As a general principle, I applaud risk-taking. I think it’s an excellent idea.
Not, mind you, that I’m suggesting everyone run outside and play chicken with garbage trucks – I’m talking creative risks. Sticking strictly to a formula can be the death-knell of creativity if you aren’t careful, and many works now heralded as masterpieces got their start when someone decided to say ‘screw the rules’ and follow the advice of their muse.
Of course, a risk isn’t a risk for nothing. Often it will fail, sometimes catastrophically – but even then, the results are usually worth taking a look at. As I’ve said before (probably pinching it from someone else in the process), I’d rather have a spectacular failure than a mediocre success.
So what the hell am I supposed to think about a show that’s both? And sometimes neither?
Well… I’m working on that. But in the meantime, let’s take a look at Beware the Batman. Continue reading
In movies and television sometimes you get a morally ambiguous character whose journey is a fascinating deconstruction of the heroes’ journey, taking them on a path of redemption or damnation. Characters like Avatar’s Prince Zuko or Walter White come to mind; characters who moral ambiguity serves to shine a light into our own motivations and morality, giving us insight into the human condition.
