Man of steel answers insight commentary episode 34 Thanksgiving and I will ask the obvious question start asking questions and answers welcome to Man of Steel answers insight commentary on your DC see you apologist Dr. awkward this episode we go over some news and some reasons to be thankful man that last episode was long rather than abstract societal structures from ancient stagnant cultures this time were going to relax and just go through some of the upcoming films answer a few questions and in the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday let's find some things to be grateful for so let's just see how this goes angst giving is probably my favorite holiday not just because of the food family and friends but it's a holiday big is your chance to realign yourself and be really appreciative before going to those dark months of winter at the holiday the promotes good character right in the name and thankfulness is one of those defining traits that really separates Superman's altruism and heroism from others he doesn't owe us anything there's no debt to pay no obligation to serve no duty to a guilty conscience instead Superman serving because he gets to and he's glad and grateful that he can not in some sort of empty way where there is an cost and trials hard decisions and out at times but where it's worth all of that in the end Superman doesn't resent having to protect humanity instead it's his privilege one that he didn't have to take up the one which is fulfilling despite it all now how can we cultivate character like that while one way to frustrate the development of back on the character is to focus on what you don't have to make comparisons and be envious of marvels success or Batman's popularity to be jealous or embittered by any slight to Superman or an alleged deprivation of some sort some of those distinctions are more imagined than real but when you try to be grateful it helps the start with appreciating what you have for example I'm thankful that I get to share my thoughts and have people who while listen I'm really appreciative that your choosing to listen and I'm glad that we can folks together on what's going right rather than obsess over some perception of what's wrong now unrealistic optimism bias can be detrimental but Harvard social psychologist Prof. Dan Gilbert suggests that maybe attend to the world is best yes that's true I'm pointing out that age-old tension in psychology between seeing the world as it is in seeing it as we wish it were which of these things should we do the answer is neither the answer is neither we see the world utterly realistically we can be depressed about it it's a hard place the one we see the world utterly fantastically we don't take the kinds of actions we need to take in the present to ensure ourselves a good future I love the metaphor of rose-colored glasses that's the way to view the world through rose-colored meaning there is a tent you are seeing a rosier future then we will really experience the sixth are not opaque) of blinders you actually are seeing the world and if there's a train coming it's a little bit rose tinted but Piazza trained you don't deny reality and if you need to you can lament but at the same time you should praise more and focus on the future rather than on the past go too much more into this but basically it's know thyself you want to engage in a little bit of metacognition think about how your thinking and fine-tune your own outlook and expectations to maximize good behavior right so you're the kind of person whose expectations go wildly out of whack and financial disappointed that bring those expectations down if you're somebody who finds himself very depressed because you brought your expectations way too low and just seen the only doom and gloom will make beat have a little bit of an optimism bias so just take some time think about how your thinking and exert your will over your own mind and emotions there is a time to be thankful for but just let me quickly run down some of our biggest sources of substantive news because in a click and copy culture we sometimes forget to give credit and thanks and attribution to those journalists who brought us the information the first place this is by no means a comprehensive list but to credit these five journalists we've got Keith's to cabbage in a July issue of entertainment weekly we have Ian Nathan in September's Empire UK and then Nick they simile and did a suicide squad feature in December we have Matt made him in December's total film and finally given Weintraub the EIC of collider and his in-depth interview with Charles Roe that we should thank the filmmakers the production teams the post houses and more for honoring the spirit of secrecy and surprise for the movie it's my understanding that far more of Star Wars has been spoiled at this point relative to how well the DC films have been kept under wraps and in that spirit we should also thank the scoopers 290 I know but whether their information is always reliable they have a certain amount of discretion to not ruin the filmgoing experience for everyone even beyond their direct audience and their mostly doing that I think I generally don't comment to heavily on rumored stuff but those rumors and those scoops drive a lot of the discussion and the excitement for some of the most passionate people in the community so they have their role to there's a tension between wanting to know and wanting to be surprised and so we have to appreciate how the press production and marketing have all been careful to observe that balance now of course there's way more important and meaningful things to be thankful for these are just movies comic books and superheroes but it's okay to be appreciative of these little things that you enjoy it all adds up it's okay to enjoy life and he thankful that you can select from a wealth of media to enjoy by the time you listen to this I probably watched the first few episodes of Jessica Jones I could watch as many as four DC TV shows a week American alien is looking good and Star Wars opens in just weeks it's a great time to be a fan of all of this stuff okay enough gushing let's get to talking about each of our films a little bit okay so for Man of Steel I've got no shortage of questions from you the listeners and I'm sorry of only been able to just barely scratched the surface of everything in the mailbox used to be of the reply to every email individually but I am really far behind at this point generally the blog is probably a better place if you got a pressing question because I figure that everybody can see the answer maybe so that's kind of the theory there anyways since I'm not tied to a theme I can answer some miscellaneous questions that never quite fit anywhere and let's do let's do these three we've got a rousing versus home the fortress of solitude and haircolor okay so UFC 193 was this past Sunday and I guess because last episode tension fighting at several emails drawing parallels I hesitate to make as many connections of the emails did but I totally agree with at least one thing it shows the underdogs can when I think Rousey was the overwhelming favorite to the tune of 9 to 1 before the odds came down and closed around something like 5 to 1 so simply put probabilities and odds are just that they are a chance and not a certainty so even with all the oddsmakers and the wisdom of the crowds and people betting on the match the underdog prevailed as the years they were anybody and even if you order is that it is a helpful people who said they knew that that was that happen we could say some fun things about hindsight bias in his other things that we could layer on like alleged overconfidence a more but I think let's just move on on next I got an interesting question about whether we will see the Arctic fortress of solitude again and I think I said in the past the scout ship could be recovered by Superman and use this such but also noted that it's much easier to access the Arctic today than ever before in fact if you have a modified diesel truck running jet fuel any tourist can get to the Arctic today in the same way that Mount Everest was once unconquerable but is now nearly a tourist attraction and has cell phone coverage all the way to the top Antarctica is now being traversed in Toyota pickup trucks anyone with enough money can make it to the south call is part of the vacation package how are they able to do it in a normal pickup truck the main modification that they've made is they've taken diesel engines in these tracts and they've converted them to run on jet fuel the recent for the jet fuel is because jet fuel is formulated to work at low temperatures anyway when jets are flying at 32,000 feet it's -40°F up there so the fuel has to be able afloat at very low temperatures so by modifying the checks to run on jet fuel they get rid of the problem with diesel fuel turning to jelly in cold temperatures the Arctic is certainly more secure than a lot of other places on earth but it's more accessible than you think in fact trans-polar flights are now commonplace for flights between North America and Asia with planes crossing over the North Pole daily so Superman wants his solitude he might have to consider someplace else perhaps a little less terrestrial like putting his fortress in orbit orbit isn't in accessible to humans either but the difficulty of getting there makes it more like the Arctic of the 20th century of course I'm putting the cart before the horse before settling where the scout ship might stand in as a fortress of solitude we got asked how does he get it out of metropolis to begin with the scout ship was estimated to be 300 m long that makes it roughly the size of a large aircraft carrier now Superman strong strong enough to collide with the scout ship change its course by several degrees so that it misses it shot when trying to take the C-17 out but I just don't know if he's strong enough to lift the entire scout ship on his own and just take it wherever he wants at the same time I'm not sure what humanity could do with it either aircraft carriers are usually built by the water and assembled in the water there's no infrastructure that lets you move an aircraft carrier if you were to suddenly appear in downtown Manhattan either a path to the sea would have to be made or the scout ship would have to be cut up into more manageable pieces of course that's with today's technology who knows what Lex Luther might have in store or how humanity's technology might've changed since the black zero event that said the easiest way to get that scout ship out of metropolis is for it to launch itself back into the air if the essential systems are still intact and you can establish some sort of secondary means of control the scout ship can fly itself out of there and while there's a lot of possibilities that we can imagine I think the Batman be Superman I wouldn't mind if this didn't take up much screen time at all or if it's basically silent on the issue Man of Steel presented us with a Clark had to suffer through years of solitude and when he's on screen in Batman be Superman if he's not doing superheroics would be nice to see him interacting with people rather than operating silently in the fortress but for now let's move on this last random Man of Steel question a lot of people ask me over the years whether I'm bothered by Amy Adams having red hair compared to traditional black hair and I think of them procrastinating on this one because I don't have anything deport meaningful or insightful to say it doesn't bother me I don't think tradition should be the final arbiter but you don't wait you know what I think it's the ball something here let's let's talk about precedent so if you analogize it precedent legal president or starry decisiveness that's up bland abbreviation for two standby decision and not disturb the undisturbed okay this is half-baked and off the top my head but let's see basically in super simple terms stare decisis or president means that the court should have to consider how previous courts have decided the same issue as part of their decision right that makes sense of that there's a continuity of decisions so that there's fairness righted be strange if you walked into core inexperienced a different result up on the same kind of factors as somebody just before you write so the way it works is if the previous court if that precedent came from a higher court then your generally bound to decide the same way and if that previous court was the same court you are strongly presumed to decide the same way and if that previous court was a parallel court or a lower court than the president is merely persuasive it's offering guidance but you don't have to follow it so in all these cases tradition and precedent is not absolute and its weight varies in all the circumstances and with the underlying reasoning so there's judgment involved there's discretion involved your applying principles and reasons used by prior courts you not just blindly saying that's the decision so applied to something as trivial as haircolor there is in a terrible amount of reasoning or principle behind the selection in the first place on which to base future decisions Lois is haircolor isn't this the fining characteristic central to who she is as a character and further the effect of that tradition that precedent that starry decisiveness applies mainly when the matter is undisturbed in other words there is a consistent continuity of how it's applied but if you look throughout the history of Lois is haircolor it's been a range of colors from Noel Neill's red hair to Erica dirhams to Kate Bosworth I didn't prep for this and you might remember me as somebody a little dismissive of minute color variations like oyster or eggshell white and I can only imagine the range of names for hair colors that I just called black and brown Lois had dark red hair in the Fleischer cartoons and in some of the comics in the 90s so this is something that we might call unsettled law something where there is no definitive single answer and in the case or circumstance like this when there's not a settled law there's no higher court and there's no previous decision by the same court, at least for Man of Steel right Batman be Superman there is stare decisis where you'd respect the decisions made by Man of Steel so you wouldn't suddenly recast Lois or suddenly change her haircolor in a way that upsets the continuity between Man of Steel and Batman be Superman however there would be this large body of persuasive previous decisions across history of Lois showing how other people have decided this question and you give the most influential works a little more weight and consider them a little more persuasive but if you take it all together there is this tendency towards black hair but it is an absolute it isn't binding on a film adaptation which has its own new continuity and so each continuity is its own court towards own arbiter of what will happen within its own story so basically without a strong underlying reason or explanation for why black hair must be the color it's basically a balancing test between the benefits of casting Amy Adams against a break with some of tradition but not all and to me that makes the decision a no-brainer you cast Amy Adams right to apply this kind of procedural reasoning to a lot of other tradition-based decisions now certainly Lois his occupation as a journalist has much deeper significance and reasoning behind it and that would take more careful consideration and changing than something as trivial as haircolor if the goals of your story are to tell a traditional Superman story in some regard it and you know what you're trying to capture that larger mythos if you're not right it should be hard to understand why prior president becomes largely inapplicable to a story like say Superman secret identity where Lois was an interior designer and of Indian descent right okay so there's more nuanced to it but the short summary is that tradition in and of itself is not the end-all or the be all arbiter of how characters should be adapted to another medium it's a consideration it's a factor yeah but not the only consideration and we can use this to talk about even some of the more controversial decisions like whether Jonathan lives or whether Superman should kill but we won't for now except to say what let's make it the thing I'm grateful for for Man of Steel I'm thankful that the filmmakers didn't shy away from such risky and controversy old decisions because that created genuine stakes for Man of Steel and all future DC films in that same universe in a world where Jonathan can.in metropolis can be attacked and the villain can't be stopped without consequences than you can have a world with rich real world consequences and possibilities and tension and suspense and that just makes for great storytelling that segues us nicely into our first Batman be Superman question and this question covers actually several films from slightly different angles the basic concern is this knowing the final outcome of the film how do you keep the stories engaging and you can see how that applies all the different films right so for Batman be Superman we know that they form the justice league so what could possibly be at stake in the fight right for wonder woman the concern is that it's a period piece and we know that Diana survives into present day so how do we still have tension in the conflict knowing that she prevails and you have similar concerns for the other films if there timelines are shift around and that's certainly a valid point and it's a genuine challenge but it's not an insurmountable one of the clip here from Brian Glaeser on Apollo 13 one that came to mind again and again I want to talk about is Apollo 13 so I don't know if you'll agree that some with me that that is innately suspenseful yet very suspenseful we have the gall to make it suspenseful and it was hard to do because what I was thinking it's because we know what happened at the end exactly we know what happens in the end which is the most important factor and yet it unbelievably suspenseful even though I assume none of get a date on how many people actually knew that they all got back okay did you know anything about what the audience was expecting on that front know we didn't we do know completely assumed it was a pretty high number though I continue how we created suspense of your tell me has what I will hear Okay we created suspense by a living inside the psyche of these guys these astronauts spending a little more time than people are comfortable of creating showing their lives their lives or their families and people that are really important them so once they got on that rocket is that engine is following them off the outer space your cutting to their families all the time in fact that one girl at Cape Canaveral is crying she's her husband go up in them you know it it gets you really emotional you often are cutting to the family or the pre-start your people in the external world that are really really important to those three astronauts in their lives so we can see from Man of Steel how suspense and engagement was created even when we knew he was can prevail in the end and that addresses another question that I received which is whether Superman is going to get a greater character arc in Batman be Superman then in Man of Steel and my answer is a qualified yes now simply by necessity Henry cavil is can have less screen time in Batman be Superman than in Man of Steel however the character of Superman is going to have more screen time and you can have more tests to his character or challenges to overcome as Superman than Clark did as a rookie in costume in Man of Steel go so far to say that this is a seasoned Superman he's been doing this for two years at most but this is a Superman undergoing conflict and characterization as Superman knowing that this is his calling this is what he wants to do so were going to get into that character but because time is at a premium expect that characterization to be sort of densely packed and layered don't expect a lot of handholding or a lot of decompression or the luxury of 22 episodes for a character to learn a lesson the characterization and the character arcs ever to be closer to sort of real-world personalities and changes so you should expect the character through subtle ways rather than overt exposition and you should look for growth and change in similar subtle ways unless there is a road to Damascus type change right and in a certain sense this is Superman to so it's not like we want his character to be wildly changing all the time one of the benefits of the realistic approach is that we get to see real character growth but at the same time Clark has a good and strong character so he wanted to stay on that path in all that arc we don't want to see him wildly swinging impersonality but along those lines remember that this is still a grounded world where Clark the character he's a person he's not a St. an icon or symbol in a Superman might have taken on mythological stature inside the world but Clark he still just a guy he's just two years into his calling and it's filled with challenges and difficulties but he still a man just a person underneath all of that he could still get discouraged he can get angry and he can get upset of course that also means he has to show character he has to be courageous be brave have endurance have faith have hope you got a forgive and he's got forge alliances and I would adjust my expectations if I was approaching Batman be Superman thinking okay this time Superman is going to be perfect now given Man of Steel the ground and miss of the approach and the scenes that we've seen with Martha Lois giving him encouragement as well as the emotions on his face this is very much still the continuing character piece of somebody who shares our psychology he thinks and feels and wills and acts like we do and would in a relatable and a realistic fashion and that means that there's going to be passion in the conflict and genuine emotion in the fight ill a seasoned saintly paragon Superman will he win and of fighting in the first place but it somehow you forced into that fight would just be sort of a formality of forced contrivances where Superman still isn't really participating it's just the plot forcing him to and there's something empty to that kind a fight with only one sided intention maybe it's because Superman is holding himself back and in check so much that the fight is really a farce is like a father wrestling with his little boy never actually in jeopardy instead were going to get a Superman who is feeling real emotion was actually a person a character and who has a natural mind and that's going to give us a fight with more emotional content similar to that epic world of cardboard fight injustice league unlimited are always is break someone never allowing myself what we have here is a Superman's imperfect human emotions gives the fight weight and it creates an opportunity for examples of true character in a context where Superman is enraged if he chooses instead to set those emotions aside and forgive there's something in that which takes a more character than if he was never angered in the first place because he's so overwhelmingly more powerful than his opponent right and so for Batman be Superman that means that Superman will be hurt his can be made mortal and he's going to have emotions but it's all for the sake of the story for his characterization and for the greater universe this is where he would be two years into a profession that nobody knew existed until he created it this isn't Superman following in the footsteps of the justice society where he could just take the job for granted Clark is a trailblazer by bringing this superhero world into the light when even Batman and wonder woman shied away this is a completely new field that has never existed before where he's getting mixed reactions and support to his very existence and it wouldn't make sense for Clark to be a faultless and perfect paragon yet even if you're in a well-established field I can think of very few where somebody with just two years of experience considers themselves unable to improve having reached the pinnacle just two years right and that's part of the reason that this is a perfect opportunity for them to fight Superman is still green enough where the two can fight earnestly a little more experience and there's no way this fight happens organically and without lots and lots of contrivance and people are going to come away from this respecting both heroes as men rather than Superman is somebody who naïvely holds back and Batman somebody who is so filled with uncontrollable rage he puts himself in the position to fight a God instead with the green Superman Batman actually has a reasonable chance and Superman has to put up a real fight and while it focused the time on the fight the stakes the emotional weight and the characterization of that fight is earned outside the ring but it's also exhibited through the fight as well and if you followed all the news around Rousey versus harm you know that something that was a controlled sporting event and a contractual payday somehow took on an entire narrative complete the back story motivations and intentions emotion and character and had a beginning middle and and a promise of the SQL layered upon it I the public we don't watch these things clinically and dispassionately even completely casual viewers find himself interjecting story calling the ending a karmic result of bad sportsmanship or some other narrative so imagine how much more meaning is going to be layered into an actually scripted story there is drama character story and honor in fights it's why we love to Rocky it's why were going to love Creed it's something easily marketed which is going to have mass appeal of that fight isn't just superficial it's part of what's going to forge what it means to be a public superhero and a member of the justice league in this world think about your superhero experience every major of that comic book story arc every comic book movie nearly without exception it ends with or includes a significant fight sequence because that's just how the stories are told that emphasis in the marketing or in the title doesn't cause the content to diverge from good storytelling in merely highlights that which people were already excited to see okay I think of a skip over Lex Luther for now and pick something to be thankful for okay I'm cheating looking at what's next to my notes and try to make up a segue okay I got maybe weight) I'm thankful that Batman be Superman has been confirmed to follow that same internally consistent style and reality which made Man of Steel such a rich film to explore and speculate upon David Coyer Jesse Eisenberg Charles Rosen they've all commented on that tone and that reality that sincerity right at the same time I'm terribly excited at how Batman and wonder woman and Lex Luther all open up this world and give the filmmakers even more access to DC lore I would've watched a Superman sequel without Batman or wonder woman but I'm thankful that the WB had the foresight to allow Snyder to use the crown jewels of the DC pantheon so that this film is going to be accessible to more fans and to a broader audience without compromising their approach it's still in that spirit and that tone of Man of Steel but it's got this undeniably attractive fight card guest stars and pop-culture significance which means more theater seats filled and more hope for the future of the DC films okay that's all over the place what I need to say is I'm thankful that we got a Batman reboot which means that were going to get an ultra successful Superman film and more Superman films down the road that segues into a man that them segue at all somewhere along the way I think I lost the plot I think I was supposed to segue off of either Charles Rosen or accessibility into the suicide squad so that's what were to do now had completely lost my place I just going to rebel that a had several emails lamenting about Charles Rosen confirming that suicide squad was always intended is a PG-13 film and that that's their target for the future DC films although not an absolute rule gimme a second I need to catch up in my notes by the way I did have time to compile all the people who asked all these questions I normally try to do that and I sort of lost over the questions that were in that Batman be Superman segment we just talked about in the sorted just jump into answering them so sorry about that this is a holiday specials of this is about as prepared is I can get with the alternative being no episode so be grateful right to meet go back for a second real quick those Batman be Superman questions were one will be see a Superman character arc and I think did say that we would see want to will Superman be a moral ideal in Batman be Superman and I didn't say that question but I think I said he'd still be a person with it up to years of experience and he's not Messerli be this enlightened Buddha or something and three does the title overemphasize the fight and make them less heroic and I think I answered that one and four we skipped for those Lex Luther one so might've been nice to have have roadmap upfront sorry let's do the suicide squad room at that so that were taught of questions I don't have the time to go through all the tonight so we just pick to that one does the PG-13 rating hurt suicide squad okay and to does the introduction of magic and sorcery damage the reality of the universe that blurred to the questions let's do the first one look for the PG-13 rating height I try at the Fred about things I can't change and given that this film was always intended to be PG-13 and that principal photography has a ready wrapped this is mostly a nonissue I mean really way comes down to at this point is managing your expectations and the people who are still concerned are really the exception okay the public at large they don't have the slightest inkling who or what the suicide squad it's any exposure that they've had to the squad will be through relatively tame material by comparison you got the justice league her oh legal Batman escape from our common the comic books and for the vast majority audience none of even that has come across the radar none of even that is going to register so the main framework for your average audience member is going to be that this is a super villain film within the same universe as Man of Steel Batman be Superman wonder woman and justice league so they're going to expect basically a PG-13 movie suicide squad was never a vertigo title it was never in a line that was similar to marvels Max imprint so the source material has always been squarely in the realm of basically over-the-counter mainstream comic books and given the fact that a air was the one that pitch the squad to Warner Bros. he would've known this upfront before penning the script before shooting the film so the filmgoing audience isn't going to miss any of that graphic content that you'd never find in the pages of the comics themselves or in any previous suicide squad adaptation because there's a another argument that's okay we don't know who the suicide squad are but I know who David Ayer is and he's a notable filmmaker and he makes R-rated movies right so perhaps son will be disappointed to see him step down from his traditional are rating and that's been the linchpin of many arguments which have been speculating up to this announcement or this confirmation that suicide squad would be R-rated but I don't really find argument persuasive it all when you're weighing the to write when you consider the concerns of the studio versus the filmography of the filmmaker the studio always wins right if you look at Christopher Nolan if you look at Bryan singer they both stepped down from rated R films to do PG-13 superhero films which were widely acclaimed people like those films and a air has done or will do the same now against principal photography is in the Canon it's wrapped so you're still clinging to visions of an R-rated film well you've got a little over I think nine months to adjust your expectations right if only to sort of mitigate or ease that transition let's consider some of the benefits be thankful for let's say of a PG-13 rating a PG-13 rating means that you get a bigger budget and that means you get a bigger and better cast get better visual effects get larger action sequences and more in makes it totally consistent with the rest of the DC films and Batman's brand won't get compromised that content is going to be acceptable for broader audience and historically that means a bigger box office basically were taking an already risky film and were mitigating that risk to give everybody a chance to succeed and in a way this approach is actually more artful you have to rely on implication over exhibition and the theater of the mind may push Ayers filmmaking and present something a little more intense and imaginative than simply just putting that graphic content on the screen I think the way to think about this is there movies which you haven't seen them in a while and you try to think back upon your recollections you not completely certain whether it was a hard PG-13 or soft are and robe and indicated that this is going to be that kind of film speaking of relevant we have that second question so people who are really invested in the reality in the grounded Ness of the DC films some of them have expressed concerns about the introduction of magic and Charles Rosen sort of addresses that they're looking for that same kind of tone throughout of the film the same kind of ground in this in reality and realism so I wouldn't worry my own prejudice against magic is that it's often boundless and unregulated and that means that stories that have magic tend to suffer from internal inconsistency write the magic often appears as the sort of chaotic and arbitrary omnipotence suddenly there is the power to do some convenient thing at one point but not at some other logical point to do the same thing right usually to compensate the reality is of a dial down the fantasy is dialed up your suspension of disbelief has to follow some more let's a fairytale kind of rules rather than that sort of rigid realism and strict internal consistency of say Man of Steel but if you think about it that's simply the historical trend that's not a creative mandate there's nothing stopping the DC brain trust from keeping a close eye on and careful watch over magic within their world and in writing with deliberation and measured internal consistency in fact they really have we talked a lot about Superman's powers on the show right from the very beginning I said that we would never get into the actual underlying mechanism of those powers because the science fiction because there essentially magic here's Neil Degrasse Tyson with comedian Eugene Marmon discussing Superman's powers on start talk tomorrow shape at least ask is there anything scientific to the different reaction of Superman cells to read Sunburst yellow sun yes there would would someone potentially be able to fly or the sauna not under not yet so we think we know stars really well and you point is one of the triumphs of 20th-century modern astrophysics stars are born how they would otherwise have a die with their properties are yet catalog their friends are with the favorite figuratively stars have friends there born in clusters here's the thing we know the difference which radio start a red star you want the All-Star it is a 10% to the all-stars hotter than the red star. Saw added is lot a little more white white okay little more yellow light then does the red star yes it's just like so if it's like they gave Superman his powers Van convince editors red light that took him away you know Lex Luther really can hear you suit really you say things like that so it's lastly don't even need kryptonite you just need a flashlight we if fully characterize the light emanating from stars and a red star if Superman do not have powers on krypton for any has powers on the earth sun system then we we would had them figured out long ago so. His skin is like a solar battle battery that absorbs the energy like all you sort of the yellow sun towards higher and commits a yellow sun in its higher energy light then does a red sun and he could be observing it and then red light wouldn't ruin him write a letter the accent we know exactly how much energy his skin can absorb and it's infinitely all its can't be any more than the light him breath and his most of the sunlight is not hitting I assure you Superman needs much more many more solar panels than what his skin clad with some natural could bring him given the powers he exhibits so some mystical thing that is not really is really going to hurt him but I do sentimental in the scientific sense Superman's powers are magic or mystical is Dr. Tyson says and if you're satisfied with the reality and the internal consistency of Man of Steel then the DC brain trust has already introduced magic into the universe and they can continue to do so in a similar self consistent manner actually the trickiest part isn't going to be raining in magic and making itself consistent but coming up with an internally consistent history of where that magic was hidden from the world all this time but I believe there up to that task they've committed to a consistency of tone through their first few films which has the potential to cover these kind of logical quandaries and even if they don't but let's not necessarily the end of the world the fact is shared comic book universes have always had to deal with magic and that might require loosening your grip on reality a little bit that might be a good thing by the time that were several movies deep into the universe we might be ready for that or want that if you think about the framework for suicide squad it basically is sending a mundane army of meta-humans and people with firearms against a magical threat and so even in that sort of framework we understand that magic is something that can be controlled by technology and that humans so I don't agree to have to worry about that sort of completely unhinged omnipotence that sometimes sort of appears in magic aren't that's enough wild speculation what am I thankful for with suicide squad I'm thankful that so much came together to make this unexpected film possible mean Ayer had to be coming off the success get to want to pitch this film the brain trust had to be ready to hear it and to like his pitch that talent had to be available the inclusion of Batman had to be calculated and so much more and is just awesome that there willing to take this smart and calculated risk with suicide squad in of the diversity of DC's Slate and the mystery around suicide squad means that some people are anticipating this film even more than Batman be Superman and the healthier the films and the bigger risks that there willing to take the more that were going to see watching Supergirl on a big network like CBS that's in no small part to the risks taken by arrow in agents of shield which led to the flash and beyond and there's a certain safety to Batman be Superman on which the WB has always relied I mean that I keep making Batman and Superman films until they can't but this perfect storm of circumstances got us suicide squad as a feature film and that's the blow the doors of the DC universe open for adaptation okay I'm running a little behind so last movie for tonight wonder woman I have a time of questions about the Steve Trevor photo by figment of boil them all down to pushing wonder woman's story back to World War I and Steve Trevor's fate in the future so let's that with a second one first if we assume that Chris pine has to play a character in 2016 and if World War I was 100 years ago for Chris pine to be 35 in 1916 and in 2016 talking about at least for reasonable generations you can stretch to three but that's that's pushing it and I'm not really a fan of the descendent angle with pine playing the same role so maybe my preferences inspire me to look for alternatives so with the inclusion of magic there's probably a lot of different ways you could bring Trevor through or across 100 years but like we just discussed unless magic is very carefully and narrowly crafted while logically tailored to the reality in the story think my prejudice against magic generally makes me keep looking and that puts me in sort of a weird position where I hope that Chris pine doesn't make it to modern day I mean that's the easiest and the most grounded approach right that Chris pine just plays one. Character and that's it now it's way too early to seriously speculate on that sell up to leave that for now as always I keep my mind open and I'm ready to be wrong or convinced otherwise having a descendent doppelgänger might be awesome I don't but onto wonder woman going back a century instead of three quarters of a century and we can run this kind of change through that rubric that we discussed before Lois is haircolor is a binding higher court no adaptations are always cases a first impression was there a binding prior president in the same court know in less Batman be Superman speaks to it and is there persuasive precedent elsewhere is the settled law and yes there is a tall in of established origins but they're far from settled although overall they do tend to point to World War II and that means that you've got a Lotta freedom to consider the underlying reasons and perhaps go your own way accordingly when I can get into all that but certainly World War I allows wonder woman to touch on at least three interesting aspects of her character war feminism and immortality and it gives us greater clarity through the lens of time maybe you history is always more complex than we give it credit for but within the scope of the superhero film the first world war or the great war married 20th century technology with 19 century tactics resulting in horrific casualties but that's a suitable bridge for an Amazon warrior to sort of cross into modern man's world the allies were involved so got superficially similar dynamics with American participation the scale is large enough so that she can be invisible to history even if she has an impact within her own story and with feminism all I will say is that with progress freedom choice and diversity the topic is far more complex and nuanced today and that gives rise to a course of voices and opinions but they're not completely in a court and generally this is an issue for many female leads because if you are expected to carry the banner of all womankind and to represent the perfect ideal and every stripe in every creed without compromise but when the CBS Supergirl show is praised as feminist but then also criticized as antifeminist so like me can't help but feel that that's a tricky minefield to navigate and that wonder woman might benefit from tackling topics from a simpler time if you go back 100 years and you strip away the progress the freedom the choice of the diversity the issue becomes much more elemental more crystalline and it easier to find unity consensus and the ideal test the same trick they used to justify Capt. America's ideals when they were born from an arrow with a little less ambiguity if wonder woman were to fight for women's suffrage event who today would criticize her for it and I think it sort of applied at a low further the dynamics of romantic relationships were more simple that in that allow them to explore that aspect of wonder woman in the past while leaving her unfettered in the complicated present ill anything she does hundred years ago might be seen as positively progressive but in the present reasonable minds can differ wildly on how the sexes can or should interact and that very same act deems progressive 100 years ago might cause some to claim the Diana is suddenly setting women back decades right avoiding modern romantic relationships that might seem political cowardly maybe but it can also be a poignant piece of characterization if you handle it correctly you could tied in with her immortality which gives her a really unique perspective and setting in a century back really let's is get into that characterization we still have living World War II veterans and many of the moviegoing demographic have secondhand World War II memories still so it's still a part of our living history but World War I is well and truly in the history books for us that kind of distance and separation will help Diana tap into her inner Highlander right it also seems the slot nicely into the Strauss how generational theory here discussed by Michael Stevens host of the sauce spouse and how call it social mood but her attorney describes the way society will act by either of establishing challenging or fracturing in love established customers to illustrate the cycle start just after the American Civil War in the so-called Gilded Age here we find American society in the first call a hot is a 20 year period when society is largely in agreement about the direction he wants to go because it recently: in the face of the crisis institutions are strong plus young adults or cautious and people higher of social discipline call for reform. Of awakening occurs the majority consensus is in the name of greater broader individual autonomous the disk trust in institutions left in the weight of an awakening leads to the next turning and unraveling where in place of broad cultural identity moral crusades polarized society should come next finally a renewed interest in consensus that response to crisis by banding together occurs societies were to believe that coalescing building together are the answer the cycle starts again with a on the illustration is a little clearer with the video link them in the show notes but speaking of Highlander that franchise has always relied heavily on flashback and that's become a staple of suspenseful modern storytelling and that brings us back to that issue of prequel's and origins in. Pieces having no tensions because we know the outcome both their handled poorly maybe but there's more than enough precedent for them being used well and in a meta-tactual sense it sort of simulates how fans experience and engage with shared comic book universes in real life usually you come across a story taking place in a world already in progress and then being intrigued you go back and learn more about somebody who stood out to you who was interesting to you and you go back and try to find their beginnings and that sort of delightful discovery and exploration of the character filling in the blanks and having that world become richer and fuller in your mind it isn't ruined by that first introduction instead your grateful that that set you on the path to enjoying some more and all this is to say that if the DC films aren't all lined up chronologically in order it's not a big deal I doubt most of you experienced the DC universe in a strictly linear way but if you did definitely let me know how you managed to read everything completely linearly without ever going backwards that's a really impressive feat and is worth noting if true so let me know how you did that if you did him are the subtract the software my thankful for wonder woman I'm just thankful that it's being made never see it awesome right okay that's it which is a short episode so I can start my holiday thanks so much for listening I really appreciate it I want you to be happy so really embrace Thanksgiving the good to others who yourself with gratitude thankfulness and the happiness will come this is Dr. awkward your DC see you apologist signing off CNX time that answers okay this was a slightly shorter episode so I've got a couple other star talk clips is goalie those clips for your entertainment and enjoyment the views expressed are not necessarily my own once again have a happy Thanksgiving in a Superman comic that nobody believe it but I didn't know there was action comics 140 or 142 just a few months ago back in and out of Childress Superman came to visit me of the Hayden to tell him all these terrible thing to having her skills as powerful as you think it is no just seasonal I praised him for all the good work he's done and often do is metropolis so start my mixing Batman of know sort metropolis just to those worlds aren't real you so you know what one residence or metropolis Rosetta metropolis and so you want some help finding krypton in the sky and so I pointed out star you think would be to require that and we showed it to them in the planetarium domes of comical auctions will you and you got go and when a Crespo asks could Capt. James the curtain starship enterprise in its original crew defeat Superman if it came to a fight insole system space Saul is the Latin word for the sun is people than the counterparts of act to earth would be terror and then the moon is lunar earth is not I'm sorry this terror lunar and gone way of trying to avoid whether Superman force at the Kirkwood with flight fluids Affleck so what okay here's the thing there's a reason why he's called Superman yet K I have no doubt that Superman could take the starship enterprise and the entire crew yet that's what he called him Superman is true is not just sort of strong man is not sort kind of Superman he's Superman you should to do will backwards around the earth stopped it reverses rotation yes sir time back well that's also the James Kirk also flew around the sun and then save the whales so let's not know not like he's the only what is your leg and thigh pass this on anticipation Superman flew around the sun donning a Cape and pantyhose that so you a more powerful To guard is very good under pressure the areas but if Superman goes to the tale of the analyzing it is a encounter swings around a classroom style as the are you in the know you're right aliens would defeat or but that's that little it always comes down to record Superman can help you get don't let them forget it are my would've other discipline it Superman against the new Superman it implodes annealed what exclude on a on yeah will it just was destroyed from within you is very that's more realistic Laura know that over minds the plaster here's your people who have superpowers and super everything and if Luther or mining their own planet letter know if you think of any analogy and they can send the baby Superman Moses style basket you spaceship Reno so anyhow yet that could happen if you if you tell you through it is unrealistic and you can destabilize the planet if you make make Swiss cheese out of its innards okay that's clear but what I like the Star Wars destruction of that Google profession planter explosive energy into it you know it up by I said is that the vice president from Facebook from Eric Shaw is Superman need the sun's rays for his strength how does he still have powers at night while first I do know he knew the songs raise all because he comes nearer to the yellow star exactly the course was on especially white but it's a separate conversations that you got another show correctly business on his yellow when it's on the horizon when it's dim enough for you to notice look at it without protection so sunsets of Israel yellow are the colors in the middle of the day when the sun is not on its way through the muck and mire of the super sick horizon death atmosphere you some if I go right that's the color of the sun. Some were actually yelled and white things would look yellow by the yellow light or white you paper it looks like Jupiter yellow sun were yellow men snow would look yellow well there's only their fire hydrants for such access but on so I don't see why just doesn't have stored batteries to store energy from his daytime and so maybe what one of Tony's with Superman if you send to the Arctic River six months of darkness he be pretty effective at something and and I his eyes like cavemen he goes to an answer know he will all relatable or a North Pole for six months or your has no sunlight but why go of all claims although issue being equator cave and yesterday in a greater K yes is only his proximity to the sun whether not as receiving sunlight then he stoners distance from the sun is not getting he still getting some getting whatever is the magic raised us on whether not that's the light of essays can be reasonably okay I don't really have could Lois Lane have Superman's baby because that we are aliens are a all the baby kick through horrible bosses doubts about that was funny that was good I was say Superman looks so humanoid right that there's got a be sufficient overlap there to try across species baby okay he looks so human race so much like is that you yes so I got given that and you watch out the baby could kick out like you you you you are a is from preventively be Levy about dilemmas will what backups of it Superman if Spock to be half-full can have human I can see Lois Lane can have a have super have humans are you may be to try and Ladell as bad PhD in psychology specializing that N in Pakistan is that the science of happiness and is translating this and into practical on day-to-day techniques are that's can use when striving for perfection has event obviously it is not attainable make the most of this moment kind of that is changing I circumstances might have any way that means that brings us to that is the circumstances and the matter lightly fast as we can control all of them out is making that I have let life for political choices that have making the internally and externally to that are either going to increase or decrease the things that bring me Joanne it's actually is traits that superhero does things into my life a day-to-day basis and not his mind around what we refer to emotional intelligence and emotional scales the social scale the ability to inspire redirect they managed but their internal round and a external including is relationships that make the biggest difference the day is this conception of happiness is that it's about shared July being green fine and I didn't another time and then fill a validated that the events and the mistakes and easy to get you we don't need to have into research the time until ranking down and have cheer is next event and when I answer talk about thriving but I cannot fly in on all cylinders now living your life potential it includes living the full spectrum of life the hall human experience select and landed at any given moment mediated maybe if I hear engaging that when and very than if there's a lot and agree that I have living a life as thriving in flourishing that we can't happen achieving happiness because I believe that I is in fact the key to happiness is that we can take charge they choosing consciously and intentionally response time to cope a bit difficult suddenly favorite actor Franco the psychiatrist his divine said not the concentration camps of anyone can say that he can come out of that experience in his favor found he says between stimulus and response is if they cannot stay say the power to choose our response time sponsored by the growth and freedom definitely the key to happiness is choosing correspondence which is positivity impossibility and I really say that answers