Kevin Smith's 'Internalizing' Complaint

[Frontier]

I don't remember where or when, but I distinctly recall director/sometimes actor Kevin Smith's primary lament of Superhero films, in spite of how much he enjoys them, being that any other medium outside of the comic itself, denies one of the key critical abilities of said medium to be translated. Which is the characters internalization, I think is how he put it.

That is to say, the 'thought bubbles' that allow us to see and hear (read) the inner thoughts of a given character. Mostly the hero, but also occasionally the villain or other support characters. To know what they feel and why they make decisions as they do, to see their struggle.

So my question is... why doesn't any director ever try to do this in their film?

Movies may not have text 'thought bubbles' but they do occasionally have... voice overs.

Which could adapt to serve the same basic purpose.

I imagine it would be distracting to constantly hear the thoughts of the characters throughout the film, which is why it's likely not been done, but surely they could try it once with a good balance. Perhaps only doing such on a handful of occasions when it really serves a purpose rather than through the whole film.

Some films are actually made better for such. "The Shawshank Redemption" for prime example, was more or less narrated by Morgan Freeman. Without such I imagine the movie wouldn't be as good. (I'm aware it didn't do well at the box-office, but it's become a cult classic since)

 

[geeknerddork]

The Spider-Man movies start off with narrated introductions, that's as close as I can think of.

I think the main reason it's probably not done is because it's not something that lends itself to film. Screenwriting 101 is "show don't tell", having the character constantly telling you what's going on in their heads could be a crutch, as opposed to showing it through their actions/interactions/reactions. It's something that really just works better in the printed medium, and in film could be jarring if it's used frivolously.

I think we may see it in Deadpool though. Reportedly the script has Deadpool breaking the 4th wall, which is something he's known for. In the comics Deadpool is always talking to himself and the reader, and thinking very funny thoughts during serious situations, so it would be cool to translate that to film. He's the only character that comes to mind where this type of thing could work well, because it's intrinsic to the character, breaks the 4th wall, and is in a comedic context. Sort of like Last Action Hero, haha.

 

[Ponyboy]

Sin City (although not a superhero movie) was a great example of comic characters "internalizing" and proving that it can work on film.

 

[geeknerddork]

Sin City (although not a superhero movie) was a great example of comic characters "internalizing" and proving that it can work on film.

I think it can obviously work in film, but I don't think you can just put it ANY film. Sin City's style lent itself to that kind of thing. It's very film noir influenced, and narration and flashbacks are common devices used throughout that genre. However, if you had it in say Iron Man, I think it would just be out of place.