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By Joshua Tyler | Updated
In the period prior to the launch of Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First StepsMuch of the discussion focused on matters of cultural war. The main one was the decision of the film to make Silver Surfer a woman when people are used to the surfer being a man.
One side argued that making surfer a woman was more pleased and a sure sign that the film was in bankruptcy. The other side argued that they wanted more to please and were excited to see another character required in GirlBoss. Both parties were wrong.
Once you see the movie, Silver Surfer’s genre change makes sense. It is clear that they changed a woman for surfer for narrative reasons. It was made not to fill a motivated quota with ESG score, but because the film script improved.
If there is something that can point out why modern films are lower than the work even of the recent past, it is writing. Hollywood has sabotaged its ability to create decent scripts creating content with motivations that are not a good narrative. But not this time.
Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) becoming a woman allowed the movie to give Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) something to do, apart from running in flames. This is a vital component in the development of its character and personality. It gives surfer a connection with one of our heroes, a vital motivation that he would not have, if he were a man.
It is impossible to discuss this more thoroughly without spoiling the fantastic four: first steps, so if you have not seen it yet, stop reading here and look. You will only have to trust me that is worth it.
Read no more if you haven’t seen Fantastic four: first steps
One of Johnny Storm’s key characters has always been that it is a kind of women of women. Then, when making Silver Surfer an attractive woman, those existing features become relevant not only of Johnny’s character but also for history.
Johnny is attracted to her, and motivates him to give him a chance when the other members of the fantastic four will not. It is proposed to try to understand what it is, maybe even save it. That decision of Johnny leads to a connection between the human torch and the silver surfer that would not have existed if the surfer were a man.
Ultimately, it is that connection, that attraction between the two, which saves the entire planet. Johnny awakens the humanity of the Silver Surfer, which leads her to give the final blow against Galactica and send him turning to oblivion.
The decision to exchange genre Silver Surfer is one of the best narrative decisions of the film. It is not the heart of the movie or anything, but it is the little smarter to write than the film achieves. That is notable in a modern world where script writing is a lost art, and most of what we see is regurgated garbage used on a keyboard by some unqualified idiot who is more interested in marketing and social engineering than the good narration of stories.
It is surprising that Marvel has succeeded. The script of the film has four different accredited writers, and the writing of scripts by committee rarely results in good decisions. In this case, he did, and the four writers deserve credit for how solid his First steps The script is. Well done Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer.
