Spiderman vs Theoryman

How would I interpret the Spiderman trailer?  In my reflective essay I couldn’t seem to get away from Haraway’s cyborg, yet for me, the cyborg is the mass of critical theory I’ve learned this semester.  It’s nice because I have a variety of tools to subscribe to and no one ideology to which I must answer.   I believe that Fanon’s outline of Negritude can be best mapped in this situation.  None of us have seen the movie, but I’ll assume that we know a little about Spiderman history based on the seemingly inescapable huge amount of advertisements.  Peter Parker’s true identity is ascribed by a more dominant force; Spiderman.  He will always be forced to live the repercussions that come with being Spiderman.  Spiderman serves to keep Parker in his place, limit the relationships he can have and the economic success will ever achieve.  This will forever be as long as he is Spiderman.  If Parker wants to rid himself of all the oppression that Spiderman brings then he must shed that identity.  Exert his parkertude.  I think this might be mildly offensive in that Blacks truly have suffered and comparing such a plight to a fictional character might seem as thought I think the issue is trivial.  Fanon states “I am being dissected by white eyes, the only real eyes” no one can see the real Peter Parker when he is Spiderman (116).  He is subject to that identity and that scrutiny, but hardly I the same connotation.  Fanon’s argument has such weight.  It’s sarcastic “Look how handsome that Negro is!”(114). But, the way his theory works makes sense in this situation because like Blacks who “walk on white nails” Spiderman/Peter Parker walks on the public’s nails (126).  When he fails the public turns on him.  He must succeed or the eye of the public turns evil on him.       

The trailer could also be assessed through Horkheimer and Adorno’s theory of the culture industry.  They state that “Real life is becoming indistinguishable from the movies” as seen in New York where it was declared, officially, Spiderman Week (1226).  The city’s has sponsored a street festival in Rockefeller Park to welcome the cast and city’s ‘spidee’ fans.  Your tax dollars pay for this!!!  H and A also state that this is “the absolute power of capitalism” when politics gets its hands in the cultural business (1224).  How will the may or form his next campaign speech “I am the man that brought Spiderman to you” yes you captured him.  You brought him to us.  This just reaffirms what H and A say “that the outside world is straightforward continuation of that presented on the screen” where in this case the Mayor is the Hobgoblin (what ever the evil character may be) (1226).