The Parallax View is a movie I've heard of but never seen. I caught it the other day and was in the mood for some offbeat mystery (even if it did have Warren Beatty in it) so I lingered and ended up watching it through. This political thriller is about a reporter who uncovers a company which appears to train assassins ready for political attacks across the globe. As part of their training they are subjected to psychological conditioning which was represented in the movie by a wide assortment of images associated with particular words like "Mother", "Father", "Country" etc. The aim as I far as I could tell (and this is a movie that doesn't overly explain for sure) is to changed the individuals presented with the programming to make them more amenable to their tasks.
What startled me was the sudden inclusion of the image above by Jack Kirby and Vince Colletta used as part of the conditioning.
The image was taken of course from this 1966 issue of Thor showing the Asgardian facing off against an array of alien weaponry. The image appears several times in the montage sequence used to represent the conditioning.
Used only a single time (as far as I remember) was this image of the Man-Beast, also by Kirby and Colletta.
This one comes of course from a slightly later 1966 issue of the Thor comic.
What these images are supposed to represent is a mystery to me. The other images show mundane things alongside somewhat racy material, but these are the only images of comic art represented. I don't really understand it, but take a look. Caution though since some of the images feature some nudity.
I assume Thor is supposed to be a variation of the classic power fantasy associated with the Aryan mythology promoted by Hitler among others. I'm just guessing. Maybe someone can explain. Is my love of Kirby really an expression of my subliminal desire to off politicians?
Rip Off
Your take about “Aryan mythology” sounds plausible to me Rip…Maybe, I’m just looking at the montage with much too modern sensibilities – but the Thor images sort of stump me within the context of the rest of the still photos.…Wonder if Stan or Martin Goodman or whomever (it was 1974) signed off on their use here – or if the film makers just sort of plunked them into the film…?
ReplyDeleteI guess the subject is supposed to identify with the image of Thor. Supposed to make them feel powerful. Just like the dirty faced kid is supposed to make them feel weak. As brainwashing montages go, that one kind of sucked.
ReplyDeleteI see Lorenzo Semple Jr mentioned as one of the scriptwriters….Worked on the 1960’s Batman TV show and the Flash Gordon movie (1980) So, guessing he sort of knew his comic book characters. He would be a good person to ask about the PV montage, but looks like he passed away a couple of years ago.
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