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Coasian movie reviews
I bet that if the Sandman and Spiderman could have just gotten away from their positional stances (“I need to take money” and “I need to catch crooks” respectively), to their underlying interests (“I need to help my little girl” and “Dude, I’m all about helping the people”), they could have found some common ground. There was opportunity there, and it could have saved a lot of expensive plate glass and I-beams and cars being thrown about.
I do think the Sandman didn’t open his mind to lot of options that became available to him when he got particle-ized. I understand that you do what you know, and he had conceptualized himself as a thief and a fugitive. Maybe those were his most lucrative options when he was a man, but as Sandman, I don’t think he had to be an outlaw to make a ton of money. Considering his strength and versatility, I bet any construction firm would have hired him in a flash.
Here is more. Here is my earlier post, The Macroeconomics of Superman.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on May 19, 2007 at 12:15 AM in Film | Permalink
Comments
The main problem with being a super-hero or super-villain is constant threat that THE GOVERNMENT will lock you away and experiment on you. There's never an option for the heroes or villains to pursue an open career using their special powers because doing so would alert the authorities to their existence.
Plus, super-powers are feared by the general populace.
Posted by: Xmas at May 19, 2007 10:56:20 AM
I have to agree with Megan's premise, though: those two didn't really need to duke it out. Same problem with the combination of Sandman and Venom. I mean, why do those two work together? How does this get Sandman's daughter her medicine again? Alternative dispute resolution, indeed.
Posted by: hamilton at May 19, 2007 12:18:22 PM
Regarding the macroeconomics of Superman...
Do you really think that persuading people to accept lower nominal wages is a better use of Superman's time than fighting crime? Are too-high nominal wages one of our country's biggest economic problems?
This is just another example of the Cowen Philosophy: "Lower wages are always better."
Posted by: Mr. Noah at May 19, 2007 12:57:52 PM
He said 'nominal' not 'real wages', and I think for a reason. Many a recession starts with nominal values
being out of sync with optimal real values.
Posted by: JSK at May 19, 2007 2:44:50 PM
If they were economists there would be no movie.
Anyway, Spiderman became an heroe because the unforseen consecuences of a choice.
Posted by: Mja at May 19, 2007 3:41:46 PM
Bizarrely enough, much the same stream of reasoning came through in the comic book plots. He realises he's just been a supersriminal because he was always a criminal, and ends up becoming an employee of a private security firm.
Posted by: Novo mestro at May 19, 2007 8:58:06 PM
You have of course read Cory Doctorow's "The Superman and the Bugout"?
Posted by: Harald Korneliussen at May 21, 2007 7:52:09 AM
How about the obvious answer ... he was a FUGITIVE. Seriously, am I the only one that WATCHED the movie?
Posted by: Rob Stevens at May 22, 2007 3:39:40 PM
Okay, here's another look.
- He's a fugitive. Legal stuff will be involved.
- He's capable of doing incredible community service, which is far more helpful to society than sticking him in a cell. I smell an alternative sentence.
- He's an attention magnet. Media coverage and public sympathy will be a big influence if he turns himself in, blubbering about the crimes he committed to save his dying daughter.
The best thing Sandman could do is go public. Some bigshot lawyer will smell the publicity and see dollar signs. Sandman will get a reduced sentence, specifically in community service, and the media coverage will result in his daughter being saved, either by donations or by public cries of sympathy forcing someone's hand.
In essence, The sandman will save his daughter like he wants, and serve his time by becoming a public spectacle working for the city in a life of community service. Within a year he'll be some TV station's sweetheart, and he'll live comfortably off of book deals and royalties.
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Posted by: 謝文豪 at Apr 2, 2008 8:15:09 PM
