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Post by herald7 on Aug 11, 2011 22:13:42 GMT -5
And I especially love the fact he isn't a reporter - it seems that other areas of superherodom tend to have the characters in some sort of reporting position. You have Superman as a reporter and Spiderman as a photographer. Yeah that's true; that reporter thing did get a bit old, lol. And I remember being rather charmed by the idea of a super hero who was a school teacher. It's such an important profession that doesn't always get the attention it deserves. Plus you don't hear about male teachers too much.
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Post by givedaddy5 on Aug 12, 2011 7:25:19 GMT -5
I think alot of superheroes were reporters because when most of them were created (1930-1960) that most people got their news from newspapers and heroes like Superman would know about breaking news first and be able to "save the day".
Certainly different now. Growing up I read 2 papers everyday. I can't even remember the last time I picked one up.
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Post by herald7 on Aug 12, 2011 9:00:43 GMT -5
Yeah that's true, the reporter thing did reflect the society of the time. And in the '70s/'80s there were a lot of TV shows about High School teachers teaching disadvantaged students.
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Post by MelMac on Aug 12, 2011 15:45:53 GMT -5
There was Mr. Kotter, Ralph, Fonzie (well around that time in "Happy Days" he was teaching at the school... I think) off the top of my head.
I wish I had a teacher like him at times though - did in the eighth grade in history - who made learning fun and put his all into teaching. That teacher really got me into history and memorization of dates and important dates and the like.
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Post by herald7 on Aug 12, 2011 16:17:32 GMT -5
Also White Shadow, and maybe you could count Room 222 and Fame as well.
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Post by MelMac on Aug 12, 2011 22:35:00 GMT -5
I have to admit I didn't see any of the three - maybe I'll YouTube a couple of them and see what they're about.... Then again, anything is better than watching a lot of the Intellivision games and reminiscing about them. (yeah, seriously the only game I'm good at - and by sheer dumb luck - on the Nintendo systems of today is Mario Party.)
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Post by herald7 on Aug 13, 2011 23:25:11 GMT -5
Exactly, no real chisled features, not doing some sort of glamorous job (though admittedly reporting is not necessarily glamorous), easier to relate to, human, makes mistakes, and a few other things. You know I just managed to find a rare VHS of William Katt's movie First Love (1977) and interestingly the back cover refers to his character as "the Everyman of the seventies, exemplifying confusion and passion that any college student can relate to." I think that does tie into Ralph's appeal as a more human and vulnerable hero than audiences were used to in the past. Btw, nice bit of trivia, the back cover also refers to him as "William Katt of Carrie." Obviously today you're more likely to see him referred to as "William Katt of Greatest American Hero."
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Post by MelMac on Aug 14, 2011 22:47:37 GMT -5
He's usually credited as appearing in Carrie and Greatest American Hero now on DVDs - admittedly they are the two best things he's known for, but he has been on quite a few other things as well that are relatively well-known.
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Post by HoudiniDerek on Aug 16, 2011 19:31:20 GMT -5
THE WHITE SHADOW...nice throwback. ;D
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Post by herald7 on Aug 20, 2011 10:54:51 GMT -5
He's usually credited as appearing in Carrie and Greatest American Hero now on DVDs - admittedly they are the two best things he's known for, but he has been on quite a few other things as well that are relatively well-known. Interestingly, Playboy Magazine has put some of its archival issues online and here's what one said from 1977: Um...yeah and that Carrie movie...it was only a year before people! Sheesh! Lol, actually there was a reason for that. The point of the article is that "TV exposure can provide a springboard to stardom." ;D
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Post by prometheus74 on Aug 20, 2011 12:32:36 GMT -5
When I first saw "Carrie"-----when I was about 18 or 19 years old-----and I saw William Katt, I thought: "That's the guy from Greatest American Hero!" But I had seen "Baby: Secret Of The Lost Legend" years earlier. (and I had thought: "That's the guy from Greatest American Hero!" ;D)
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Post by HoudiniDerek on Oct 4, 2011 19:26:20 GMT -5
I think alot of superheroes were reporters because when most of them were created (1930-1960) that most people got their news from newspapers and heroes like Superman would know about breaking news first and be able to "save the day". Certainly different now. Growing up I read 2 papers everyday. I can't even remember the last time I picked one up. I just saw this, but I agree. Good insight.
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