So here’s a question I was asked recently:
In the vein of questions about media, let’s throw at the Eldrae the 70mm IMAX versions of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe (note, entirely cinematic, nothing from TV) with enough cultural footnotes to understand the context. Assuming all movies are available up to the end of Phase Three, what would the Eldrae opinions be on each of the movies and if they wouldn’t work in the Eldrae market, what sort of revisions/alterations would make them work?
…this may take some time to answer as a whole, ’cause I’m going to have to rewatch the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe to really give it a fair shot, so I guess I’m turning it into a post series. You see the terrible, terrible burdens I’m prepared to undertake for you, gentle readers?
Anyway. Starting with the first – well, with Iron Man, we have a really easy one to do, because there’s very little you would have to do to make this fit perfectly into their extremely popular “Awesome People Being Awesome” genre.
The only things you might want to tweak a little would involve cover minor cultural fluency issues, like explaining to the audience why people disapprove of the size of Tony Stark’s ego, rather than that being somewhere between normal and appropriate; explaining some banter in terms compatible with the local sense of humor; and explaining why anyone might want to cover up the existence/identity/activities of Iron Man in the first place. But those are relatively small deals and optional tweaks: the fundamentals of the movie would work perfectly in the Imperial market.
…like the bit where the protagonist has created a compact, clean power source with astonishing power and energy density, and strong AI, and decides that the best thing to do with it all is to punch people he doesn’t like in the head.
(see also, Reed Richards is Useless, etc)
I can’t imagine that the idea of restricting world- and civilisation-changing technologies because someone might do something naughty with them would go over too well, no?
As we see in his follow-up movies, though, they gradually avert Reed Richards Is Useless.
In the meantime, though, keeping the fruits of your genius to yourself because you’ve just learned first-hand that they’re being stolen and abused by a bunch of vicious asshats is a quite comprehensible motive.
It seems to me that there’s all the difference in the world between withholding world-changing technology that you invented, because the few who have gotten hold of it have demonstrably been asshats about it, and commanding on pain of punishment that no one shall have such things except yourself, even if they were to invent them independently.
The latter, I’d think, is the version that would go over like a concrete kite.
Then you get important questions.Such as, Would Nick Fury get his eye fixed/replaced/regrown or keep the patch because it’s intimidating and badass?
Why not both?
What Jade Nekotenshi said.
Get some nifty bionic eye that can see right through the badass eyepatch, and while you’re at it, stick a laser in there!
(If there’s one thing eldraeic proverbs can teach us, it’s that you can have your cake and eat it too… if you’re smart enough to invent self-copying cake. 🙂 )
You have to be careful with the self copying cake. Get something wrong and there’ll be enough cake for everyone
The Porta-Nano-Bakery:
Have your cake and eat it too —
But read the manual carefully,
*Or your cake will be eating you!**
Applause!
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