If Americans continue to get fatter at current rates, by 2020 about one in five health-care dollars spent on people aged 50 to 69 could be due to obesity — 50 percent more than now, the Rand Corporation study found.

One geeky note: While Kevin is absolutely correct about the authenticity of a skinny Spider-Man, Tobey MacGuire’s quiet, wistful approach to Peter Parker seems to me a bit of a departure from the comics. Lee’s Peter Parker was whip-smart, wise-cracking, quick on the uptake, pretty aggressive, and prone more to bitterness than depression in the face of his conundrum. He had as much of a temper as a normal person, and his circumstances caused it to surface with some frequency (although he had considerable respect for his elders). Black humor was a primary coping mechanism.

MacGuire’s version is more “sensitive”–his Peter Parker has the superhuman ability to melt the hearts of women with his air of vulnerability and unalloyed goodness. He comes off as more suffering and saintly than Lee’s original. It’s a great interpretation of the character, but I think it does support your original point about the feminization of the action hero a bit more than Kevin’s comment might imply.

Yes, I think the willingness of actors to transform themselves for the role (DeNiro and Theron) shows not so much a selflessness as an artist interest in going where the role takes them AND the larger motive for much of our transformations, curiosity. What WOULD it be like that to be like that. And what they can’t manage on their own is enhanced, as Gabrielle points out, by CGI. Now the audience member has the possibility of identification strengthened (always tough in Arnie’s case) and our own transformational opportunities multiplied. And, yes, very good point on Jackson. Who would have guessed there was an actor with the transformational range to play both the Wolverine and Peter Allen…or that we as auditors would not put our foot down and say, “one or the other, buddy. Not both.” Thanks again, Grant

Thanks for the reply. imagine my chagrin when I realized that I was giving a (COMICS) a comics art history lesson to an art history prof! I can barely tell my Botticelli from my vermicelli. But I do know what Spider-Man should look like. When John Romita was acting as art director at Marvel, he often had to rein in artists who drew Spidey on too-heroic proportions, and make corrections.

“SPURGEON: Was every change you made directly from Stan, or had you internalized what Stan wanted and made changes yourself on that basis?

ROMITA: Every single one from Stan. I never changed — I’ll rescind that. I changed a Spider-Man figure on an artist I won’t mention. [Laughter.] Because he had the arms and legs so long it was ludicrous. I had to cut a half inch out of each arm and each leg.

SPURGEON: Was that Gil Kane?

ROMITA: No. But I will tell you that yes, Gil Kane used to make Spider-Man six foot five. My answer to that was that I would make his head bigger, so he would look five foot ten. That I did. But that was not a knock at his artwork. That was a knock at his characterization.”

John Romita Interviewed by Tom Spurgeon, excerpted from The Comics Journal
#252 found @ http://www.tcj.com/252/i_romita.html

As for action heroes in the films, I’m no expert, but there seems to have developed a trend, over time, of replacing muscle-men who had been taught to “act” with actors who adopt their physique to a role. “Buster” Crabbe and Johnny Weismuller are examples of the first, as was Steve (Hercules) Reeves. When it came time to cast Superman in the late 1970′s, Richard Donner and the Salkinds chose a little known stage actor with one film under his belt who looked the part of Clark Kent, and put him through weight training to fit the tights. By 1980′s Raging Bull, Robert DeNiro was willing to train up to a standard that made him believable as Jake LaMotta at his championship best, and to also gain considerable as the overweight retired version. Advances in personal training have become so commonplace that even an actress who depends on her beauty the way Charlize Theron does will put on weight and muscle for a part, such as her Oscar-winning turn in Monster. She took the weight off and looks as gorgeous as ever. Sly Stallone fattened up for Cop Land, then hit the gym after it wrapped. Even Maguire slimmed down for Seabiscuit and shaped up for Spiderm-Man 2.

ISTM that directors would sooner find an actor they trust can pull off a role with some substance, and expect them to show up for shooting looking the part. There is still a place for the hunky looking actor, but it helps if they have some onscreen spark. The “next Arnold” is generally thought to be
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, WWE wrestling great and star of The Scorpion King and of the Walking Tall remake.

I agree with Gabrielle about the HK and CGI effects. But we are indeed living in a new world, where Hugh Jaclman can play the built, near-homicidal Canucklehead, Wolverine, then win a Tony by playing Peter Allen!

Kevin

Over the years, under the ministrations of later artists – notably love comics veteran John Romita, Sr., Pete fleshed out. He graduated high school, and eventually college, ditched his no longer needed glasses, and was increasingly drawn, as many comics heroes are, as a clothed David out of Bridgman’s Anatomy. Occasionally artists who were influenced by Ditko – Frank Miller, Todd McFarlane – would restore a lean, gangly look to Spidey, to the delight of older readers, if not the younger ones.

The truly amazing thing is that Hollywood did not demand that a Vin Diesel type be cast as Spider-Man, or someone any more bulked up than Ben Afflek as Daredevil.

That Spider-Man seemed normal-sized to young readers brought up on the chiseled-from-stone depiction of Superman, as produced by Joe Shuster’s successor, Wayne Boring, was certainly part of his appeal. Superman readers may have been more inclined to seek an ideal as a hero-figure, while fans of the webspinner identified more with a growing, changing adolescent.

(Just discovered this blog, due to a Reason – Hit & Run link. Very interesting stuff.)

Kevin

http://www.seanbonner.com/blog/archives/000612.php