Simon Pegg: 'comic book films are dumbing us down'

telegraph.co ^ | Anita Singh,

[BenLurkin]

“Now we’re essentially all consuming very childish things – comic books, superheroes. Adults are watching this stuff, and taking it seriously!

“It is a kind of dumbing down in a way, because it’s taking our focus away from real-world issues.”

“Films used to be about challenging, emotional journeys or moral questions that might make you walk away and re-evaluate how you felt about... whatever. Now we’re walking out of the cinema really not thinking about anything, other than the fact that the Hulk had a fight with a robot.”

[MrEdd]

I thought Westerns were dumbing us down.

Oops, wrong decade. New bugbear now.

I would say sleazy films focused on sex and nudity are far more problematic than action films of any stripe.

[rlmorel]

I just saw Foxchaser last week too.

That WAS really, really creepy. Interesting, and good, but...creepy. I see a pattern here!

[RipSawyer]

“Idiocracy” IS a thinly disguised documentary.

[liberalism is suicide]

The trouble with movies and TV shows that deal with serious issues is they almost never get it right. Whether filling the movie or show with leftist propaganda or poetic license they leave the viewers with wrong impressions and bad ideas. I prefer to get serious information by reading and leave movies and TV for entertainment.

[clintonh8r]

He isn’t telling you what to do. He’s rendering an opinion, which you can accept or reject.

[4yearlurker]

What is this bloke talking about? If I want to pay to watch the Hulk fight a robot that's my business. Pegg is a sanctimonious A$$!

[JJ_Folderol]

Cart before the horse.

Confusing cause with effect.

Etc.

[I want the USA back]

No object external to the mind can dumb anyone down. Is it that dumb people read comic books?

[Boogieman]

Says the guy whose career is based off stupid buddy comedies.

[Boogieman]

Bingo. Hollywood can’t touch a serious subject without taking the wrong side of the issue nowadays. So people just generally avoid movies about any serious subjects.

[Sir Napsalot]

He’s saying people indulge in ‘childish pursuit’ are wasting their own time.

And which I soundly rejected his opinion.

[discostu]

Shaun has a lot of stuff about consumer culture and delayed adulthood in it. It’s not just a silly zombie comedy.

[mad_as_he$$]

Exactly. Captain America can always be counted on to do the right and just thing. Ironman is a superior hero that is deeply flawed and knows it. The Hulk is the evil that lives inside of us that sometimes would just like to tear the whole place down. Thor is a god with a huge burden to bear. To bad there aren't very many real super heroes in life. Mine are my kids that serve or have served. The rest have all passed or not stood the test of time.

[Mariner]

Who is Simon Pegg and how could he not like the best film of 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy!

[cld51860]

I was recently on a flight and tried watching a movie Hollywood and critics were gushing about - Birdman. Un. Freaking. Watchable.

[Pontiac]

...but it was actually comic book made into a movie

Graphic Novel!

Just kidding. :)

[JimSEA]

Kind of like the Three Stooges, Charlie Chaplin and the B Westerns, Rocketman serials, etc.

[RayChuang88]

I've seen Birdman.

Here's the problem: the movie requires the mindset of someone actually living in New York City for many years to really get the gist of the film, which means most Americans don't understand it. It's like the TV series 30 Rock--unless you know something about how NBC works in New York City, the gist of the series is lost to most viewers.

[VRWCmember]

Simon Pegg: 'comic book films are dumbing us down'

This from the guy whose films in which he is a primary character include such deep intellectual fare as:
Shaun of the Dead
Hot Fuzz
The World's End

He was excellent in the supporting role of Scotty in the recently reworked Star Trek franchise, but he is the epitome of dumbed down when he is a leading character.

[RayChuang88]

Remember the first Toby McGuire Spider-Man movie from 2002 and the scene at the very end of the movie? A scene that--given what happened nine months earlier in real life--annoyed the Left to no end?