Why Marvel and DC are modern myth-making?
And superheroes are the same as the heroes and demigods of Greek mythology, the Iliads, Odysseys, etc.? Or are these films and comics just ordinary mass culture aimed at making money and having nothing to do with high art?
No.
Partly.
Yes.
No, it has.
Now read more.
Mythology is a very specific thing that solves certain social problems. This is primarily a collection of answers to important questions about the origin of the world and man. In this sense, today's mythology is sci-fi pop, not superhero comics.
But at the same time, comics about superheroes borrow the narrative structure of the myths about heroes – “origin – adventure – death” and actually belong to the same genre. And the second task of mythology – educational-is to give the reader a set of correct behavioral attitudes, which is solved by comics.
The films we are talking about are aimed at an extremely wide range of viewers. This makes them popular culture. That doesn't make them a bad thing. “Kolobok” is also a popular culture. There are many comics that are not intended for the general reader and raise more complex issues, for example, “Guardians”.
And yes, of course, these films are made to make money. But it is as if Dostoevsky did not write his novels for this purpose. And despite their mass-audience focus and commercial component, Marvel's blockbusters have raised the bar for drama in mass cinema to a new level, especially in the latest films-Thor 3, Guardians of the Galaxy 1-2, Avengers 3-4. The creators have masterfully solved the problems facing them, so this is a mass movie, but not a slag at all.
Works of this kind have literally all the signs of mythology. If you take some Hercules and try to compare it with some Batman , you will find almost no significant differences. A character who lives in his own mythological world, at some mythological time, has some kind of backstory, performs some feats. In general, the canons of building all this are absolutely the same.
The only significant difference is that the ancient myths have a significant religious aspect. That is, some ancient Greek actually believed that Zeus sends lightning, and the myth of Zeus was not only a story, but also a way of interacting with lightning, with the world around us, trying to understand what is happening and why. Reading or watching modern, author's mythology, whether it's The Silmarillion or Thanos comics, you don't have to believe in them, and you are well aware that this is a fictional story.
If this is considered an important factor, then no, it is impossible; if it is not considered, then it is possible.
Well, as for mass culture and making money, this still does not contradict the “high culture”in any way. If we take the same Hercules, then I'm sorry, but probably only the central characters of the main world religions are more massive than him. Just in the case of real mythology, we see time-tested, polished and excellent samples, and in the case of modern author's mythology – the whole thing, both good and bad. Returning to the recently written literature – now we can say that the mythologies of Lovecraft and Tolkien have passed the test of time, but there are dozens of works of the same genre from the same years – we do not know about them, because they simply did not survive to this day, because they were not so good. The same thing happens with Marvel / DC – something passes the test of time and remains, and something is gradually forgotten. And in two hundred years, some digital amateur archaeologist will be admiring what wonderful people in ancient times created the “Killer Joke” and “Guardians”, while losing sight of Howard the Duck))
No Marvel and DC are fairy tales. Myths differ in that, for all their fantastic nature, in the society that gave them birth, they are accepted as the truth. Moreover, the truth is perfect and indisputable. They are the Scriptures. And even preschoolers don't believe in comics.