"Beauty and the Beast" - Lost Hulk Chapter
Added 2020-06-08 12:50:50 +0000 UTCHey, Heroes!
Here's a section that got cut from the Hulk vid because I felt it was a little redundant. The relationship between Betty and Bruce is interesting but I wanted the focus of the video to be about Bruce and the role of masculinity in the film. Anyway, rather than whacking it straight in the trash, I thought I'd share it here as a little bonus nugget. Enjoy!
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"For a story that partly hinges on the romantic relationship between Betty and Bruce, beauty and beast, there really is no romance to speak of. The movie intentionally steers away from love, lust, intimacy, or affection because these are perceived as traditionally female emotions.
At the start of the film, we learn that the pair have separated but Bruce is never outwardly emotional. We know that he’s hurting – we see him reminiscing over happier times at a lakeside cabin – but even before his transformation into the Hulk, Banner has learnt to suppress his emotions.
In the scenes that the two ex-lovers do share, Bruce is insular and withdrawn. Except for when he’s not...
You see, while puny Banner is angsty and broken, Hulk is dominant and assertive. In this way, the monster becomes a kind of coping mechanism for Bruce and a way to open up.
As the film’s narrative unfolds, the dynamic between man and monster shifts as Hulk becomes more human and less guarded, while Banner continues to become cold and unfeeling. The slow pace and scenes of quiet introspection only serve to highlight Bruce’s social isolation and the breakdown of his interpersonal relationships.
What is so compelling about the dichotomy between Banner and the Hulk both in the comics and on film is that, on some level, the Hulk is what Bruce yearns to be. Hulk is powerful, Banner is impotent; Hulk strong, Banner weak.
The real tragedy of the Hulk mythos is that the monster is what Bruce set out to achieve. He is superhuman, super-healing, and super-strong. He’s the manifestation of Banner’s deepest desires, his primal urges, and his innermost rage. Through the Hulk, repression gives way to regression."
