kontextmaschine:

kontextmaschine:

I do appreciate Across the Spider-Verse mixing up the “issues with your child growing up” themes in that it’s the father with the real issues, that manifest in a particularly masculine way, and with the new universe teasing a resolution that would be further racialized: appreciate that it was your presence and guidance in childhood that set him right, without which he might have fallen into the same roughness you escaped from as a young Black man in the ‘80s and '90s but people close to you didn’t.

And that Miles’ mom being more positive isn’t played as mother-as-bearer-and-transmitter-of-domestic-life, she’s not excited about her baby growing up and forming a family of his own, when his dad, deep in his masculine-idiom issues, is like “and what’s he doing with this Gwen girl anyway?” she’s basically like “well, he probably wants to fuck her.”

Also appreciation for how the way nothing really triggers off the way Gwen/Miles would be an interracial pairing.

And how it pointed out that Gwen and Miles may have different skin colors but they in fact share a race-like fictive hyperextended kin group in that they’re both from police families.

There’s a scene with that isssues-y dad meeting this girl who’s taking his son away and he’s saying he suspects her family are criminals – the enemy tribe – before becoming more positive when he realizes they’re actually cop tribe

kontextmaschine:

I do appreciate Across the Spider-Verse mixing up the “issues with your child growing up” themes in that it’s the father with the real issues, that manifest in a particularly masculine way, and with the new universe teasing a resolution that would be further racialized: appreciate that it was your presence and guidance in childhood that set him right, without which he might have fallen into the same roughness you escaped from as a young Black man in the ‘80s and '90s but people close to you didn’t.

And that Miles’ mom being more positive isn’t played as mother-as-bearer-and-transmitter-of-domestic-life, she’s not excited about her baby growing up and forming a family of his own, when his dad, deep in his masculine-idiom issues, is like “and what’s he doing with this Gwen girl anyway?” she’s basically like “well, he probably wants to fuck her.”

Also appreciation for how the way nothing really triggers off the way Gwen/Miles would be an interracial pairing.

And how it pointed out that Gwen and Miles may have different skin colors but they in fact share a race-like fictive hyperextended kin group in that they’re both from police families.

I do appreciate Across the Spider-Verse mixing up the “issues with your child growing up” themes in that it’s the father with the real issues, that manifest in a particularly masculine way, and with the new universe teasing a resolution that would be further racialized: appreciate that it was your presence and guidance in childhood that set him right, without which he might have fallen into the same roughness you escaped from as a young Black man in the ‘80s and '90s but people close to you didn’t.

And that Miles’ mom being more positive isn’t played as mother-as-bearer-and-transmitter-of-domestic-life, she’s not excited about her baby growing up and forming a family of his own, when his dad, deep in his masculine-idiom issues, is like “and what’s he doing with this Gwen girl anyway?” she’s basically like “well, he probably wants to fuck her.”

Also appreciation for how the way nothing really triggers off the way Gwen/Miles would be an interracial pairing.

“Spider-Gwen” in the Spiderverse movies is not trans in that she represents an AMAB Gwen Stacy, and I am sure there is some TERFy radfem out there correctly pointing out that seeing the “witty, responsible, sympathetically put-upon” Spider-package come in a girl (a non-pregnant one at least) and going “no way is she cis!” is really insulting.

That said, the “reveal your identity to your parents, they take it poorly, so you run away and live with found family for a while, but when you finally reconnect they’ve come around and want you back” is a trans-coded plot (a generation ago it would be merely gay!), and as “they’ll see!” fantasies go it’s fairly achievable and good to encourage over them crying at your funeral.

Spider-Verse reminding the MCU that a big comics team-up isn’t about the object-level plot and villain, it’s about getting all the good guys to fight each other over some misunderstanding in the middle third

Also, who wants to bet the credits of the next Spider-Verse film roll over Pavtir leading all the Spider-Men in a Bollywood dance number?

Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse

Enough other people have focused on the art. It’s good! I’m more a plot guy. It’s good!

I have a post that goes about how one of the big 90s things was having built up enough history in some genres or universes that the audience was familiar with to get real meta with it and this was very much in that tradition, with the plot tension being a literalization of “how far can Miles Morales (and "Spider-Gwen”) vary from the Peter Parker formula and still be a Spider-Man?“

Given that you’d be forgiven for asking if Ben Reilly is in the movie. Not only is he, he’s a recurring ‘90s comics punchline. And a blizzard of other variations that will reward anyone getting the reference with absolutely no loss to newbies.

The villain, "The Spot” is great, pitched as a Condiment King-level loser that internal-logically becomes an epic pandimensional threat, and his chaotic reality-tunneling powerset makes for great cartoon action on screen. His retroactive 1st movie origin is clever but as his motivation feels like hanging one too many meta- themes on the material.

Does make you realize that another Spider-villain that could only be done justice in this format is Carnage.

The new B-tier Spider-Men are fun (the tier list goes to E) but not quite as much as the first set, though they’re teased as returning for the third, and Spider-Punk pulls more weight visually and as plot device.

One complaint is there’s just much in the falling action after the film’s clearly done with major stakes as it not just sets up a sequel but hands off with a “to be continued…” Each major character’s emotional arc has to be paid off but not resolved and twisted to set the stage for the continuation, and then each character needs to be mechanically moved on, but then they need to meet up and reconnect the plots there, and receive further plot twists, and then set up cliffhangers…