Will’s Unpopular Opinion – Dante’s Towering Inferno – 3-21-16

“What makes a hero?” These are the opening words to the article that Karen Page begins to write in the last moments of the final episode of season two. The latter of her soliloquy which is predictably read as a voice over during the denouement of the show, is a somewhat preachy, sanctimonious, and priggish piece of commentary on society and what means to be a man…or a bad man…or something…who cares. It’s pseudo social commentary that’s most effective on thirteen year old boys and meant to pay homage to the way Ben Urich used to narrate issues of the series. (It’s also how the 2003 movie ended starring Ben Affleck if you must know.) It’s a set of words that evoke an opinion on something that Karen was apart of. Structured paragraphs summing up what we already know and her experience through it all. It’s what they call journalism.

Now comes the part where the Daredevil fans and the comic community do the same. Regurgitating what they had just seen as they try to trot out their superior film and super-hero knowledge. What is now considered common fan rhetoric; DD-heads will race to dust off their funny book badges, push their glasses closer to their face and boast to the world that they are the real comic buff for their adored series. Traveling at the speed of a plague, their mini-reviews will clutter the pages of Facebook, reddit, and litter comment boards for days to come. Critics and fans shortly find themselves in a love/hate relationship feeding off each other like a ravenous two headed ouroboros.

The die hards will take it upon themselves to correct anyones opinions who’s aren’t in league with their own, as they rush to get the word out to anyone who will listen. Lists are being compiled as we speak comparing the iterations of Marvel’s serials, with sentences unapologetically being formed, like: “In Frank Miller’s Daredevil, it was actually Bullseye…etc, etc.” and so on and so forth. Everyone needs to be apart of the dernier cri. Nerds and trolls alike will start to embrace their inner sports-mob mentality and defend their opinions: the writers opinions, the directors, and anyone else involved who agrees; even tangentially, or heads will roll. Venom will be spewed, and common decency will be completely disregarded so bloggers can espouse irrational ill-thought-out nonsense in an attempt to fortify their own comic book awareness to the public (and to themselves). Anyone who disagrees will be lambasted and chastised for not sharing an opinion on a fictitious character and/or the quality of the show.
We’ll get memes and gifs, arguments and avatar swaps; and all of this will continue until next week when ‘Batman v Superman’ comes out and we’ll have to deal with it all over again. This isn’t to say it’s not all in vain. The outcry of Daredevil’s cowl at the end of the first season received a speedy fix only two episodes in to the second season, and the casting of the Punisher by actor John Bernthal was incredibly well received. The fans have spoken. If they don’t get their way, there will be blood.

But it’s not just fans and comic cohorts alike who try to weigh in on deciding the outcome of their ransacking red suited friend, but rather the media as well, who’s opinions swiftly slide into place, one on top of another, like a speedy game of Jenga, building higher and higher into the sky on sites like Rotten Tomatoes. As you scroll down you see the missing blocks, (the rotten reviews). Which one will collapse Dante’s towering inferno? Or is the show and it’s fresh reviews perfectly poised and postured to withstand the backlash and keep from crumbling under it’s own weight? RT’s ratings for Season 2 dropped almost 25% from 2015’s installment, averaging out at 75%. That’s a huge drop relatively speaking for a show that was last year’s critical darling. It stands to reason though, there weren’t too many places to go but down.

Although some people are saying this second season is infinitely better then the first, the reviews are in, and collectively it’s been decided this new season isn’t. Whether you agree or not, Daredevil S2 did something different from the first season. It actually became the comic book the “fans” wanted to see. It gave you inciting incidents and steered clear of the soap-operatic tone of the first season, where two people stood in a room and pushed the narrative purely by dialogue and not action. As for season 2, anyone who surprisingly said, “OMG! the ‘Hand’?! Like the ‘Foot’?! What a rip-off!”, clearly has no idea what they’re watching. The second season had an easier to follow through-line, more action, and honestly overall better characters. Of course if you only saw children waking from the dead, and a hand full of ninjas that seemed “out of place” then do everyone a favor, and leave your opinion at home. This becomes the main issue when comics go mainstream. They are comic books. The stories will be fantastic, and if you aren’t prepared for that or expecting of it, then coming off overly critical actually makes that person sound less informed than more. It sends a clear message to readers that perhaps that reviewer isn’t ready for the theatrics of spandex killers.

Perhaps there isn’t much to be said about Daredevil Season 2 that hasn’t already been said redundantly, abrasively, passively, inquisitively, or plainly just basically. It’s one of Netflix’s gems that does well and will continue to do so. The point being, maybe it’s time we take off Matt’s rose colored glasses and realize that whether you liked the show or not, the choice isn’t yours if it’s good or not. It’s everyone else’s, and unfortunately, no one cares what you think; only that you comment enough to give others a chance to comment back.

-Will Valle