Why Playing Spider-Man Broke Andrew Garfield’s Heart

I wonder about this business about story serving the character, especially in the case of Lois Lane. In Superman II (1981 theatrical version) Margot Kidder's Lois drove the initial sequence because of her tenacious propensity for trespass in the name of journalism which put her in harm's way. Later, she put both herself and Clark and ultimately the world in harm's way by testing Clark and uncovering his identity for the abstract sake of truth and her pride as a journalist compulsively pushing. Today, these traits would be torn apart by the busybody internet bogging itself down with blogs on feminist behaviour versus "woman in trouble" or "woman as problem" narratives. In Man of Steel and Batman Versus Superman, Amy's Lois Lane has to be shown as tough and one step ahead of everybody and solving problems. By solving problems, she is by definition serving the story. If she is creating problems, them her character is driving the story. So the actress may be better off not getting what she wants. I don't know.

Boot out the Re-boots

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a brand. It is not a license to print money. A new movie without Joss Whedon running it will be counterfeit. It will weaken Joss' oppotunity to revisit the characgter himself, perhaps with an older Sarah Michelle Geller. This non-Joss Buffy deserves to be abandoned. It is even worse than Sony's wrong-headed reboot of Spider-Man where they have trashed a team, an infrastructure. Buffy in general is little more than a blip on my radar, but I have grown to respect Whedon thanks to Firefly and to a lesser extend Dollhouse (which was however smart and well done in all respects). Regard this new Buffy as a step backwards. The feature with Swanson didn't involve Whedon enough and there were points of concern. But its director participated in the TV series. No harm done there. But this planned re-boot is a producer's wet dream - being puppeteer to any director or writer who comes along to adhere to prodcucerial instructions. For the show to have a vision and a reason to exist it should go back to Joss. Studios can recklessly crank out crap eploitations of brands it owns, but the blame will rest with whatever audience plays along and pays to see it. Boycott the re-booted Buffy. Boycott the re-booted Spider-Man. Tolerate he re-booted and then cancelled V.