“Let The Past Die.”
It must be mentioned that superheroes aren’t the gatekeepers of this preoccupation with nostalgia and hard truths. The last year alone has seen Ernesto de la Cruz and Luke Skywalker being deconstructed throughout Coco and Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Through the runtime of these movies, the respective evils and flaws behind the reputations of these characters are aired for all to see.
This isn’t to say that this batch of cinematic epiphanies is a new development. In every movie or novel the fictional status quo always changes to some extent through the course of the narrative. And there are plenty of cases throughout movie history where heroes uncover lies to find nasty truths, such as Luke’s discovery of Darth Vader’s identity in The Empire Strikes Back.
Indeed, twists like these are very useful for filmmakers. These revelations may be small but they can help ensure a movie’s narrative is compelling. Forcing a hero to confront nuances and falsehoods in structures that they hold dear is a quick and effective way to define what kind of characters they are.
Certainly, we learn about T’Challa’s wisdom after his confidence in his nation’s traditions is shaken. Plus, these rug-pulls create talking points for audiences to discuss long after seeing a film, making them – and other potential customers – more likely to re-watch it.
Yet, given that superheroes are the dominant cinematic genre nowadays, it’s still very interesting that so many of these films are appalled by revelations about the past, or their traditions. Why could this be?
