Spiderman v. Pentagon

I've seen the big screen adaptation of Marvel Comic's legendary superhero Spider-Man twice now and I'm leftwondering if I saw the same movie conservative KVI talk show host, film critic and Seattle resident MichaelMedved saw.

In a May 9 USA Today opinion article titled FilmPuts Best Spin On USA, Medved argues that the big screen adaptation of Spider-Man is a celebration ofU.S. patriotism that counters the perception of the U.S. as a global bully in the world today. Following theattacks of September 11 Spider-Man "remains the most quintessentially American of all classic comic-bookcreations--offering a revitalizing vision of national identity that's especially appropriate at this moment ofdanger and doubt."

This is a rather odd interpretation of the film since the barest tincture of patriotism is nowhere to befound in it. Marvel Comic's Publisher Stan Lee and the rest of the Spider-Man production crew, to their creditin my opinion, set most of the movie's Manhattan scenery north of the World Trade Center area, mostly aroundthe Times Square and the Empire State Building areas of the city. The WTC is not once mentioned in the movieand the fact that the twin towers of the WTC are missing from Manhattan's skyline is a non-issue. Mahattan'stowering skyline serves as Peter Parker/Spider-Man's own personal jungle gym throughout the movie and isfilled with so many high rise towers that the missing twin towers are not even noticed. Spider-Man wasreleased eight months after September 11, which should have given the film's producers plenty of time toinsert patriotic themes into the movie. Thankfully, this did not happen.

Medved's enthusiasm for the Peter Parker/Spider-Man character is especially odd since the character was aproduct of the youth-oriented culture of the '60 and '70s, an era Medved and the rest of the right despise.Created by Stan Lee forty years ago, Peter Parker/Spider-Man was a new kind of hero that perfectly counteredDC Comics stodgy Superman character. Peter Parker is a socially alienated, hormonally charged teenager asopposed to the mild-mannered, middle-aged Clark Kent human front for Superman. "The 'Teenager AsSuperhero' idea mirrored the cultural battle brewing between the younger and older generations in the '60s.Teenagers were beginning to recognize, as Peter Parker did when he got saddled with superpowers after beingbitten by a radioactive spider, that they could affect society," wrote Jose Feit in a Stranger articleshortly before the movie was released . Medved's embrace of the Peter Parker/Spider-Man character is about asodd as the right's embrace of Bruce Springstien's very unpatriotic anthem "Born In The U.S.A."

The real kicker with Medved's analysis of the Spider-Man movie is his incorrect comparison of Spidey's archnemesis, the Green Goblin, to Osama bin Laden. "Spider-Man connects with this point in our naturalpageant because it reassures us that unlike the aristocratic, power-mad, nihilistic Green Goblins of thisworld (Osama, anyone?), we intend to use our potent options to benefit ordinary people everywhere. As PeterParker's wise hardworking Uncle Ben pointedly reminded him--and the rest of us: 'With great power comes greatresponsibility,'" wrote Medved. Earth to Michael Medved: The Green Goblin is the alter ego of NormanOsborne, founder and chief executive of a New York based Pentagon contractor, not a Saudi millionaire andIslamic militant, you idiot! Unlike Peter Parker/Spider-Man, it is this American corporate executive/supervillianwho irresponsibly abuses his superpowers throughout the movie.

Let's not forget that Uncle Ben Parker at the beginning of Spider-Man has just been laid off from his joband tells his wife May that, "the corporations are down sizing the people and upsizing theirprofits." Sounds like the 68-year-old Uncle Ben has more in common with those activists opposed tocorporate dominated globalization of the economy than the KVI crowd who listens to Medved and his ilk everyweekday. Uncle Ben has to sift through the daily newspaper ads to find work because he obviously doesn't havethe financial resources to retire. I guess one could conclude that the American Dream isn't alive and wellwhen a 68-year-old is still struggling to make ends meet for his wife and adopted nephew.

In fact, the anti-capitalist themes in Spider-Man are so obvious I'm surprised the film's producers haven'tbeen put on Attorney General Ashcroft's shit list of "supporters of terrorism" yet. Every singlebusinessman the recent high school graduate Peter Parker/Spider-Man encounters are immoral and untrustworthyscumbags. Shortly after Peter Parker is endowed with his superpowers after he is bitten by a geneticallyaltered spider, he sees an ad for a three minute fight contest for $3,000. He wants to put the $3,000 towardsbuying a car for the purpose of impressing his love interest and next door neighbor Mary Jane Watson. AfterPeter Parker/Spider-Man beats the shit out of "Bonesaw," played by professional wrestler Randy"Macho Man" Savage, he goes up to the office of the fight promoter to collect his $3,000. Thepromoter only gives him $100. His reason for short changing Peter Parker $2,900? He was offering $3,000 forthree minutes, and Spidey pinned Bonesaw in two.

After Spider-Man dons his spandex costume for the first time and starts a personal war on street crime, thepublisher of the Daily Bugle, the fast talking, cigar chomping publisher J. Johan Jameson, offers a $3,000reward to anybody who can photograph the mysterious vigilante. The aspiring photographer Peter Parker has noproblem photographing himself. Jameson at first offers Parker $200 because all of the photos are either"crap" or "mega-crap." After Parker protests Jameson ups the ante to $300, the standardfreelance fee. So the lesson learned by the young Peter Paker is that even the respectable"legitimate" businessman who publishes the daily newspaper is as much a scumbag as the seedy fightpromoter.

Then of course there is Spidey's arch nemesis, the supervillain Green Goblin, the alter ego of NormanOsborne. An eminent scientist and founder of top Pentagon contractor OsCorp., Norman Osborne is thequintessential archetype of the greedy American capitalist. Self-centered and rich beyond the averageAmerican's wildest dreams, Norman Osborne is divorced and has a strained relationship with his son Harry, whohas difficulty living up to his father's high expectations for him.

Meanwhile, OsCorp is in a bitter struggle with its arch-rival Quest for a lucrative Pentagon contract.Events aren't going Norman Osborne's way. Osborne's top scientist disagrees with him about the readiness of anOsCorp patented strength enhancing drug. The Pentagon appears to be favoring Quest in a bidding war over acontract to develop a new aerial combat glider. The OsCorp board decides to sack Osborne as the chiefexecutive of the company he founded in order to pave the way for its sale. So how does Norman Osborne dealwith his problems when things don't go his way? He does it the way the United States government goes about itsforeign policy: Assassination and bombing.

Osborne/Green Goblin fires his top scientist for disagreeing with him about the readiness of the strengthenhancing drug by basically executing him after he successfully tests the drug on himself. Osborne then stealsthe company prototype for a combat glider which the navigator controls with a specially designed green bodysuit, and becomes the Green Goblin. The Green Goblin then bombs a Quest pilot while he is in the middle of aprototype demonstration for new a combat flying machine before a group of Pentagon generals. The Green Goblinmakes his first appearance in Manhattan when he thwarts the announcement of Norman Osborne's forcedresignation from OsCorp by the company board at a company sponsored event in Times Square. The Goblin chucks acouple grenades at the balcony where the OsCorp board has gathered to observe the festivities and assassinatesthe entire company board.

I suppose the Green Goblin could argue in his defense that he was bombing a legitimate military targetsince OsCorp is the top Pentagon contractor. He could also state that he profoundly regrets the deaths andinjuries of any civilians below in Times Square from falling debris. Fortunately for the citizens of New York,Peter Parker happened to be on the scene photographing the event for the Daily Bugle and manages to save a manand woman who were both about to be crushed by falling debris after the Green Goblin began his bombing. Parkerquickly tosses off his civilian clothes and Spider-Man and the Green Goblin have their first public slug fest.

Yes, Peter Parker/Spider-Man is the quintessential American working class who does amazing things whilebattling the forces of evil in New York. This battle of good vs. evil features the alter egos of an orphanraised by financially-strapped working class relatives versus an egotistical corporate executive. This parableof class conflict is as American as apple pie. I think most people outside the United States would agree thatthe Green Goblin represents U.S. foreign policy in action, whether its the most recent Israeli rampages in theWest Bank, the non-stop wars against Afghanistan and Iraq, the attempted coup against Chavez in Venezeula, thestepped up aid to the murderous military and para-militaries of Colombia, etc., etc., etc.,.

It is precisely these realities of U.S. foreign policy that leads much of the world to resent us, not envyus, as Medved and his ilk would like the public to believe. No it is not the sense of justice the motivatesPeter Parker/Spider-Man that best exemplifies the U.S. on the world stage today. It is the arrogance and greedof the lawless bomber Norman Osborne/Green Goblin that provides a parable of the U.S. on the world stagetoday.

I nominate the Green Goblin for U.S. Secretary of Defense.

Rick Giombetti lives in Seattle and can be reached at: rickjgio@speakeasy.net