By Erin Free
Unless you deem internet fan-boys expressing their “outrage” over poor casting choices and inappropriate costume design to be a form of controversy, then superhero movies are hardly the type of film that provoke anger, protest or meaningful public discourse. Sure, the confronting Watchmen might have upset a few people, and debates raged about the quality or lack thereof of Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice, but they were hardly the top story of the week in the mainstream media.
Perhaps the only cape-and-cowl extravaganza to stir up legitimate heat and conservative ire was the 2010 hit, Kick-Ass, a violent mess of satire, bawdy humour, coming of age uncertainty, and compromised heroics. Though ostensibly the story of Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), a high school nobody and obsessive comic book fan who makes the decision to become the titular superhero, the controversy swirled around the character of Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz), an eleven-year-old who has been schooled from near birth to fight crime by her unhinged but loving father (Nicolas Cage). Along with her advanced kill skills, it was Hit-Girl’s use of the c-bomb that really riled up the conservatives and kick-started a minor controversy. “Okay, you cunts…let’s see what you can do now,” Hit-Girl unforgettably sneers before slicing up a crew of gangsters.
Family groups and conservative commentators were up in arms, both overseas and in Australia. “It’s a disturbing step into the perverse, revelling in the corruption of an eleven-year-old girl,” Focus On The Family’s Deb Sorensen said in response to the film. “It’s different to any other superhero film, which focuses on good triumphing over evil.” When FilmInk spoke to Kick-Ass director, Matthew Vaughn, he was dismissive of all the conservative wailing. “I’m not encouraging young girls to use language like that, but at the same time, I’m not encouraging young girls to kill fifty people,” he said. “What amazes me is that no-one seems to have a problem with her hacking people’s limbs off! The point is, she’s like a soldier. The rules that apply to a normal eleven-year-old girl do not apply to this person. If people are really offended by this, then let’s talk about the fact that she’s killing people before the fact that she’s swearing.”
