The Incredible Hulk is an interesting contemporary pop-culture figure, in that he serves as a metaphor for our potential for rage/irrational behavior as a result of extreme emotional behavior.
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In this sequence we see an elderly Bruce Banner in a desert wasteland pursued by a swarm of bloodthirsty insects. As he falls to the ground, fear fills his heart, and we witness the transformation of his puny old-man hands to big green hulk hands!
This is a great example of a monster in modern day media because it shows an exaggerated example of what happens to humans when they get angry. Think about when you were young and your mom was bitching at you all day long. You know, that nagging that makes you want to strangle a small child. You find yourself in a situation where your anger is preventing you from thinking straight or making rash decisions. You probably ended up yelling back or saying something very hurtful before storming out of the house. Then, while reflecting what just happened, you think to yourself what the hell did I just do?
This is very similar to Bruce because he loses all control of his body when he becomes angry. So much that he destroys everything around him in a brutal frenzy. The movie is taking human nature and magnifying it so we can see what we actually look like to the person we are yelling at. While I’m sure no one destroys entire cities or tears the gun off a tank when they’re angry, it is very much alike.
This is very similar to Bruce because he loses all control of his body when he becomes angry. So much that he destroys everything around him in a brutal frenzy. The movie is taking human nature and magnifying it so we can see what we actually look like to the person we are yelling at. While I’m sure no one destroys entire cities or tears the gun off a tank when they’re angry, it is very much alike.
The Hulk is a notable version of the classic monster. He is a huge, strong, angry green beast. However, he is the result of the gamma radiation exposure that Bruce Banner sustained. When Banner gets angry, or his heart rate jumps, the transformation happens and a wave of destruction follows. The massive destruction causes the military and general populace to hate and fear the Hulk; just like Frankenstein in the classic movies. The military also would like to use the Hulk as a weapon, or duplicate the process to make super-soldiers, bringing into question of who is really the monster: the reluctant victim or the military.
Much like some outspoken political documentaries, the Incredible Hulk series of comics brings into question how far the military/government will go to secure their power and place in the world. Now, the origin stories of the Hulk have gotten a little convoluted, but most of them say that Banner was working on the gamma enhancement project for the military to use as a weapon or for repurposing super-soldiers. Thus, because of his accidental survival from lethal amounts of gamma radiation and subsequent ability to transform into the incredibly powerful being known as the Hulk; the military views his entire body as their property. Now what they would actually do with the Hulk has been explicitly said a few times, but they would most likely use him to make more to use as weapons of intimidation (like nuclear warheads) or as a one man strike force to take out targets (super-soldier). The intentions of the
military can paint them as the real monster instead of the Hulk.
The Hulk’s alter-ego Bruce Banner on the other hand, only wants to be either left alone or to find a cure for the Hulk. His intentions are very sincere that he only wants the Hulk to go away and return to a normal life. Throughout the movies and comics, the situations that usually lead to Banner’s transformation into the Hulk result from the appearance of the military arriving to apprehend Banner.
Some possible questions to consider
1.) When The Incredible Hulk gets angry, he turns from a normal human into
an enormous green monster. How does this change in his color add to the
effectiveness of The Hulk’s character? If he were to just become big and
ripped, and not turn green when he gets angry, would The Hulk have the
same effect on viewers?
2.) Deep down the Incredible Hulk is just a normal person (Bruce Banner)
who is unable to control his actions and emotions when he gets angry. Is
there any character in today’s media or culture that we could relate to The
Incredible Hulk?
3.) In both the movie and the cartoon version of the Hulk, the authors use
multiple tactics to signify that the Hulk is a monster. Aside from his
change in appearance, what other methods do the authors use to show The
Incredible Hulk as a monster?
In respond to question 1, I do think the Hulk's green color adds to his monster image. I would assume that as soon as someone sees his skin change color, they instantly think "monster." Green color can be associated with monsters, so that is a dead giveaway. If the Hulk had a normal skin tone, it would be harder for some viewers to pick up monster image. Also the visual aspect of the Hulk makes it more appealing to viewers. The vibrant green color grabs their attention. Without the green color, the Hulk would not be as entertaining and probably not as popular.
ReplyDeleteIn response to question 3, the authors of the movie and comic use several different methods to build the Hulk's monster image. One way they do this is by making the Hulk stand out with his size and color. The author also makes it seem like communication with the Hulk is not really possible as with monster. He just drives off his anger with no real reasoning behind why he destroys things also like other monsters. His most monster feature is that you never know what he is thinking. In all these ways, the authors try to distinguish the Hulk from the rest of society.
ReplyDeleteIn regard to question 1, I think the effect of Bruce Banner becoming green ads a lot to the character of the hulk. If he were just to just get angry and become a huge, strong human I would just be confused. The fact he looks less human-like and becomes green makes him more intimidating of a character and also makes him more of a "monster" versus a enlarged human. Going along with that, today's society views the definition of monster as something not human-like and different. This kind of responds to question 3 as well. The author and director use the Hulk's super strength and size to help define him as a monster on top of his green color.
ReplyDeleteIn response to question 2, I believe there are many other 'monster' characters in the media who turn monstrous as a result of a strong emotional overreaction. Specifically, I think of Jacob from twilight. Much like the Hulk, when Jacob becomes irritated and unable to control his anger, he cannot prevent himself turning into a werewolf or whatever he is. Also, I think writers like to use this type of character in their writing because such a character is relatable to the reader. Like stated in the post, many times in life we all find ourselves overreacting to a situation as a result of emotion rather than logic, and feel afterwards as if we weren't quite ourselves for a second. Therefore, by using such a character in writing or film, either as an antagonist or protagonist, the author immediately has a character almost everyone can relate to and sympathize with.
ReplyDeleteThe change of color as the Hulk becomes furious adds a big effect to the character. The typical color used to identify a monster, is the color green. The color green identifies a change in Bruce Banner, and it warns people that he has become "The Hulk". In todays society, there are many people with Bipolar Mental Illness, which I like to believe is similar in terms of what the Hulk has. For example, the media had done a fine job getting the inside scoop of the actor Mel Gibson. Mel Gibson's wife divorced him because he beat her and would always scream at her over the smallest little things.
ReplyDeleteNo one will get angry without any reason. Causations fire the inner anger of a person, just like the Hulk. Actually, he is a common human being who used to dedicate himself on his position and seemingly have romantic relationship with his girl friend. Everything goes well until he got a unique identity to be a green big” monster”. He changes to be crazy under the pressure of the searchers who want to arrest him and control him. The Hulk thought himself really innocent, he even begun to doubt his value, his goal and his destination. Why am I special? Do I shoulder special task? Why me?!!Green color helps to make the figure more vivid and it indicates that his inner anger totally changes all over his body.
ReplyDeleteI think that the story of the Hulk touches on a very unique subject. It seems to point out the mislabeling of certain people as monsters. In our society, we have the tendency, many of us, to jump to conclusions about a certain figure and label them with a negative connotation. The Hulk movie points out how we as people seem to jump on certain bandwagons of public opinion and turn stories around to make them suit ourselves. In other words, we often take the blame off our own hands and place it on the minority group because it is simply easier. Since there is only one Hulk and he looks different, it is simple to label him as monster without reflecting on the peoples' role in his behavior.
ReplyDeleteIn response to question 2, Thing from Fantastic Four is easily comparable to the Hulk. When he gets angry, or just by demand he grows in size and turns orange and gets this rock like texture and he is super strong. In the movie you see his sensitive side also where he doesnt like not fitting in and always being so big. His actions are more controllable though when he is large, so in a way he has an advantage to the hulk and he also always remembers what happens.
ReplyDelete1. The Hulk turns green...big deal...whatever. According to wikipedia.org, "In the debut, Lee chose grey for the Hulk because he wanted a color that did not suggest any particular ethnic group." Clearly the writers originally did not even intend for the Hulk to be green. The Hulk just needed a feature to distinguish himself from a normal human...grey,red,blue,green -- it doesn't matter, it is all the same. I don't even believe that green was the appropriate choice. Red is indubitably a color that is more closely related to rage and anger; however, there is clearly a reason that the writers avoided this color. If you look at the quote it essentially references being politically correct. If the Hulk was red, someone possibly could interpret this as being a "slur" of sorts because referring to someone as a "redskin" is offensive to Native Americans. If you see a white guy turn into an angry red beast, someone could see this as being offensive.
ReplyDeleteThe color change to green adds a lot to the effectiveness of the Hulk’s character. This is because green is often used to symbolize the external color of a monster (Shrek, dragons, etc.). Therefore, the Hulk just becoming huge and ripped isn’t nearly as effective without him being green because the green adds the monstrous factor. I feel there are many people today who can’t control their emotions when they get angry. Since this behavior is not acceptable in society, you do not see as much of it in the media. There are few athletes who behave like the Hulk such as Mike Tyson in his prime. This was a very interesting commentary on the Hulk with very thoughtful discussion questions.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that he changes color is a really good point to bring up. It really reinforces the fact that he isn't human anymore, he's stepped out of his skin into a monster form.
ReplyDeleteA good example of a Hulk-Like figure in media is Christian Bale, ironically the actor who played Batman in The Dark Knight. He has a viral video of him freaking out at a director or a cameraman or something, not controlling his anger in the least. I think he even broke some stuff on set
The Hulk is a victim of the humans' ego to become stronger and stronger to control the world. I believe, even though when Bruce Banner gets angry and becomes bigger and green, he still has human feelings that are in conflict with his monstrous actions. The green color of the Hulk applies the meaning of monster which is a creature that is abnormal and strange, so the green color with the human features depicts the hulk as a strange creature looks like human but with green color. Also, his strong and coarse voice supports his monstrous appearance and makes him look scarier.
ReplyDeleteIf the Hulk was not green, he would just be a huge, psychotic body-builder with anger issues. The fact that he turns green (and has superhuman strength and endurance) make him uniquely monstrous. These are the traits that make an audience notice the Hulk. The authors use the Hulk's incredible and uncontrollable rage to show the audience that the Hulk is a monster. If Banner turned into the Hulk without the rage, it would just be a taller, greener and stronger version of Banner.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Bruce Banner turns green when he becomes extremely angry makes people view him as an actual monster. There is an unlimited number of huge, angry guys. The Hulk is different and that ads to the character. It also makes it easier for the readers (especially for young children that are easily confused) to keep track if he is in Bruce Banner mode or Hulk mode. The most obvious comparison is one of his fellow Marvel characters; The Thing from Fantastic Four. He shares the size and strength abilities but has more control. The Thing does not have to uncontrollable rage and that's the biggest difference between the two Marvel characters.
ReplyDeleteI think that the hulk's green colour does add to his montrous apperance. As I have come to notice our society labels anything different to be a monster. The green colour is a blatent symbol of him turing into a monster because green is often related to monsters in some way. Although in my personal opinion i would have made him red because red is connected to monsters and anger which is what the hulk symbolizes. All in all the green does help to make the hulk a more effective monster because if he wasn't green wouldn't he just be an extremely successful body builder? i guess we will never know.
ReplyDelete