JeffTheAlpaca

I know there are several comic book aficionados on this site.

A good documentary on HBO worth checking out.

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What do you think of real people dressing up as superheroes and fighting crime without the help of the police?

madcougar

That awful Morgan Webb show on G4 did a story about some guy who fancied himself a real superhero once. I laughed. Oh, how I laughed.

writer106

Didn't SyFy do a similar show a few years back?

JeffTheAlpaca

Who Wants To Be A Superhero but this was different.

RocShemp

I remember i once wanted to be a superhero. Of course I was five and quickly realized it was fucking stupid to try it in real life.

I don't see how anyone could watch more than 2 minutes of that without growing bored.

Thrush

Whats the over/under on how long till one of these clowns gets shot in the face by a 12 year old meth dealer?

rfduncan

I'd forgotten all about that show with Stan Lee. THAT was genuinely horrible...

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

Mission 36: Save the city

Superhero A: Even though I had a mission to do, I saw a child that seemed lost so I stopped to help her out.

Stan: Superhero, you failed the mission because you stopped to help the child out. Even though that was a nice thing to do, the results of the mission were much more important and you've now put the entire city in terrible danger.

Superhero B: I had a mission to do and saw a child that seemed lost. I didn't really have time to help her out so I went off to do my mission and figured I could come back and help her when I'm done.

Stan: Superhero, you failed the mission because you didn't stop to help the child out. Even though you had a mission to do, a superhero always needs to remember to help out those in distress.

Derrich

That's not fair to 'Who wants to be a Superhero'.

If I remember correctly, the 'mission' was just to run to a certain point while showing off your hero skills.

Most of the people ran through the park rolling and jumping into trees like idiots and went right past a crying little girl.

But a couple of them stopped and helped the girl find her parents. And that's when Stan told them something like 'A hero always puts the needs of others ahead of their own'.

WWTBASH was a goofy show, but I thought it was fun.

D

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

I'd say it's fair. Depending on the mission, helping a kid would either win you praise or get you chewed out. There were multiple episodes like that.

I liked the HBO doc. While there were a lot of, what some could easily say "losers", at least they were helping some people out. I'd say the biggest idiot out of the bunch was that lady from the SDPD that talked about police as if we were living in some perfect world.

I also liked how she started going off on the entrapment, even though it was really no different than when cops have a one of their females stand on the corner and wait for a guy to come up and solicit them.

kantonburg

I just watched most of this. Home today with the kiddos and it was.....interesting.

I think they mean well I just don't understand why they have to dress up like idiots.

OldBoy

what was that documentary with the sad sacks who dress up and stand on Hollywood Blvd. and look for tips? (there was a Superman, Wonder Woman, The Hulk...)

The Cow

Confessions of a Superhero

starman9000

That one guy with the car at least admitted that he was lying to himself and dressing up was just for his own fun.

OldBoy

yep. thank you.

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

Pretty Woman?

OldBoy

yep. thank you.

brainee

I watched this last night. It was ok - about what I was expecting from reading the synopsis. It started to wear out its welcome past the hour point (when we weren't being introduced to any new heroes, and seeing them just do more of the same community service stuff).

I was expecting to see more people playing at being superheroes (fighting crime) instead of doing regular volunteer community service stuff - just dressed up. Though that's pretty cool (not to mention a lot safer and responsible). It was kind of touching to see how the homeless population knew them, and how they were helped out by the little acts of kindness. If more people are drawn to volunteer work by dressing as superheroes, then power to them. The one's who are actively fighting crime are just asking to get hurt though. Especially that Brooklyn group that actively tried to bait muggers. Putting up fliers trying to catch a criminal (like the groper) or acting as a neighborhood watch (calling the police right away if there's trouble) is one thing - but what those guys were doing is something else, and I'm surprised they can get away with it. And maybe they won't be able to anymore after this documentary airs.

Overall, the filmmakers made less of a joke about the heroes than I was expecting. Master Legend and his beer guzzling was funny (though of all the heroes, he was the one that seemed most likely to have some sort of mental disorder). And I liked the exchange with the one hero after he talks about how he's a regular guy who gets up, says goodbye to his girlfriend, and goes out on the streets in costume.

Filmmaker: So you have a girlfriend?

Hero: No ... I was just speaking metaphorically.

starman9000

Yeah, my wife walked in and saw that part and said "he has a girlfriend? Oh..."