Audience Perception
I was having that "what people think of Superman" conversation with Jeff again. I guess I'm a masochist in that regard. Still, I did have an interesting thought of two because of it.
My thought was about the relevance that an audience's perception has to have on a project. Does it matter? How can it--or does it--change things?
In the example of Superman, most people think that Superman is so powerful that one or two punches will take care of just about anything. Also, Superman is supposed to be the absolute best and no one will ever be better. And this is all true of Superman... twenty years ago.
As I've said previously, Superman doesn't bleed, or at least not nearly enough to really be a hero. That doesn't say he can't bleed, editorial just doesn't let him.
Truth is that for several years, editorial policy has been to focus on the "man" instead of the "super," since that's where he's weakest. Could this be a play at the perception of Superman being way too powerful (such as the Silver Age)? It's possible.
Now the direction seems to be that he's got an impressive power set, but part of its effectiveness is that he can figure out, in normal, intelligent terms, how to use that power set. That doesn't mean he can't get his ass handed to him, it just means that he can either endure or avoid most ass beatings. I'm cool with that.
I tried to explain why I liked this to Jeff. "Tried" was the key word, of course. His perception was, at least initially, that I was attacking Superman.
So I ask (and hopefully not rhetorically), what is the significance of an audience's perception? Also, what set of perceptions do you have to play to?
My thought was about the relevance that an audience's perception has to have on a project. Does it matter? How can it--or does it--change things?
In the example of Superman, most people think that Superman is so powerful that one or two punches will take care of just about anything. Also, Superman is supposed to be the absolute best and no one will ever be better. And this is all true of Superman... twenty years ago.
As I've said previously, Superman doesn't bleed, or at least not nearly enough to really be a hero. That doesn't say he can't bleed, editorial just doesn't let him.
Truth is that for several years, editorial policy has been to focus on the "man" instead of the "super," since that's where he's weakest. Could this be a play at the perception of Superman being way too powerful (such as the Silver Age)? It's possible.
Now the direction seems to be that he's got an impressive power set, but part of its effectiveness is that he can figure out, in normal, intelligent terms, how to use that power set. That doesn't mean he can't get his ass handed to him, it just means that he can either endure or avoid most ass beatings. I'm cool with that.
I tried to explain why I liked this to Jeff. "Tried" was the key word, of course. His perception was, at least initially, that I was attacking Superman.
So I ask (and hopefully not rhetorically), what is the significance of an audience's perception? Also, what set of perceptions do you have to play to?
posted by LEN! at 11:49 PM
1 Comments:
Well, I would have to say audience perception is important, because it pretty much determines whether the message/theme/point of your stories gets across.
Example (maybe): Joe Quesada can say he isn't trying to break Peter/Mary jane up, but if the perception of the audience is that he's full of it, then any story that focuses on that relationship is going to be viewed through the prism that Q is trying to set-up a separation.
As for playing to a set of perceptions, I'm not sure you can. I mean, it seems like you have to understand the core concept of the character. For example, with Spider-Man I feel the core is that Peter Parker will suffer setbacks, due to his double life as Spider-Man. These can be related to job, personal life, school, whatever. even with that, peter still feels the responsibility to use his powers to help people, and at the end of the day, things really aren't THAT terrible for him.
I think as long as the writer gets the core, and stays true to it, then they can write as they please. It's impossible to know necessarily what the audience will perceive it as, but hopefully they see what you're trying to do.
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