At least he doesn't have a motorcycle

[seriousfic]

[Peter Parker] was abandoned as a child — and irrespective of the parents' motives, or the conditions that surrounded that — you can't help but feel a little bummed out by that. And cheated, and a little distrustful of the world. There is an attitude, but again that manifests itself [by Peter being] an outsider by choice. He has a skateboard. - Marc Webb

Do angry kids really ride skateboards these days? Do they have time to fit it in between shooting craps outside the general store and wearing onions on their belt, as is the fashion at the time?

Also, I know this might sound harsh, but... it's not like Peter Parker grew up with fucking Darth Vader. He had Aunt May and Uncle Ben, who are canonically two of the nicest parental figures in the Marvel universe. They're not even "kinda lame" like Luke Skywalker's adopted parents (Owen and Beru Lars, I'm not even going to pretend I don't know that). They're understanding and loving and crap. So would Peter really be that hung up on his real parents, to the point of every interview about his character mentioning teh angst, especially given that his canon characterization is all about him being decidedly mature for his age?

It seems like they're coming at the character backwards. "Well, we cast a hottie to play Spider-Man, but hotties don't get bullied, so we need a reason for him to get bullied, so he's an emo kid, because his parents were murdered. I mean, God forbid our cool superhero movie is about a NERD."

Comments

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Do angry kids really ride skateboards these days? Do they have time to fit it in between shooting craps outside the general store and wearing onions on their belt, as is the fashion at the time?

HA! Yeah, really. Just think, he may start rebuckling his knickerbockers below the knee and getting his jokes from Cap'n Billy's Whiz Bang! Why, we've got trouble, oh yes we've got trouble, right here in New York City, with a capital T that rhymes with P and it stands for PARKER!

[seriousfic.livejournal.com]

I kind of what a scene where J. Jonah Jameson rants about how Spider-Man is just a punk kid venting his frustrations by beating up criminal low-lifes and acting like an internet troll, since that's exactly what he is according to the filmmakers themselves.

Also, for all the talk of Batman being a rich guy who beats up poor criminals, this movie is edging Spider-Man in that direction. He's a suburban white boy who beats up crooks because of his "shitty childhood". The guy's one cross-burning away from Mark Millar territory.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Sounds almost like they're trying to turn Spider-Man into Daredevil, but without any of Frank Miller's talent or subtlety. Since we're talking early Miller, I can say that previous sentence with only minimal irony!