What I liked: the idealism of a "nobody" taking charge and trying to help his fellow man, rather than just reading about it. It wasn't to get a girl, like Scott Pilgram (though, like any teenage boy, that issue is always in play). It was to transcend being a merely a fan of comics/super heroes and becoming one himself. It's the same theme that I liked about Iron Giant, where one can choose his own fate to serve his fellow man, and define who he is aside from what society expects him to be.
However, this kid wasn't an intergalactic badass robot trying to be something other than a weapon who sacrifices himself in an existential defining moment (Irong Giant). He was <sigh> another geek/wimp who gets a girl out of his league for no apparent reason. What is it with this theme lately? Why is this being shoved down our throats in nearly every movie targeting this particular demographic?
Which brings us to what I hated.
What I hated: comic book fanboy wet dream. I just can't relate (see Scott Pilgram thread). Not only did we have the main character getting a girl that's way out of his league, but his chubby geeky buddy gets a girl out of his league, too. And his buddy gets the girl for no apparent reason. All he did was sit around a comic book store and watch the main character on Youtube. I had no idea that's all it took to woo hot girls nowadays. I should have gone to highschool in this century.
It's not that I have anything against geeky guys getting hot girls. It's just so obviously some grown-up geek's wet dream, who now has the power to rewrite his own youth ... either that or they are simply targeting guys who fantasize about this stuff and capitalizing on their wet dreams. Wet dreams which include thinking that 11 year old girls are hot.
WFT?!?
Ask yourselves: why do we never see any movies with a hot jock who settles for an ugly geeky girl? This just doesn't happen in our entertainment media. The whole geek-gets-girl-out-of-his-league meme is itself incredibly sexist, because no one would settle for the movie I just described about the hot jock/ugly girl. It would be boring and pathetic. Ugly girls aren't heroes. But ugly guys are. Think about that for a moment. This geek-out-of-his-league meme is just another variation of the male chauvenist pig concept ... except extended to "beta" males, instead of alpha males. That's right girls, now you are no longer objectified by the hot jocks, you're objectified by geeky guys who dress up in spandex and pretend they are just as badass as the alpha males. You're still just a prize ... except that now in today's culture even geeks can have you as a trophy. Ah ... empowerment. Breathe it in.
