Autumn begins with a slight breeze, barely even noticeable. It begins with a shiver on the way to class. People start walking quickly through the Diag, eager to move toward the building full of artificially warm air. There is a palpable smell of cinnamon donuts and apple cider in Mason Hall as clubs start to change their wares, like the green foliage transforming red and yellow, drifting down on the wind. Everything is the same, but different. People wear new clothes and new faces. Faces of resignation perhaps because it is approaching two full months of homework, papers, and exams, but also, hope for the coming holidays. There is talk of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and even Christmas. People don’t want to see time passing, but it engulfs them all the same. This is a University campus, after all. There is nothing to do, but change and grow into people we would barely recognize. Those young high school seniors who dutifully wrote their college essays, who took their AP classes so seriously, are strangers to us. All that matters is the here and now, a celebration of the present, because we know it can’t last long. Everything is changing, so we salute that, yelling into the cold air until our lungs give out. Thousands of voices raised as a football trembles between the quarterback and the wide receiver’s outstretched hands over the end zone. We yell because the world can’t ignore us any longer. We are not children to be pushed aside. We are not teenagers to be prodded into place. We are who we are, but not yet, who we are going to be. It is a rare comradery that we’ve all found here at the University of Michigan. Wolverines, young and old, gathered together in one place for a shared purpose. Somehow, despite being on thousands of individual tracks, there is a sense of togetherness. We are all sharing the same experience in different shades. Someday we will have a collective memory, too, of this time. It will be a time to look back on fondly, the foundation of many comforting memories when we get a little lonely or disappointed. It is also a time that we can return to as alumni proudly marching down the football field as a new student section filled with fresh faces cheer us on. This is the place of so many hopeful endeavors and profound failures. And when we are inevitably unsuccessful, there is someone to lean on and a person willing to listen. There is no way to summarize the Michigan experience for it is always changing, like the people who live here. We may decide to leave, but we choose to leave a part of us here behind. Perhaps someday someone else will sit down in our favorite spot in the Hatcher library and they won’t even know that the seat was already filled by a remnant of our former selves. Everything ends. But then there is a slight breeze, a chill in the air, and it begins all over again.

Superhero movies are oftentimes an overlooked movie genre. The majority of them are, at best, semi-predictable, unrealistic, cheesy films that are basically retellings of the same story over and over again: the underdog triumphs over the villain, learns an important and life-affirming lesson, and makes it back home in time to finish his homework and eat dinner. Yet, the superhero genre continues to flourish and grow today. I believe, as a self-proclaimed superhero fanatic, that there is an ineffable sense of satisfaction when watching a normal, everyday human become super. Within every semi-predictable, unrealistic, cheesy film I consume, I am able to see some part of myself in the hero on screen. Humanity is what keeps superhero movies relevant today.

As with every piece of art, superhero movies have their flaws. There has always been a blatant lack of female superheroes present within every fictional universe and world. More often than not, the female presence in superhero comics, television shows, and movies has been reduced to love interest, damsel in distress, or nerdy sidekick. It is important to note that in the last few years, female superheroes such as Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Black Widow have risen to prominence in the film and television worlds. This emergence of strong, powerful women is not to be downplayed: these are necessary steps forward in breaking the stereotype that only men can be super. However, I feel that there is a lack of humanity to each of these women and how they are portrayed.
Obviously, there has to be a certain lack of human-ness in every superhero: that is what makes them super. However, I question the lack of human-ness present in the fact that these women are wearing high heeled boots and leather cat suits to fight off evil. I question the fact that each of them are tall and leggy with incredible hair, and each of their superhero personas are very scantily clad in spandex or a mini-skirt or both. I question the fact that these women’s costumes seem to show off her body more than assist her in getting her job done. Logistically, chasing a villain would simply be easier in tennis shoes and leggings rather than a skirt and heels. I question the fact that it is socially acceptable to over-sexualize superwomen, because presenting superwomen in an overly-sexual light gives young girls and women the impression that to be powerful, strong, and respected, your body has to be on display. It teaches young boys and men that powerful women can and should look and dress a certain way.
This is not to say that male superheroes are perfectly depicted. An argument could also be made that supermen are often clad in tight, full body outfits like their female counterparts. However, men’s costumes never seem to be compromising a superhero’s ability to do their job in order to show a little more skin. Their legitimacy and place in the world as a superhero is rarely questioned, and their ability to be a superhero is rarely based on how they look. In fact, many male superheroes are masked: Spiderman, Batman, the Flash, Green Lantern, and Captain America, among others.
Film and television are arguably the most pervasive forms of art today, especially because of the rise of the screen age. These characters have the power to inspire a wider demographic of people than any other art form. I believe that social change lies within the power of such art and media. I therefore hope to one day see a female superhero that is super simply because of her humanity on the big and silver screens.

Why are nighthawks productive?

Picture it like this: everyone carries around a round waiter tray. This tray is what holds your creative capacity. When you wake up, your mind is sleepy and the tray has nothing on it, like this:

You slowly add to the tray while your mind adjusts to awakened thinking. The first things you put on the tray are the sound of your toothbrush against your teeth followed by the squeak of the faucet head and a wash of water. Then you say hello to your housemates whose hair still in place from its messy resting position on a pillow. The interaction goes on the tray. You have your bowl of oatmeal. This taste goes on the tray. So you have a bathroom, five bedheads, and steel cut oatmeal on your tray and you haven’t even changed out of your pajamas. Quick change, and on your tray you have a bathroom, five bedheads, oatmeal, and a denim jacket on your tray. Throughout the day, every encounter, every stimuli is added to your tray. By the end of the day, you have collected many sights, smells, tastes, sounds, and feels.

Got it?

Now it’s dark. It’s late. People consider the day to be over. You look at your collection of sensations, and you unload it into a bottomless memory vault you keep in the bottom drawer of your dresser. Once again, your tray looks like this:

You have an clear tray like you did in the morning, but your mind is fully activated. Before you had tangible items thrown onto your tray. Now, you have the freedom to place whatever you can imagine on the tray. No distractions. No outside stimulation. You can refer to the memory vault for inspiration without having to carry it. While other people cycle through stages of unconsciousness, your mind exponentially creates.

There is an early moment in the 2006 film, Casino Royale, that I always remember. It is a tiny bit in the first action set piece. James Bond, played by Daniel Craig, is chasing a bombmaker through the streets and then, the skies of an unspecified city in Madagascar. The entire scene is a spectacular introduction to this new portrayal of an iconic character as Craig pushes his physical limits as an actor. He crashes through walls and sprints through buildings. He jumps from cranes and drives a bulldozer. But the moment I always remember is a small one within this sequence. After falling from the roof of a building, Bond spies his adversary sprinting away. All Bond does is doggedly shake his head and continue the chase. It acknowledges Bond’s humanity while celebrating his inhuman determination. It is an acting choice that epitomizes an entire character. All that we come to know about this James Bond is fleetingly presented here. It is these split-second instances that elude first time viewers and make multiple examinations so rewarding.

Not all movies are rewatchable. Some movies simply require too much investment. They concern themselves with heavy topics that push characters to their limits and break them. The audience member is left with an introspective, quiet drive home. Then, there are movies like Casino Royale, that seem to have just enough of everything: a generous pinch of action, a sprinkle of romance, and a few memorable one-liners. There are certainly a few genres that lend themselves best to these standards. Comedies are an easy choice on tired Friday evenings, as well as superhero films. Action movies too, work well, because their plots are easily skipped over while completing some chores. Here, the question of quality must be raised. The fact that some movies can be watched repeatedly does not make them instantly superior. Others would use the word, ‘rewatchable’ as a demotion, an indication of a shallow movie that does not require much attention or intelligence to enjoy. I have never quite reconciled these two feelings, splitting my time between ‘prestige’ offerings and their more enjoyable counterparts. On one hand, I truly believe that Casino Royale is a complex, intricate movie that studies a man whose identity is torn between his job and his personal desires. Yet, I inevitably categorize it differently than a film like Her which I have watched as many times. One of these films got nominated for an Oscar and the other did not.  This suggests that there is also a large amount of public opinion that influences over our personal perceptions of a film or any form of art. We can’t simply judge it by our personal enjoyment of the film or by the majority assessment because often they too often conflict with one another. Neither can be completely conflated with quality either. After all, those small details are missed if something is too difficult to watch again. Perhaps it is most important to keep both qualities in mind no matter what kind of movie you believe yourself to be watching. It can make however many viewings you choose to indulge in richer and more pleasurable.