Ever since he first sprang into action in the pages of Lee and Ditko’s Amazing Fantasy #15, Spider-Man has always been a very different kind of superhero. Most of this can be attributed to his alter ego, Peter Parker, who has related to young people for the past 52 years. Some people believe that the recent film incarnation has hindered that influence, but this article will analyze some of the main themes from the movie and explain why this version of Peter Parker, and the Spider-Man mythos, is still incredibly relevant to us and our world today.
Theme #1: Abandonment
From the opening scene on, many of the main characters are established as being abandoned by someone important to them. Today many people still strugge with feeling abandoned by loved ones. I personally dealt with this when my dad left my family 4 years ago, and I know that feeling of lostness that comes with it, trying to search for answers and find passion in my purpose. There are many places in the film where this comes to light:
· The opening scene has Peter being abandoned by his parents for reasons unknown to him at the time. Peter spends the majority of the film trying to wrestle with why this happened to him and how he should really see his parents.
· Gwen has felt on and off abandoned by Peter as he distances himself from her because of her father’s promise. Frustrated by this inconsistency, she decides to move on from Peter.
· Max Dillon feels abandoned by his co-workers and society in general; this is evident when Smythe gives him no credit for his power plant blueprints.
· Harry Osborn’s brief scene with his father Norman gives a great illustration of how abandoned he’s felt all his life; his abandonment may be even worse than Peter’s because his father has been alive and neglecting him in favor of his company. Harry also feels a deeper sense of abandonment since his father is basically leaving him with a multi-billion dollar company and a horrifying genetic disease. This sense of abandonment is what reunites Peter and Harry at the beginning of the film.
Theme #2: Hope
Each of these story arcs are established in Act I by the theme of abandonment, but as the film moves into Act II, the theme shifts to hope. As humans, we look for hope in this midst of our struggles and suffering, and how we react when we find or lose that hope reveals much about our character, as it does in this film:
· Every time something bad happens to Peter in the first half of the movie, he throws himself into being Spider-Man all the more. His parents abandon him in the opening scene, and the next scene he is stopping the Russian mob. Him and Gwen break up in one scene, which is followed by a montage of him saving people. Peter’s hope comes with his ability to make a difference as Spider-Man; he is not satisfied by his life as Peter Parker, so he neglects parts of that life to focus more on Spider-Man. But as Act II progresses, we see less of Spider-Man and more of Peter Parker, implying that he is now looking for his hope in Gwen Stacy and the mystery of his parents, both of which he reaches a satisfying conclusion with by the end of Act II.
· Gwen’s hope is not found in a life with Peter, but rather in starting her own life in Oxford.
· Max’s hope comes from his encounter with Spider-Man. For the first time, he is told he can be somebody, and this hope becomes an obsession to him in the midst of his mundane life. When he falls into the eel tank and develops powers of electricity, he realizes that this is his moment to be what Spider-Man declared him to be. But when he feels in Times Square that his hope was misplaced, he is enraged and takes it out on Spider-Man and the people.
· Harry’s hope is to find a cure for his almost incurable disease. His hope comes through learning about the spider-venom, and the possibility that Spider-Man’s blood can save him. When Spider-Man tells Harry that his hope is misplaced, kind of like what happened with Electro, Harry loses it and snaps, going to extreme measure to achieve his hope. Harry and Electro are united by their common abandonment by Spider-Man, and the hope they have to get what they want without him. Like Max, Harry’s quest for hope is tragic in that he gets what he wants (the spider-venom) and it fails to do what he hoped for, but the power of goblin suit becomes his obsession, like the electrifying abilities become to Max as Electro. This theme of lost hope is what bring Max and Harry together, in the same way abandonment brought Peter and Harry together earlier.
Theme #3: Time
While the other two themes are implied, Marc Webb stated very clearly that Time is the dominant theme throughout the film. And even though it runs throughout Acts I and II, this theme doesn’t come into full effect until Act III, once the abandonment of the characters has been established in Act I and their quest for hope (success or failure) in Act II. Only time will tell how we choose to deal with the various feelings of abandonment and hope that we are faced with in life. This theme brings the film into full circle:
· When Peter gets the voicemail from Gwen, he realizes he is running out of time to declare his love for her. He decides to chase after her and professes his hope for a life with her in London. Gwen has hoped that things would work out with her and Peter, but her voicemail hints that she was not counting on it. But when Peter comes to her, she finds a new hope that she will have time to be with Peter and fulfill her dream at Oxford.
· The final fight with Electro is all hinged on time. Electro taking all the power from the city means that time is of the essence for Spider-Man to defeat him. The planes crashing and the hospital patients both illustrate the urgency and lack of time they have in order to get the power back. Spider-Man doesn’t know it directly, but his actions have great consequence, and it’s when Gwen comes to help him that they are able to save the city from Electro in time.
· Now for the most obvious one; the film purposefully fulfills its climax in a clock tower. This is where the themes come full circle. Harry feels abandoned by Peter/Spider-Man and Oscorp and has lost his hope, but now is destined to make Peter feel just as abandoned and lose his hope. This is such a powerful moment, when we as the audience realize that despite all that’s happened, Harry is still where he was at the beginning: abandoned and hopeless. But although Peter was abandoned and mostly hopeless at the beginning, things have changed for him; he’s resolved the mystery of his parents and he’s found hope in a life with Gwen. Harry truly becomes the villainous Goblin when he decides to take that hope away from Peter, and time is the key to how all this plays out. I think this scene was meant to be really short because it really stresses how time is not on Spider-Man’s side. As he struggles to both battle his friend and save his girlfriend, the clock is ticking, and he cannot avoid what is about to happen. Spider-Man falls short of time all around: he cannot stop the Goblin in time, and he cannot save Gwen from falling in time. With her death, Peter once again feels abandoned, loses his hope, and falls short of time.
· Many people were not a fan of the film’s ending, but I think it best highlighted this theme of time. Literally time passes (the seasons) and Peter is stuck in the same place: Gwen’s grave. Time keeps on moving, but he cannot, he is stuck. And unlike earlier moments in the film, he cannot throw himself into being Spider-Man any more. But as he sees his Aunt May learning to move on from Uncle Ben’s death, and through Gwen’s speech about not losing hope and being greater than what we suffer, Peter realizes that he has to move forward with time, or else he will remain stuck. Peter becomes Spider-Man once again, signifying that time goes on.
I would also argue that there is a 4
th theme, which is Heroism, the idea that anyone can be a hero. We see Spider-Man inspiring people to be heroes throughout the film; from the little boy standing up to Rhino, to the civilians of New York, to his own girlfriend helping save the day at great cost to herself. Even Aunt May is a hero in the hospital. In conclusion, ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ continues to do the Spider-Man mythos proud by relating to our modern world humanity, with all its complexities and tragedies.
So if you choose to pick up TASM2 on Blu-ray and DVD today, look for these themes, and I hope you will be able to enjoy the film on a greater level of appreciation. I know I will.