Head over to A Room of Mama’s Own for another recovery nerd review of the Hulk.
Saturday mornings for me are usually fairly well packed. I start off leading a recovery meeting at the methadone clinic, stay afterwards an hour or so to speak with friends, and then it’s off to the coffee shop to meet a few regulars to talk shop and politics. Father’s Day weekend and the vacation season made us put off the coffee talk for today so I decided to do a little browsing at the local shops (cats, books, computers, etc.,).
I ended up going to an early show seeing The Incredible Hulk even though I had swore off the Hulk franchise after Ang Lee’s disappointing version of the green giant. Leave it to the same guy that turned a cowboy movie into a love story and also to humanize, you might even say feminize, a comic book character. Cowboys are for runaway stage coaches and gunfights, comic book characters are for super powered escapism. Who cares about the inner turmoil and angst of the characters, let’s get to the action!
Director Louis Leterrier’s Hulk version however, takes care of all the necessary story details in the opening credits and gets the ball rolling in the first fifteen minutes.
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No purist, Leterrier does not depend upon the comic book storyline alone borrowing liberally from the 70’s television including the heavyhearted piano solo and visual imagery like the gamma ray crosshair. I think this was a very smart move considering how much of the potential audience like myself gathered our Hulk lore from the TV and not comic books.
Andrew Norton is always a favorite of mine and he does a good job playing the lead role. Liv Tyler, William Hurt, and Tim Roth play strong supporting roles and more props to the director for turning what I thought was going to be the formulaic “making love scene” with Liv into a funny moment.
The CGI was excellent. I say this not in the sense that the movie broke new ground, but instead because the fight scenes did not switch relentlessly between viewpoints like in Michael Bay’s Transformers. This allowed me to actually follow the action better and enjoy what I came to see; Hulk smashing things.
I will not go into more detail because to do so would be a spoiler. Those who will go to see this movie already know the story, what I and others want see is it brought to life… and on that point I give Leterrier an A.
Now let’s get on to the inevitable Hulk themed alcoholism/addiction analogy you knew was coming.
In the comic book, the TV show, and this latest movie version the tragedy of the Hulk’s enormous power is that he cannot moderate it, it’s all or nothing. So when he is faced with another rampaging genetic freak “Hulk smash” is a very appropriate response, but when faced with opening a stubborn jar of pickles… you see the problem. The LA times actually misses the point and gigs the movie on its most basic theme.
That transformation into someone with muscles where other people can’t even imagine muscles is initially satisfying, but as generations of angry people have found before him, there’s not much of interest you can do when you get that mad. ~ LA Times
This is the very reason I went to see the green menace in the first place, to see him roar the words “Hulk smash” and proceed to solve his problems by throwing cars and pummeling his antagonist. With a few twists though, I think the comments would be right on for a critique of alcoholics and addicts.
That transformation into someone with muscles, wit, and intelligence even though it’s imaginary is initially satisfying, but as generations of inebriated people have found before him, there’s not much you can effectively do but screw up when your drunk or high. ~ The Discovering Alcoholic
As alcoholics and addicts we often think we have super powers in our prolonged lapses from reality, but in truth we are powerless because we are only good at one thing. On a night out on the town or a ballgame with friends, drinking may be at least acceptable. Faced with problems at work or at home however, drinking and drugging is very counterproductive. The Hulk’s bane is that he has only one solution for life’s problems, an uncontrollable rage. The same can be said for alcoholics and addicts, the solution is also an uncontrollable rampage that leaves an unbelievable amount of wreckage in its wake. Getting drunk will not solve a relationship problem and getting high will not get you to work on time, but this is our only “true power”.
Thank goodness we don’t have to deal with a smashed Hulk!
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I just got home from watching the Hulk — and discussing the addiction parallels with my husband on the car ride home.
I’ll blog about it tomorrow (um, if I get some sleep tonight).
I just got home yesterday from recieving a trhree day treatment of PROMETA and i would just like to tell annybody who is thinking about getting this treatment to be very careful. I felt absolutly NOTHING except for the anxiety i had from feeling like a guinea pig, while the administers were learning on me how to administer this treatment. I don’t know if the people who gave testimony are being paid, but i can tell you i could have saved a lot of money, {from which i sold furniture and clothes to raise the money, my own} to get this so called ”miracle drug’. Like i said i felt absolutely nothing.
in the end the job is left up to you. I know it seems impossible, but it can be done. Regardless of the method whether it be a AA, NA, abstinence or another drug… only you have the power to make it work.
Thanks for the link!