck in their ways, it takes the pulling apart of their safe lives in order for them to see the world in a different way.

But why is it so hard for us to recognize the character journey when we’re the character on the journey? Why do we lose sight of this when we face obstacles and crisis in our own lives? Why can’t we see obstacles as what they actually are? An opportunity to define our story. 

Crisis always reveals a person’s true character. If you really want to get to know someone, build a piece of Ikea furniture with them or try navigating the New York City subway together. 

Obstacles bring out our fears and flaws. They make us reevaluate our wants and needs. They force us to change. No one ever became great by staying in their comfort zone. How boring would Raiders of the Lost Ark be if Indiana Jones turned down the opportunity to look for the ark because he didn’t wanna take time away from his teaching?

As writers, we’re basically playing god. And not a benevolent one. A real twisted, sadistic god. Because we need characters to change and the more difficult we can make their obstacles, the more they’ll change. If I need to get a character from emotional point A to emotional point B, I ask myself, “What obstacles should I put in their way to get them there?” 

Great characters are defined by their choices, not their circumstances. So are you. 

Hopefully as humans, we are constantly growing and learning and challenging ourselves. And just like for our characters, growth comes from how we react to difficult situations. Without conflict there is no story, there is no growth, there is no arc. Without conflict, a character journey isn’t an arc, it’s just a flat line.

Another example for those of you who are parents: How do you get your kids to learn? You can teach them something over and over again, but what they really remember is what they experience. Do you remember your parents telling you to not play with matches or do you remember that time you burnt your finger?

One of the hardest things about being a parent is letting your kids get hurt. Physically, when they are kids, you have to let them fall off the bike in order to learn how to ride. And emotionally, when they are teenagers, you have to let their hearts get broken in order to learn how to love. In order to learn and change, we have to face adversity. Otherwise it’s all theory.

In 2017 I wrote and produced a movie called This World Alone (find it in a film festival near you!) and the main theme in that film is exactly what we’re talking about here. In a post-apocalyptic world, two mother figures raise their daughter, Sam, with opposing world-views. Sam’s biological mother, Connie, raises Sam as a survivor, cautioning that the world is driven by “only the strong survive,” whereas their family friend, Willow, raises Sam to protect nature and see the world as filled with light. But it’s not until Sam is forced to leave their safe compound and go out into the world that these world-views are put to the test. It’s not until she faces conflict that she learns what she really believes. 

I know that there are very real obstacles that are much deeper and more difficult in life than what we see in the movies. I don’t mean to make light of sickness, death, or suffering by making the comparison. But, those things will come for us no matter what. No matter how much we cocoon ourselves off, we can’t avoid conflict. But, maybe we can start to look at them a little differently: Not as circumstances that define us, but as opportunities to be defined by our choices. 

Around the site this month, you’ll find more articles exploring great characters in genre film and what you can learn from them to build your character (wink, wink).

Mirror Box Podcast Ep8 - Study Up: Exploring the Importance of Supporting Characters

This month, Alex and Monica do another historic walk through the world of supporting characters, what roles they play in film and literature (hint: they’re important), and teach us some new words along the way.

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The Umbrella Academy: Celebrating The Unconventional Family

The comic book series, The Umbrella Academy, is the brainchild of writer Gerard Way (also the lead singer of My Chemical Romance) and artist Gabriel Ba. The tv series, now shooting its second season, took the comic and expanded the story with Steve Blackman (Fargo, Altered Carbon) as the showrunner.

This unconventional family is a collection of sorts. Chosen from thousands of children born on the same day, their father ‘adopted’ seven of them from around the world, discovered they each had special talents, and called them the Umbrella Academy.

In both the series and comic, we meet the siblings when they reunite after years of being apart following the death of their father. This reluctant group of super heroes spend more time dealing with their own family dysfunction than using their talents to make the world a better place.

One of the siblings Number 5 (The Boy) can travel through time and comes back with dire news: The world will come to an end in seven days. He sees something in the future that tears his heart out. He is determined to stop it from happening and needs his siblings help. Number 5 wants to save the world. He wants to save his family. 

Number 5’s altruistic request that his family help him save the world, puts them into conflict with who they are as a family, and who they are as individuals. They struggle with their “specialness” - their father having never taught them how to reign in their powers - and are more neurotic than ‘woke’. Their reunion is uncomfortable and fraught with sibling rivalry. Some may argue that they are not worthy of super hero status (they would agree!), and it is a very Eastern spiritual traditional concept that you clean your own house before you make any attempts to tackle the world’s problems. 

Each sibling laments their “ability - all except one. Vanya (The White Violin, Number 7) feels like a misfit among misfits. She wishes to be like her siblings. She is a quiet, unassuming classical violinist who balks at the idea of being first chair because she has been told all her life that she is not special.

We all can relate to that and what happens to her - what we all want personally – the opportunity to prove that we are special, that we have something to offer the world. And that someone in a position of power will help showcase this innate talent. For Vanya, it is a double-edged sword. She is discovered to be the most special of all, but the one person who recognizes it also wants to use her talents for evil. 

Klaus (The Séance, Number 4), a tormented soul, he is able to see dead people and is frequently visited upon by their deceased brother, Ben (The Horror, Number 6). By virtue of their relationship, we get a deeper understanding of the family dynamic. Ben offers Klaus insight into the world around him that Klaus is oblivious to in his constant inebriated state – and it is this relationship that shakes Klaus out of his stupor and … uses his talents for good not for evil. 

Diego (The Kraken, Number 2), the brother who is a master at throwing knives and manipulating objects hurtling through space, seems to be always losing someone. This creates tension in his character. It occurs to me that his super power is not his knife throwing skills but his heart, and is the reason he decides to help Number 5.

The big sister, Allison (The Rumor, Number 3), in the graphic novel alters reality with the truth which is a hope that those of us who think we are “woke” have, that we will always rise to the occasion. The significance of this unusual super power is not lost on me in these times, and the fact that a woman was endowed with this kind of power is reflective of what we hope we would do – cut through the crap of life and tell the truth. 

That’s why in the tv series, it is not far-fetched that she has an over stimulated sixth sense. She worries and frets about the siblings – but Vanya most of all. This character epitomizes the “real” mother the group never had. Big sisters always take this role – sometimes to their detriment. And Allison is no exception. Her “meddling” as Vanya identifies it, kept them separate throughout the years. 

The big brother, Luther (Spaceboy, Number 1), is the most forgiving and therefore naïve of them all, making excuses for their father as to why he performed an experimental surgery that turned him into a “freak” with super-strength. 

Luther becomes the “ideal” father figure, protective, strong, stubborn. His and Allison’s “unconsummated love relationship” echoes loudly the lack of familial stability this unusual family never had with their adult parents. We all want to think our parents have only our best interests at heart, but the UA puts “father” into the villain seat. And the struggle of the siblings to come to terms with their childhood and all it entailed serves as the drama of the graphic novel and series. 

The sweetness and quirkiness of the story comes from the fact that each of them, as they move in the world as victims of villains, have their own personal reasons for doing what they do. And more than anything else, because they feel outside of everything, because they were separated and segregated by their father from the rest of humanity, they have a keen sense of loyalty. The thrust of their action is always: 

Mirror Box Podcast Ep7: June's Theme - Character

Sonya and Hudson (who clearly couldn’t get his mic to work right in this episode) take a look at the theme of CHARACTER. They discuss their favorite movie characters, walk us through how to write great characters, and how to apply and recognize those lessons in our own lives.

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Booksmart, And The Generational Tradition It Follows (And Breaks)

Teen comedies are a staple of American cinema, starting way back in the 80’s with the John Hughes explosion and continuing all the way until today with Olivia Wilde’s excellent directorial debut, Booksmart.

That said, these movies tend to ebb and flow throughout the cultural consciousness, making their presence known in some years and completely disappearing in others. As I’m writing this, we’re in a bit of an upswing in quality teen movies, thanks in part to the efforts of streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu.

Booksmart falls into a subcategory of teen movies that I like to describe as “One Crazy Night” movies. George Lucas’ American Graffiti (1973) was the first teen movie to utilize this idea, with those characters cruising the streets of southern California on the last day of summer vacation. Ferris Bueller was trying to have one last day of hooky before graduation. The 90’s had Empire Records, which had its teens fighting to keep their local record store from being bought by a big corporate franchise and (starting to see a pattern?) only having one night to do it.

Booksmart follows two very smart (duh) senior girls that have spent the entirety of their high school careers studying and making sure they get into a great college.  After a world shattering realization that even the people who partied and had fun all throughout their four years are ALSO getting into those great schools, Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) embark on a last-ditch effort to go and party, find love, and let loose the night before graduation.

I’d like to take this sub-category and specify it a little further, because Booksmart was not the first film to put forth this idea. It follows the schematics first put into place by movies like Can’t Hardly Wait and Superbad. Both of these films involve pairs of outsiders who never partied or had sex in high school and are now about to graduate. With the thought of heading off to college without experiencing those things looming overhead, these characters do everything in their power to have a good time, and possibly profess their love to a guy/girl that they’ve secretly had crushes on for years. And oh yeah, all of this needs to happen before the sun comes up. The parallels are certainly all there.

It’s also very interesting to think how this style of movie comes out almost every ten years or so, starting with Can’t Hardly Wait back in 1998, and Superbad following nearly a decade later in 2007. Almost like each generation of high school students get a movie like this. I was too young to see Can’t Hardly Wait when it came out, so that viewing came much later in life.  

Superbad, however, has a much softer place in my heart. It was one of the very first R rated movies I ever snuck into. I have a distinct memory of buying a ticket for Rush Hour 3 and feeling a very strange mixture of guilt and excitement as I walked into that theater. As poorly as some aspects of that movie have aged, I still love Superbad and all the weird, memorable characters and situations Seth and Evan encounter that night.

Looking at Can’t Hardly Wait and Superbad through today’s cultural lens doesn’t really do them any favors. What it does do, however, is give us a pretty accurate snapshot of those decades. They are 100% products of their times, and that softens the blow a little bit, in my mind. Booksmart does a great job of being very specific in the same ways. It is very much a 2019 film, filled with tons of cultural references and jokes that will almost certainly age strangely in ten years or so until the next great teen movie comes out.

If you had told me the next great teen movie was going to be directed by Olivia Wilde, I might not have believed you. She proved me wrong. So, so, wrong. The directorial choices she makes throughout the movie are really impressive. It’s shot better than a teen comedy has any business being and it just oozes with style. The choice to have those two protagonists be girls in a genre traditionally dominated by sex crazed boys is so refreshing. Last year’s Blockers did something similar, and while it was much broader than Booksmart, it was still very entertaining and funny. I would have included it on this list because it also takes place throughout one night, but the story focuses just a LITTLE too much on the adults for my liking.

Wilde showed the world that girls can be just as vulgar and funny as the boys, and I’m hoping a new trend is starting. Give me more teen comedies involving guys AND girls. Literally everyone can relate to these films in some small way.

Booksmart is not perfect, by any means, but teen movies almost never are. Neither are teens, so maybe that makes sense. The archetypes and characters this genre uses are universal, and will continue to be relevant for years down the road.

There will always be outsiders in high school, and there will always be films made about those outsiders.

I’ll watch all of ‘em.