THE TALK

THE TALK

As I arrived home from work tonight and placed my keys, my personal phone, my work phone, and my wallet on my nightstand like I do every night, my 9-year old son walked into the room and asked me a very embarrassing question.  It wasn't one I was very prepared for nor was it one I expected from a 9-year old that just started the 4th grade.

So there we were...and it was time to have THE TALK.  When is an appropriate age to have THE TALK, you ask?  Well, apparently in this instance it was at 9.  I mean he had already been exposed to it through movies and on television, so I would rather put it in my own words so he could hear it directly from his father.  Undoubtedly he had heard things about it at school from his friends and that is why I was having to "deal" with it on this particular day.

"Dad, is the guy who played the Human Torch the same guy that played Captain America?"

At first I didn't know what to say as it is such a delicate subject, so I counted to ten and took two deep breaths and responded with: sometimes when a movie studio and an actor love an idea so much they create a movie about a famous comic book character or characters that doesn't live up to expectation.  So instead of keeping that actor in the role, they put him in ANOTHER comic book movie based in the same character universe and then act like that other movie didn't exist.

Yes Son, Chris Evans is both Johnny Storm aka the Human Torch AND Steve Rogers aka Captain America.

I guess with CGI this could have still happened?

But then there is a whole other problem with this scenario...how do I go on to explain how the same person is both Daredevil AND Batman?  Or that Christopher Reeve, Dean Cain, Tom Wellman, Brandon Routh, and now Henry Cavill are ALL Superman.  And Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer (ha!), George Clooney, Christian Bale, and now Ben Affleck are indeed all the SAME character.  Maybe Jack Nicholson will make his 2nd appearance as the Joker now that Heath Ledger is unable to reprise his amazing role.

I'm just glad that he hasn't seen Blade: Trinity or Wolverine: Origins (due to the violence) and Green Lantern (due to the violence against our collective eyes).  How would one possibly explain how Ryan Reynolds could be three different superheroes at the same time? Wait does van Wilder count as a hero?

I think with the knowledge he gained tonight he is prepared to figure out all the disparities in the various Spider-Man movies and future renditions to come.  Good luck on that son!

Just remember that it is a very touchy subject and it should come up at some point with your own son or daughter.  Be patient with them, use words they can understand, and most importantly be prepared to face some tough realities about comic book movies in general.