I think I need help "getting" Birdman

[Evonisia]

And by "getting" Birdman I mean what its opinion on super hero films is. I really like how it's main three actors have played in superhero films old and new (and in between in Edward Norton's case) and how they kinda flip how the characters act when compared to their super hero film roles.
What I don't get is that Riggan seems to hate super heroes (both the titular character and The Avengers in particular are ridiculed on more than one occasion), yet he seems to need the Birdman to help him defeat that critic lady who despises super hero films through surpassing the genre of super hero films. Then there's the Spider-Man references and the Transformers references which I don't quite get (Superhero films are just as pointless as the Transformers films?).

I love the film and think it's quite smart, but it is confusing to me, and I've probably attempted to sour it for no reason other than confusion.

 

[KissingSunlight]

OK, I have only seen it once. I will see it again when it comes out on video. Riggan is resentful that his biggest claim to fame is Birdman. As a result, he takes it out on other superhero/blockbuster movies like Avengers and Transformers. What's make it worth re-watching is that the play he is putting on is echoing what's going on with his life. At one point, he admits that he has a feeling that is what's going on.

Overall, I think the movie is a meta-commentary about art and commerce. How the things you are not the most proud of, like being in a blockbuster movie, is what most people know you by. Without it, you would not be enjoying a successful career that you have.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Overall, I think the movie is a meta-commentary about art and commerce. How the things you are not the most proud of, like being in a blockbuster movie, is what most people know you by. Without it, you would not be enjoying a successful career that you have.

It gets really super meta when you consider that Val Kilmer [EDIT- It's Michael Keaton who did the good batman movies, not Val Kilmer who did the terrible one.] - the actor who plays Riggan - Has personally never really been able to get away from his most famous role as Batman back in the early 90s.

 

[Redryhno]

Yeah, when I think of Val Kilmer I think of The Saint, Heat, Top Gun, Prince of Egypt, Red Planet, Ghost and the Darkness, At First Sight, Tombstone, and The Doors before I even get to Batman Forever...

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I believe Birdman thinks fondly (though not very highly) of superhero movies. Riggan is torn between giving people what they want vs. giving them what he wants. Everybody associates him with this one character he's grown to hate. People on the street call him by that name. Interviewers go wild at the idea of Birdman IV. And he's literally haunted by the character, who keeps pestering him about "Giving people what they want" (you know that sequence where all hell breaks loose and there're explosions and a giant bird and lots of CGi, etc?). Whereas all Riggan wants to do is regain self-respect by taking this short story and adapting it into this little play that ties to his origins as an actor and carries a lot of intimate, personal meaning to him. While superhero movies are fun and superficially entertaining, they have a negative (well, bittersweet) impact on the artistic spirit of their performers, who are loved rather than admired. Isn't that what Riggan's ex wife tells him in the dressing room? "Your problem's always been you confused love with admiration".

Yeah, when I think of Val Kilmer I think of The Saint, Heat, Top Gun, Prince of Egypt, Red Planet, Ghost and the Darkness, At First Sight, Tombstone, and The Doors before I even get to Batman Forever...

Yeah, but it was Batman Forever that ended his career, give or take a movie or two.

 

[Redryhno]

Yeah, but it was Batman Forever that ended his career, give or take a movie or two.

If you say so, I thought he just sorta disappeared because he was a pain in the ass to deal with some of the time, even for method acting standards.

 

[Varitel]

Riggan was played by Michael Keaton, who ALSO played Batman in the 90s (too many Batmans for one decade). Either way, the point is the same, SUPER meta.

 

[Gennadios]

... yet he seems to need the Birdman to help him defeat that critic lady who despises super hero films through surpassing the genre of super hero films..

I didn't see a theme anywhere resembling that part.

The critic lady doesn't care about superhero films, she just thinks theater should be for classically trained actors, she doesn' like Riggan because he's a washed up megastar trying to break into a venue he doesn't "deserve."

Birdman doesn't really help Riggan defeat her, either. He just acts as a symbol of Riggan losing grip on reality. He "defeats" critic lady because

Spoiler

he is so far gone by the review showing that she felt his passion (insanity) made up for his poor acting

That's just my entirely superficial reading of the movie. If I wanted to read into subtexts... something, something, Heath Ledger, something, something, Joker, something, something canonized.

 

[Evonisia]

Snip.

Well that makes sense. Like I said that portion of the film did throw a wrench into my thought process. It was probably a result of that Avengers echoing madness scene brought on by Birdman that confused me, because he suddenly lets the madness drive him after that as opposed to just looking mad with his improv like in the final preview.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Riggan was played by Michael Keaton, who ALSO played Batman in the 90s (too many Batmans for one decade). Either way, the point is the same, SUPER meta.

Whoops, I mixed up Val Kilmer and Michael Keaton. My bad.