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CRESCENDOS OF THE CAPED CRUSADERS: AN EVOLUTIONARY STUDY OF FROM DC COMICS’ SUPERHEROES

Anna J. DeGalan

A Thesis

Submitted to College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

December 2020

Committee:

Jeffrey Brown, Advisor

Esther Clinton

Jeremy Wallach

© 2020

Anna DeGalan

All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT

Jeffrey Brown, Advisor

With the transition from comics to television shows, and later onto the big screen, superheroes gained their own theme songs and soundtracks that captured the of the for years to come. From catchy musical themes, from the old television shows, to the masterfully scored blasting from the speakers of movie theaters all over the world, it was superheroes’ uniquely composed soundtracks (in conjunction with SFX, acting cues, and conventions of films) that further crafted the iconography that made each character into the superhero being portrayed on-screen.

While much of the focus of past textual analysis of films within the superhero genre has focused on characterizations of heroes, visual iconography, and the logistics of filming or framing a scene, academia has vastly overlooked the necessity of a film’s , not only as a basic tool and genre locator, but as a means to further understand how a cultural of the material is being reflected by the very musical choices presented on a score.

While there has been an influx of research focusing on how a culture perceives its heroes – in this case superheroes – during times of great change within a society (either politically, socially, economically, or culturally; for example, the terrorist attack on American soil on 9/11/2001), I have found there to be a lack of research involving how the musical themes of superheroes reflect our cultural views and feelings at a specific point in time. This phenomenon is in need of further research because there is a need to understand how a culture’s perception of this change can be reflected in musical themes found in a film’s musical score. iv The following thesis is an investigation of the soundtracks belonging to superhero films and television shows in order to examine the cultural shifts in the perception of superheroes in

America. I will observe this musical phenomenon in relation to major historical events, by way of using a post-9/11 lens, textual analysis of the music scores, and various camera angles and acting cues that are choreographed to the music found in the original soundtracks. This thesis is a case study examining this methodology, showing a dramatic cultural perceptual change reflected in the scoring of musical themes and songs via a thorough examination of the evolution of superhero soundtrack music within the realms of DC Comics’ , , and Wonder

Woman characters. v

To Kristin.

Thank you for helping me every step of the way.

And reminding me take a deep breath and to keep moving forward.

Forever and always. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My sincerest thanks to my committee for their continued support and encouragement: Dr.

Jeffrey Brown, my advisor and committee chair; Dr. Esther Clinton; and Dr. Jeremy Wallach.

Their guidance and patience during these uncertain times was much needed and greatly appreciated. Likewise, through their research and combined instructive efforts, my love for music and superheroes was able to be combined into a thesis I could be proud of – and a research field to pursue in my future academic endeavors. An additional thanks is needed for

Rebekah Patterson, who helped guide us all and kept everything running smoothing.

Thank you to my fellow cohort members and classmates, who pushed me to complete my degree and pursue the research in the field that I love, with the hope that I could one day pass on my knowledge and passion to the next generation. Specifically, my appreciation and respect lie with my unofficial mentors, Leda Hayes and Courtney Bliss. Their kindness, camaraderie, guidance, and advice helped me in more ways than they will ever know.

My gratitude also lies with my family and friends, who offered their support and comforting words from near and far. Without such a strong support system, none of this would have been possible.

Finally, I cannot express enough gratefulness to Kristin Vadnais who helped make sense of my jumbled words and excited rambles, that were the backbone of this thesis. Your unwavering loyalty, love, and patience is why this thesis made it out of the editing phase. Thank you for everything. vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

INTRODUCTION ...... 1

Welcome to the Silver-Screen: Superheroes from Comics to Modern Films ...... 1

Historical and Cultural Events and Their Impact on the Superhero Genre ...... 3

Shaping a Hero: The Cultural Impact of 9/11 ...... 6

The of Supers ...... 9

Terminology and Logistical Listening Guide ...... 12

Why Study Soundtracks? ...... 13

CHAPTER I. SOUNDTRACKS AND MUISCAL SEMIOTICS ...... 15

Brief History of Classical Music...... 15

Musical Semiotics ...... 18

Diegetic and Sound Design ...... 20

Musical Semiotics as Metaphor ...... 24

From Wagner to Leitmotifs ...... 37

CHAPTER II. SOUNDS OF SUPERMAN: AMERICANIZATION, PATRIOTISM, AND

THE RISE OF SUPERMAN ...... 45

Wagner to Williams ...... 45

A Hero in the Making: ’ Superman ...... 52

Making Music Memorable: Marches to Love Themes in Superman: The Movie ...... 61

Entering a New Era: ’ Man of , , and Danny

Elfman’s ...... 67 viii

CHAPTER III. BECOMING THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD: THE MULTIPLICITY OF

BATMAN’S IDENTITY AND MUSICAL THEMES THROUGHOUT THE AGES ...... 85

Batman Begins: The Origins of the Caped ...... 85

The Man Behind the Mask: The Duality of and Batman ...... 89

Batman and Multiplicity: Camp, Reverence, and Revenge ...... 94

Return to the Knight: ’s Batman ...... 107

A New Take on the Dark Knight: Hans Zimmer’s Batman ...... 112

A Different Kind of Hero: Batman v Superman and the Justice League ...... 126

CHAPTER IV. GENDER, FEMINISM, AND HEROINES: IDENTITY POLITICS AND

MUSICAL MEANING WITH ...... 130

The Wonder Behind the Woman ...... 130

From Comics and Carter to : Wonder Woman Through the Years...... 134

Wonder Woman as a : Gender and Feminism as an Action Heroine ...... 156

Exoticism and Identity Politics ...... 173

CONCLUSION ...... 183

The Limits of this Thesis ...... 183

Further Research ...... 185

Epilogue ...... 188

BIBIOGRAPHY ...... 191

APPENDIX A. MUSIC SCROES AND TRANSCRIPTIONS ...... 212

APPENDIX B. OTHER IMAGES ...... 242 ix

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

1.1 Synchronization equation...... 24

1.2 Saussurean semiotic textual analysis ...... 25

1.3 Barthes’s model of connotation ...... 27

1.4 Nattiez’s six analytical situations...... 34

2.2 transcription of the theme from ...... 48

2.4 Scale degree chart in the signature of C Major ...... 55

2.5 The ‘rainbow’ in Wagner’s Der des Nibelungen ...... 57

4.2 Piano transcription for the Wonder Woman theme, “Is She With You?” ...... 147

4.9 Quarter tone scale ...... 178 1

INTRODUCTION

“When the mob and the press and the whole world tells you to move, your job is to plant yourself

like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world: ‘No. You move.”

in Amazing Spider-Man #537 by J. Michael Stracynski, Ron Garney, Bill

Reinhold, Matt Milla, and Cory Petit, 2007.

Welcome to the Silver-Screen: Superheroes from Comics to Modern Films

What makes a hero super? Is it their daring feats, or their otherworldly ? Perhaps it’s their cheeky one-liners that are sure to follow the notorious villain’s monologue? Or maybe it’s the tight fitted star-spangled outfits worn to show off more muscles than any one man could ever hope to achieve? While the concept of a hero in American culture is a common theme in popular culture over the last century (e.g. depictions of gunslingers of the Wild West or similar adventurous heroes), the term ‘superhero’ came into usage barely 80 years ago.1

The birth of the superhero genre can be credited to National Comics (later to become DC

Comics), after they published an adventure comic about the life and adventures of Superman.

This hero was the creation of two Jewish teenagers living in Cleveland, at the onset of World War II.2 Young readers of adventure comics were drawn to the vibrant colored that depicted a strong man lifting a car over his head. , credited with the creation of several superheroes, including Spider-Man, the , , and X-Men (as well as an integral force in Marvel’s Silver Age of comics)3, commented on the expansion of a rapidly developing genre, as new superheroes began appearing in other comic books. “After Superman,

1 Benton, Mike. of the Golden Age: The Illustrated History, Taylor History of Comics, Vol 4 (Book 4), Taylor Pub, 1992. 2 Lee, “Heroes Welcome.” Rise of the Superhero, 6. 3 “Stan Lee.” Comics | Marvel.com, 2019, www.marvel.com/comics/discover/546/stan-lee. 2 it was as though the dam had been broken. Suddenly (later to become Marvel) introduced the , a hero created by Carl Burgos, who could burst into flame and .

They also brought forth the Sub-Mariner, of , by Bill Everett. He could breathe underwater; was superstrong, and had the power of flight.”4

With the introduction of these new awe-inspiring heroes, printed onto the captivating pages of the affordable 10¢ comic book, young boys rushed to pick their own copies of the brightly colored stories. They featured a new genre involving characters that showed feats of inhuman strength, their new favorite heroes escaping the many dangers of their professions, and winning the hearts of their beautiful love interests. And thus, from the of two young

Jewish teenagers in Cleveland, the superhero was born and the genre was thriving.

Entering the digital age, superheroes became a new version of an American hero in popular culture that was depicted both in television serials that spanned throughout the decades, and splashed across the silver-screen. While there has been an academic focus on the comics, films, and television shows themselves within the superhero genre, there has been little research done in the fields of film studies and popular culture in terms of looking at the musical ties between the films and television soundtracks, as well as the use of music over time; accounting for cultural events that shaped the view of superheroes, as well as changes of musical taste. Just as filming techniques and iconography provide contextual knowledge for superhero lore and creating a successful tale, it is important to study the original soundtracks5 as a narrative tool in superhero films. The music written for these heroes acts as an audio cue of the reflection of the cultural ideals of the time that are associated with what makes a character or person a hero (e.g.

4 Lee. “Heroes Welcome.” Rise of the Superhero, 6. 5 Original soundtracks are also referred to as the acronym OST. 3 in times of patriotic strife, any musical theme with loud and boisterous low brass instruments will act as a social cue for a audience to recognize that the character seen on screen is the protagonist with heroic tendencies). This musical phenomena can best be heard in the changes (in terms of the musical scores that were written, the use of in their theme songs, as well as which were chosen to write the OSTs) of the musical themes, instrumentation, techniques, and scoring that can be heard in the soundtracks over the last four decades, for the films and television shows specifically examining three of DC Comics’ most famous superheroes of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.

Historical and Cultural Events and Their Impact on the Superhero Genre

Just as musical styles and tastes changed over time as each new artist wanted to reflect on what was happening in the world around them (e.g. Beethoven’s Symphony No 3 in E Flat Major entitled “Eroica” in April of 1805, dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte – a feat that Beethoven would later come to regret. For a more modern example: “We Didn’t Start the ” by Billy Joel in 1989, alluding to the headlines in 1949 [Billy Joel birth year] and 1989 [the release date of the song], the superhero genre itself adapted to the historical and cultural events that shaped the nation. The superhero genre was born in 1938, with the rise of Superman. The original superhero, later to take on the name of Man of Steel, created by and would soon be written in plots that actively fought against Nazi and the party’s atrocities, especially against the Jewish people and community, once America joined World War

II. As the war in Europe grew in conflict, Superman’s story arch switched from tales of stopping bank robberies to having a strong propaganda alliance with the Allied forces.6 With the rise of

World War II came the sudden influx of other star-spangled superheroes, the best known and

6 Brown, The Modern Superhero in Film and Television, 65. 4 successful of which being and ’s -slinging Captain America.7 Having been published one month before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Nazi punching super-soldier was the result of the patriotic response felt in America, as well as the creators pushing American involvement (political as well as military) in the war.8

With the came the Civil Rights Era, the JFK assassination, Beatlemania, and the

Vietnam War, and with these world-altering events, comics’ storylines changed to reflect the new world, and brought a boom of new superheroes that splashed across the pages of comic books around the nation. Craig Shutt, author of the article, “Blinded By Science: Revived

Character Concepts, along with Science-Based Origin Stories – Which Included a Lot of

Radiation – Caused Superheroes to into a Prominence That Is Still Felt,” commented on the merging of superhero plotlines with the events of the day in the following excerpt:

Editors continued to tap into pop culture events to maintain readers’ interest. Superman

editor leveraged the youth and optimism of President John F. Kennedy to

excite his young audience. The Man of Steel entrusted his to JFK, which

came in handy in #309 (February 1964) when Superman needed him to

impersonate (really). Sadly, the issue arrived just after Kennedy was

assassinated. That tragic event changed a story being created in collaboration with the

White House to promote kids’ physical fitness. Superman #170 (July 1964) became a

tribute to JFK’s plan.9

Along with the JFK assassination, the superhero genre was heavily influenced by the

British Invasion of musical groups, the most famous of these being the comic book’s

7 Lee, “Heroes Welcome.” Rise of the Superhero, 6. 8 Brown, The Modern Superhero in Film and Television, 65. 9 Shutt, “Blinded By Science.” Rise of the Superhero, 41. 5 incorporation of teen rock band sensation, the Beatles. In 1964, Beatlemania was introduced into story arcs involving scenarios such as time-traveling to become “The Red-Headed

Beatle of 1000 B.C.!,” as well as the ’s Human Torch and Thing meeting the

Beatles.10 The Teen also hopped onto the bandwagon of Beatlemania by having Kid introduce a letter-column controversy that claimed the team of young superheroes was more popular than the “mop tops.” Even and were changed to reflect the times with the Dark Knight and Boy Wonder duo solving a mystery of whether a member of the famous quartet, Paul McCartney, had died and been replaced without alerting the public.11

The playboy billionaire philanthropist Tony Stark (and his superhero identity, ) were introduced in the in March of 1963 in the middle of the . In the original comics, Tony Stark was wounded by a landmine in Vietnam, and with the help of fellow prisoner of war, Professor Ho Yinsen, Tony created the Iron Man suit to escape and rescue locals from a tyrannical warlord.12 With a suit of armor of his own making, and military weaponry to his name, Iron Man was a of military might and a prime example of what a technologically advanced soldier could look like in the not-so-far future. The tale of Iron Man has always been adapted to reflect the current events of the time, with his having changed from starting in Vietnam, to the Persian Gulf, and later to Afghanistan (the place of origin for Iron Man’s famous Marvel Cinematic Universe13 debut).14

Continuing this rising trend of new superheroes appearing in times of political or social strife was the introduction of Stan Lee’s X-Men whose stories took place in history during the

Civil Rights movement. This new group of heroes caught the reader’s attention because these

10 Ibid. 11 Ibid. 12 Shutt, Craig. “Iron Man Meets the Stark Reality.” Rise of the Superhero, 42. 13 The Marvel Cinematic Universe is also referred to as the acronym MCU. 14 Shutt, “Iron Man Meets the Stark Reality.” Rise of the Superhero, 42. 6 unique and fantastical characters themselves were made to grab attention. The X-Men were , people varying in size, shape, color, and abilities whose very chromosomal makeup evolved them well beyond other humans found within their society.15 This was not unlike the civil unrest that was happening in reality, where civil rights activists were protesting against discrimination based on race and skin color. In a time where being different was seen as the makings of an outcast, X-Men allowed for minority comic book readers (in terms of race, sexuality, and gender) to associate personally with these heroes that went through the same struggles of identity every day.16

Nearly four decades later, the X-Men would make a resurgence of popularity in 2000 as the movie, X-Men (, 2000), marked the sudden influx of new superhero films that would come to dominate Hollywood in the years following the terrorist attacks on September 11,

2001.17 Entering the modern era of superhero-inspired films at the start of the 21st Century, people in the were experiencing nationwide feelings of grief, anger, terror, and shock from the unexpected and horrific events of 9/11.

Shaping a Hero: The Cultural Impact of 9/11

On a clear cool morning of September 11, 2001 in Manhattan, New York, the local news crews and cell phones of nearby citizens recorded of the collapsing twin towers that contained the World Trade Center.18 This heinous act of terrorism was due to hijacking of two commercial airliners (from American Airlines and United Airlines) by members of the extremist group Al-Qaeda. The tragic events from that day were estimated to have killed 2,977 victims and

15 Pearlman, “Civil Unrest” Rise of the Superhero, 55. 16 Ibid. 17 Brown, The Modern Superhero in Film and Television, 63. 18 The World Trade Center is also referred to with the acronym WTC. 7

19 hijackers, with 4763 missing19 and 6,000 injured.20 Thirty minutes after both towers of the

WTC were destroyed, two more planes were hijacked, one an American Airlines Boeing 757 that hit the western side of the Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Department of Defense in

Washington, DC. The second was a United Airlines Boeing 757 that crashed into a field in

Somerset County, Pennsylvania during a hijacking attempt that was thwarted by its passengers, killing all 44 passengers (including the 4 hijackers).21

The events on September 11, 2001 were a direct and ruthless assault on the financial and military headquarters in the United States, a strategic strike on American soil unprecedented in modern-day history (only likened to that of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941).22

The horror of this massacre and the scale of the destruction, as well as its aftermath in warfare in

Afghanistan and Iraq, have made 9/11 a moment of world-historical significance.23 This monumental moment of history was streamed on every major news channel, images of the horrors of that day flashing across the screens of televisions in the American household for days on end. As Slavoj Žižek, author of Welcome to the Desert of the Real: Five Essays on September

11 and Related, describes in the following passage, people’s very reality seemed to be shattered seeing events that should have only been found in fictional tales, now on live TV:

We should therefore invert the standard reading according to which the WTC explosions

were the intrusion of the Real which shattered our illusory Sphere: quite the reverse – it

was before the WTC collapse that we lived in our reality, perceiving Third World horrors

as something which existed (for us [Americans]) as a spectral apparition on the (TV)

screen – and what happened on September 11 was that this fantasmatic screen apparition

19 Wijadi, “The WTC Tragedy and the US Attack on Afghanistan.” Media, War and Terrorism Responses from the Middle East and Asia, 155. 20 “Casualties of the September 11 Attacks.” In Wikipedia, July 28, 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Casualties_of_the_September_11_attacks&oldid=970033002. 21 Wijadi, “The WTC Tragedy and the US Attack on Afghanistan.” Media, War and Terrorism Responses from the Middle East and Asia, 155. 22 Veer, “Introduction.” Media, War and Terrorism Responses from the Middle East and Asia, 1. 23 Ibid. 8

entered our reality. It is not that reality entered our image: the image entered and

shattered our reality (i.e. the symbolic coordinates which determine what we

as reality).24

The United States needed a symbol of hope and righteous justice in response to the events on 9/11 that shook the nation to its core, and superhero films offered the kind of comfort, , and satisfaction so desperately needed. Thus, audiences watched these caped heroes fight against the and defend the American people from threats both from outside and within our own borders. Brown explains Hollywood’s reinvigorated interest in producing a sudden increase of superhero films: “It is no coincidence that the genre of superheroes was initially created in the comic books during the onset of World War II and reinvigorated on screen in the years after 9/11”.25

Following Žižek’s view of the media fantasy intrudes on reality with the attacks on the

WTC, Brown’s on the increasing superhero genre is directly tied to the events of 9/11.

Furthermore, Brown explains that these events not only shaped Western history and culture, but also changed how the American people viewed their nation’s heroes – we no longer laughed or scoffed at the idea of a superhero saving the day. Instead, many Westerners embraced it. The

American people needed a new cultural hero to lead the nation in a time of grief and political strife in the aftermath of 9/11. As a result, Hollywood was all too eager to provide their audiences with the action-packed stories of superheroes. These superhero films mirrored the events from that fateful day, in an attempt to rationalize the ‘real’ horrific events within a fictional setting that had heroes with inhuman abilities to save the day. Thus, Hollywood produced a multitude of films featuring characters in bright costumes and amazing other-worldly

24 Žižek, Welcome to the Desert of the Real, 16. 25 Brown, The Modern Superhero in Film and Television, 65. 9

powers to thematically address the nation’s fears with a comic book-inspired answer: the

superhero. This thesis also examines this cultural shift post-9/11, with a heavy focus on cultural

heroes also finds a prominent change in cultural values from political unity to one of divergence

and division, something that is also manifested in this new wave of superhero films – only

changing with the addition of superhero teams such as Marvels’ (2012) and DC

Comics’ Justice League (2017).

Directors and editors used a post-9/11 lens to effectively change audiences’ views on

superheroes, from their more entertaining beginnings, to a serious contender and force of justice.

Thus, with the incorporation of filming techniques (such as focused lighting, directing, editing,

climatic narrative writing, and melodramatic use of original soundtrack music), the superhero

genre returned to the silver screen to thunderous applause. It is this new love for superheroes that

can be heard in the OSTs and musical themes that are associated with superheroes pre- and post-

9/11.

The Sounds of Supers

This thesis is divided into four main chapters, each covering a different topic that will be

explored further in the following pages. The ensuing chapters will delve into the creation of

soundtracks, the music, and how music is applied on screen as a narrative tool to

explain this new form of characterization of superheroes (as a cultural hero). Likewise, this thesis

will look at other cultural myths using a post 9/11 lens by examining the evolution of DC

Comics’ superheroes musical themes of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. The first

chapter will focus on an analysis of the intricacies of musical semiotics and how we, as an

audience, associate certain emotions and thoughts with a scene or character due to the use of

musical techniques such as pitch, tone, instrumental technique, and key changes. The first 10 chapter will end by describing Wagner’s use of the leitmotif (main musical theme) and how this influenced subsequent , including the works of John Williams and his

Superman theme.

The second chapter will provide an in-depth analysis of the evolution of the soundtracks for Superman. This will include a musical analysis of the following songs associated with the

Man of Steel: “Superman Theme” from Ruby-Spears’ Superman (1978), “Flight” from Man of

Steel (2013), and “The Final Battle” from Justice League (which hints at Superman Returns

[2006]) (2018). This chapter will specifically look at how the same music note intervals and chord progressions can be found in the newer musical themes (Hans Zimmer) as a nod to/gesture to the 1978 Superman theme song (John Williams). Since Superman is seen as an American hero both on screen and from the pages of a comic book, we can look to see how the new Superman movies are scored and how the music is written to make Superman sound heroic while also creating a more nostalgic tone through its scoring, as can be expected for a film released after

September 11, 2001. This chapter will focus on how Superman’s leitmotif has changed over the years to reflect the tone of the country in a time of finding solace and reassurance with cultural icons and heroes.

The third chapter will focus on the evolution of soundtrack music for Batman. This includes an analysis with the following songs associated with the Dark Knight: “” from Batman TV Series (1966), “Batman Theme” from Batman (1989), “Rise – A Dark Knight” from The Dark Knight (2008), and Justice League’s (2017) “The Final Battle” (which hints at

1989’s Batman). This chapter will specifically look at how the modern films focused on Bruce

Wayne as a central character with a complicated and layered personality. For example, 1989’s

Batman uses robust heavy low brass instrumentation to portray the Dark Knight. While in the 11 newer films, added scrutiny to the character of Bruce Wayne has turned these heavy low brass themes into musical phrasing depicting morose and bittersweet iconography. This is done by means of using string instruments in a higher register to reflect the added focus on Bruce

Wayne’s troubled past, through a post-9/11 lens. This chapter will also address how Justice

League (2017) used the same musical themes from the 1989 Batman film during action scenes, and how this is a narrative instrumental employed by the musical score (Danny

Elfman) to create a feeling of nostalgia (establishing a sense of displaced meaning) for the older portrayal of the Dark Knight in cinematic history.

The fourth, and final main chapter, will focus on the evolution of soundtrack music for

Wonder Woman. This includes an analysis of the following songs from various soundtracks associated with the Amazonian warrior: Wonder Woman’s Season One Opening Credits theme song (1976), Wonder Woman’s (2017) “No Man’s Land,” “Amazons of Themyscira,” “Trafalgar

Celebration,” and “Is She With You?” from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). Patty

Jenkins’ Wonder Woman (2017) has not only brought the character to life on the big screen, but also affected the genre of superhero films by changing the genre’s tone to be considered as a serious . This change of genre can be found in the scoring of Wonder Woman (2017), in which the soundtrack is scored in terms of musical phrasing and instrumentation, reminiscent of the war movie genre, as can be heard in the “No Man’s Land” scene and in “Trafalgar

Celebration” from the 2017’s Wonder Woman film. The fourth chapter will also examine the use of instrumentation (such as the use of electric cello) and special string techniques (glissando) used throughout Wonder Woman (2017) and how they affect the music’s tuning, thus replicating musical modes in Israeli music to confirm the main actress’ ethnicity, while also alluding to the 12 fabricated Amazonian people as coded as the “exotic Other” from the viewpoint of Western audiences.

Terminology and Logistical Listening Guide

Since this thesis will rely on the use of musical terminology for a proper musical analysis of each score, or musical theme, all musical terms are described within the text for context. Other musical terminology definitions, descriptions, or examples not found in the body of the text can be found in the footnotes, located at the bottom of the page that will provide further detail pertaining to the terminology.

Throughout this thesis, musical examples will be provided in the following three formats: partial excerpts from musical scores, transcribed reductions (often reduced from a full score to only one or two phrases/musical staves), and files. The musical examples provided for this thesis are reductions of the original orchestral scores. Thus, the excerpts of the scores with simple textures (moving lines and notation) are transcribed with only one or two staves.26 In some cases, scores with more complex musical notation will be showcased with a written emphasis on observing one instrumental line in conjunction with the other parts.27 Further still, some of the more complex scores are transcribed with a single staff of melody and a staff above with the corresponding notes for analysis so as to maintain focus on the melodic ideas.28

Please note that some examples have been re-notated in a meter different from what the original score denotes, to better clarify the length of the basic thematic idea (e.g., one bar of the

“original” composed phrase being broken into two “perceived” bars of music, which is

26 Staves, or staff, refer to the horizontal lines (generally five in total in a tonal transcription) that notes are placed to perceived assigned tonal quality. 27 Richards, “The Use of Variation in John Williams's Film Music Themes.” John Williams, 124. 28 Ibid. 13 heard by common musical listeners). It is also important to remember that (especially to a casual consumer of music), what a listener might perceive as being “one full measure”29 of music (in terms of thematic musical material, or organic phrasing), does not necessarily correspond to the original notated parts of the score.30 Changing the notation to better understand the analysis does not make this any less valid than trying to read the “real” notated measure instead of the

“experienced” measure of music. This reworking of the musical material is being done to make following the score and musical phrases “listener friendly” so that those without musical training will be able to better understand the musical phrasing and sound.

Mp3 files will be provided in the form of a track list to be accessed during the reading of this thesis. Each numbered track pertains to the listening example for the necessary scores under analysis. Due to copyright laws, only up to thirty seconds will be provided for any song under six minutes of material. As most songs being examined fall within the two to five minute range, all songs will have the title and composer/artist available for the reader to access on other media streaming sites (such as YouTube) on their own time. For the listening track provided, please listen to them in order, when prompted in the thesis.

Why Study Superhero Soundtracks?

The goal of this thesis is to review how the events of 9/11 shaped how we view our nation’s cultural heroes – and with it, superheroes. When analyzing the soundtracks of movies and television shows of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman over the last few decades, you can hear this cultural shift (from a comedic, fantastical standpoint to a more serious and somber tone) in their music. It is important to study the musical changes of the OSTs and other musical

29 A measure pertains to the quantifiable notes and rests between bar lines that are within a meter (metric unit of music for each measure). 30 Caplin, Classical Form, 35. 14 themes that are associated with superheroes pre- and post-9/11 as a narrative tool that depicts

America’s cultural shift in observing the caped crusaders on the big screen; not as just a of entertainment, but as a symbol of hope in a time of grief, strife, and political ambiguity in the years to follow. 15

CHAPTER I. SOUNDTRACKS AND MUSICAL SEMIOTICS

“Just as Wagner fitted his music to the emotions, expressed by words in his operas, so in the

course of time, no doubt, the same thing will be done with regard to the moving picture.”

– Moving Picture World 590, quoted in Joe and Gilman, 27.

Brief History of Classical Hollywood Music

For a contextual reference concerning the origins of soundtracks, one must first delve into a brief history of the origins of classical Hollywood film music. The first case of music integrated in films was into Paris 1892 with Emile Reynaud’s animated short films, Pantomimes lumineuses. These films were showcased with piano music specially composed by Gaston

Paulin, with a later showing of the musically scored short films by the Lumière brothers

(Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas Lumière and Louis Jean Lumière) in December 1895.1 The first preview of this of films was accompanied by a piano played by Emile Maraval, while the second showing featured a harmonium2 accompaniment when their show opened in in the following year.3 Since technology had not yet been invented to allow music to be directly placed on the filmstrip, each performance varied depending on the musical means available (in terms of performers, size of the venue, and availability of instruments).4 A film audience might have had the luxury of seeing a film accompanied by a full orchestra, whereas in another venue

1 Cooke, Mervyn. A History of Film Music. Cambridge University Press, 2017. “Chapter One: The Composers.” Soundtrack Nation: Interviews with Todays Top Professionals in Film, Videogame and Television Scoring, by Tom Hoover and , pp. 1–86. Course Technology, 2011, p. 7. 2 The harmonium is a free-reed instrument (often resembling a small organ in appearance, and used to replace an organ when one was not available in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for solos or accompaniment) patented by Debain of Paris in 1848. The harmonium is directly related to the free-reed mouth organ and concertina. Sound is produced through the free reeds (whose various length determines their pitch), which is activated by a wind supply from foot-operated compression bellows, and controlled by a traditional monochromatic and Western standard tonal keyboard. 3 Midgley, Ruth, editor. Musical Instruments of the World: an Illustrated Encyclopedia with More than 4000 Original Drawings. Paddington Press LTD, 1976, p. 87. 4 Audissino, E, John Williams’ Film Music, London: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2014, p. 10. 16 the same film might have been accompanied by a solo pianist playing reduction only of the original score, thus severely impacting the audience’s experience of the film.5

It would be several decades later that the era of “Silent Films” (c. 1914-1927)6 would end, as sound and music were introduced simultaneously on screen along with the original footage, with the introduction of The Singer, released in October of 1927 as the first ‘talkie’ .7 Mervyn Cooke, Author of A History of Film Music, cites film-music pioneer

George Beyon as saying “Allowing the picture to be screened in silence is an unforgivable offense that calls for the severest censure. No picture should begin in silence under any conditions”.8 While Beyon’s claims would have seemed absurd to an average film viewer at the time, as up to this point no film had integrated sound or music. Rather, his observations were merely that of the nearby future. As silent films out of fashion, technology allowed for sound and music to grace the screen together for the first time as an integrated soundtrack by 1932.9

Although sound technology was first introduced in film with the purpose of fixing the film’s musical logistics in a theatre (allowing for an audience to hear the same pre-recorded performance of an orchestra with the film, regardless of the venue’s location or size), there became noticeable lack of importance for the music within a film as compared how music was originally intended within a film’s narrative.10 In the Silent Films Era, the live music accompaniment was originally used as a narrative tool to support the events taking place on

5 Davies, Veronika. “The use of leitmotifs in film music” Academia, 2015, London Metropolitan University, Bachelor’s Dissertation, www.academia.edu/12429158/Leitmotifs_in_Film_Music_-_Dissertation, p. 17. 6 Cooke, Mervyn. A History of Film Music. Cambridge University Press, 2017. “Chapter One: The Composers.” Soundtrack Nation: Interviews with Todays Top Professionals in Film, Videogame and Television Scoring, by Tom Hoover and Murray Gold, pp. 1–86. Course Technology, 2011, p. 1. 7 Crosland, Alan, director. The Jazz Singer. Warner Bros., 1927. 8 Cooke, Mervyn. A History of Film Music. Cambridge University Press, 2017. “Chapter One: The Composers.” Soundtrack Nation: Interviews with Todays Top Professionals in Film, Videogame and Television Scoring, by Tom Hoover and Murray Gold, pp. 1–86. Course Technology, 2011, p. 1. 9 Joe, J. and Gilman, S. L., Wagner and Cinema, USA: Indiana University Press, 2010, p. 112. 10 Davies, Veronika. “The use of leitmotifs in film music” Academia, 2015, London Metropolitan University, Bachelor’s Dissertation, www.academia.edu/12429158/Leitmotifs_in_Film_Music_-_Dissertation, p. 17. 17 screen which helped to compensate for the lack of the actors’ vocal cues to support the story.11

With the introduction of sound and music added to the filmstrip, audiences craved a preeminent sense of realism while experiencing a film. This demand for all music added to the film to be found within the scene’s montage, rather than ruin the by having a live performer accompany the film off-screen. Whenever music was used otherwise, it had to come from the narrative world and was therefore synchronized with some kind of on-screen performance (e.g. a singer, the radio, a jazz band, etc.).12 The use of music became limited to the opening title credits and the ending sequence, as well as some fleeting bridging musical passages during scene breaks.13

This need for musical realism within films drastically changed with ’s score for the classic monster-, King Kong in 1933.14 Directed by Merian C. Cooper and

Ernest B. Schoedsack, King Kong brought a resurgence in American film history of music’s use as a narrative tool to explain what was actually happening on screen, as the camera and dialogue alone could not achieve the emotional response desired from the audience by the directors for their unique film.15 Since one of the main characters of the film was a puppet, the monstrous gorilla had to rely on body movement and vague facial expression to hint at the emotions felt by the , all without the help of an internal or external dialogue to explain his motivations. Thus,

Steiner’s musical score helped guide the audience’s feelings towards the animated puppet using musical semiotics16 as a means for the audience to connect with the presented narrative and understand Kong’s perspective on the events taking place on screen. Because of King Kong’s

11 Joe, J. and Gilman, S. L., Wagner and Cinema, USA: Indiana University Press, 2010, p. 30. 12 Davies, Veronika. “The use of leitmotifs in film music” Academia, 2015, London Metropolitan University, Bachelor’s Dissertation, www.academia.edu/12429158/Leitmotifs_in_Film_Music_-_Dissertation, p. 17. 13 Ibid. 14 Audissino, E, John William’s Film Music, London: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2014, p. 14. 15 Ibid. 16 The study of signs pertaining to music on a variety of levels of analysis including pitch, tempo, , instrumentation, , phrasing, etc. 18 unique genre, and use of puppetry to create the illusion of a ‘real’ monster found by mankind, integrated film music (-diegetic17 in origin) regained popularity and became prominent in other new offering an extraordinary experience to their captivated audiences. Examples of these new genres include adventure films, horror movies, movies about distant places, and other other-worldly genres such as the where the narrative was more in need of music to suspend the disbelief of the audience.18

Musical Semiotics

For lovers of music, it is the OST (original soundtrack scores) that capture our attention when watching a television show or film. But to the common viewer, the OST often goes unnoticed – rather, the musical addition to the scene acts only in a supporting role to whatever is happening on screen. It is the composer’s job to not only write a captivating musical score, but to also write musical themes and phrases that best set up the tone of the scene and make the music memorable. Often the belief among music lovers is that if you come out of the movie theater without remembering any particular song or musical line from the film you just viewed, then the composer was ineffective in their part of what makes a successful movie scene.

Such is the case when writing an attention-grabbing score. The musical themes written must stand out from the background of the scene (something that only our sub-conscious is aware of) and bring the musical phrase to the forefront of our minds. Thus, composers use well versed tonal practices and compositional techniques, to create short musical lines that can stand alone from the rest of the musical score and forces your attention on a particular three to four bar theme of notes. Often you will find, as a passive viewer of the film, that you can’t remember

17 Non-diegetic refers to any music that is only heard by the audience. This term will be explored further in this chapter. 18 Davies, Veronika. “The use of leitmotifs in film music” Academia, 2015, London Metropolitan University, Bachelor’s Dissertation, www.academia.edu/12429158/Leitmotifs_in_Film_Music_-_Dissertation, p. 17. 19 every line of the OST when having just watched a film, but rather you find yourself humming only a certain musical theme that stood out from the rest and often for the next few hours. This technique is known as the use of earworms19 (also known as brainworms) in a score.20

Oliver Sacks, author of : Tales of Music and the Brain explains how these small musical themes stay in our mind – our attention becoming so focused on the sometimes maddening repetitive notes that it borders on pathological obsession – long after the music stops playing on screen:

These repetitions – often a short, well-defined phrase or theme of three or four bars – are

apt to go on for hours or days, circling in the mind, before fading away. This endless

repetition and the fact that the music in may be irrelevant or trivial, not to one’s

taste, or even hateful, suggest a coercive process, that the music has entered and

subverted a part of the , forcing it to fire repetitively and autonomously (as may

happen with a tic or a seizure) [...] Many people are set off by the theme music of a film

or television show or an advertisement. This is not coincidental, for such music is

designed, in the terms of the music industry, to ‘hook’ the listener, to be ‘catchy’ or

‘sticky,’ to bore its way, like an earwig, into the or mind; hence the term ‘

– though one might be inclined to call them ‘brainworms’ instead (One newsmagazine, in

1987, defined them, half facetiously, as ‘cognitively infectious musical agents.’).21

These earworms can easily happen when passively listening to music. Common examples of this phenomena found in classical works are the opening line in Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony in C Minor, as well as the famous songs from Bizet’s femme fatale opera Carmen. Also found to

19 The term ‘’ was first used in the 1980s (as a literal translation of the German word Ohrwurm). However, in the early 1920s, composer and musicologist Nicolas Slonimsky, was intentionally writing musical forms and phrases that could capture the mind’s attention (via mimicry of phrasing and repetition of themes) repeatedly hours after the initial listening. 20 Sacks, Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, First ed., Vintage Books, 2008, p. 46. 21 Ibid, pp. 44–45. 20 be effective in popular music, earworms are a common occurrence that happens to listeners of the genre. and producers will use the addition of repetitive phrases, a musical scoring technique Theodor Adorno called plugging22, that is strategically written to capture the attention of listeners by following the same formulaic pattern (e.g. musical key, chord progressions, narrative structure, and repetition of notes, rhythms, or style, etc.). For example, the main narrative structure in pop songs adheres to the frequently used narrative structure of A-B-A²-B-C-B,23 which can be heard in the chord progressions in the pop such as in Love Story by Taylor Swift. Another example of plugging is a simplistic rhythmic structure as heard in Bang Bang by Jessie J ft. Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj, which mimics a steady quarter note clapping percussive line.

Earworms have been used by composers in modern films to help complete the narrative and produce shifts in tone, often relying on common western music intervals (tonal jumps between two notes on a scale); some of the more famous examples include the following: a minor second interval to create tension (e.g., theme from Jaws [Spielberg, 1975]), a perfect 5th to evoke thoughts of heroism (heard in the 1978 Superman theme – to be discussed further in

Chapter I), and the tritone24 to create tension and a sense of the “Other,” or .25

Diegetic Sound and Sound Design

In order to understand how soundtracks work regarding a narrative format, we must first address how music can be “heard” while on screen: diegetic or non-diegetic sound. Diegetic

22 Adorno, Theodor Wiesengrund, and George Simpson. “On Popular Music.” On Popular Music: I. The Musical Material, Jan. 2000, www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/SWA/On_popular_music_1.shtml. 23 The narrative structure found in most popular music can be described as A-B-A²-B-C-B, which is read as ‘Verse 1-Chorus-Verse 2-Chorus- Bridge-Chorus’. 24 Tritone: An augmented fourth (or, in jazz parlance, a diminished fifth) interval between two consecutive notes. Forbidden in early sacred music, the tritone is said to have an ugly, uncanny or even diabolical quality. Because of this negative connotation, Tritones are often found in OSTs for and horror movies. 25 Clendinning, Jane Piper., and Elizabeth West Marvin. The Musician's Guide to Theory and Analysis. Second ed., W.W. Norton, 2011, p. 128. 21 sound, also called ‘source music’, refers to any music that you (as an audience) can find within a scene and pinpoint its origin (e.g., a small jazz band playing in the corner of a dance hall, or a jukebox in a bar scene). This music can be heard by the characters on scene and often is interacted with by those within the scene (e.g., such as dancing to the music playing from a DJ’s speaker or changing the station on a car’s radio).26 Non-diegetic music, also known as

“incidental music” is any music that is only heard by the audience. The characters on-screen have no knowledge of the music that is being played over their acting sequence.27 Since the early

1930s, non-diegetic music has also been known as ‘underscore’ in the . This is because this style of sound design involves a recorded musical score to be mixed under a film’s dialogue and additional sound effects.28 This style of implementing music is done to further the dramatism felt within the scene without taking away from the actions of the characters.29

The third category of sound design, describing the music’s origin in a scene, is what

Earle Hagen refers to as ‘Source Scoring’ in his book, Scoring for the films. This explains music that acts both as diegetic and non-diegetic within a scene (e.g., a pop tune is playing overhead during an action scene when someone accidently hits the jukebox, disrupting the music [this being the first time the camera shows the listening device]. Acting as a record being skipped, the music is changed to death metal to better the tone for the fight).30 In this thesis we are only looking at non-diegetic music pertaining to Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.

26 Escuder González, Alejandro. The Work of the Film-Music Composer after and before the Digital Era. Academia, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien (University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna), . A. Thesis, 2017, mdw.academia.edu/aescuder, p. 12. 27 Ibid. 28 Wierzbicki, James Eugene. “Sonic Style in Cinema”. Music, Sound and Filmmakers: Sonic Style in Cinema, edited by James Eugene Wierzbicki, pp. 1-14. Routledge, 2012, p. 6. 29 Escuder González, Alejandro. The Work of the Film-Music Composer after and before the Digital Era. Academia, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien (University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna), M. A. Thesis, 2017, mdw.academia.edu/aescuder, p. 12. 30 Hagen, Earle. Scoring for Films. First ed., , Alfred Pub. Co. 1971. 22

Outside of the superhero genre in film, composers have been using these various sound design techniques to best implement their scored music as a narrative tool, to better set the tone of the scene they are writing for. One known for expertly using source music is

Alfred Hitchcock, who worked alongside composer, (1911-1975), to create truly memorable moments in film. Hitchcock's use of source music is considered by many academics to be unconventional and overtly stylish to the extreme, which is in part what makes

Hitchcock’s movies so notable.31 In addition to Hitchcock’s Blackmail (1929), some of his famous pre-Hollywood films include the set of six ‘’ films produced between the years of

1934 and 1938 by British-Gaumont.32 Of this sextet, The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The

39 Steps (1935), Young and Innocent (1937), The Lady Vanishes (1938) all feature source music that not only expertly fit the narrative and tone of the film, but also acts as an auditory cue that hints to the audience how an event in the plot might unfold.33 Such is the case with The Man

Who Knew Too Much, in which the diegetic music of the ‘ Clouds Cantata’ (that was used in both the original version and in the 1956 Hollywood ) acted as the auditory indication for a scene with an assassination attempt.34

Across all genres of films, composers work with the film’s editors and producers to incorporate sound design for not just the music, but also all ‘naturally occurring’ sounds that can happen while on screen. Cynthia Baron and Sharon Marie Carnicke describe the importance and use of sound design in their book, Reframing Screen Performance, which can be seen in the following passage:

31 Wierzbicki, James Eugene. “Sonic Style in Cinema”. Music, Sound and Filmmakers: Sonic Style in Cinema, edited by James Eugene Wierzbicki, pp. 1-14. Routledge, 2012, p. 7. 32 Ibid. 33 Ibid. 34 Ibid. 23

Sound design completes the chaotic, unstable impression created by coordinated acting

and framing choices. In the sixty-shot sequence [Romeo + Juliet, 1996] that begins when

the lover’s hands first touch behind the pillar, the handling of sound shifts rapidly:

sometimes the actors are close-miked, sometimes their voices are heard from a distance,

still other times the musical score completely covers any sound of giggles, gasps, and

groans on intuits from the flurry of images that depict the lover’s first tentative touch of

hands and subsequent passionate, swirling, and interrupted embraces. Like all aspects of

the film, disjointed sound is integrated into the film’s design, which creates meaning out

of disparate elements boiled down to their simplest components… In Luhruman’s 1996

film, acting choices coordinate with the other audiovisual details that are drawn from a

dizzying array of social and cinematic allusions.35

With this thematic and narrative approach to using sound design in films, audiences are privy to added layers of sound that helps to create context within a scene that, when combined with music, helps complete the scene and invokes the viewer’s interest.

An early music editing technique used in films was for composers (for both diegetic music and sound layering) to rely on a technique called synchronization to match the sound with the image. Synchronization is the combination of the sound/music and the image within the editing phase, after the image has already been recorded.36 Composers use synchronization to combine their music with the action sequence using an equation that would precisely match the moment of music when something was shown on screen. This is done following the equation shown in Figure 1.1.37 The equation shown calculates the on which the synchronization

35 Baron, Cynthia, and Sharon Marie Carnicke. Reframing Screen Performance. University of Michigan Press, 2008, p. 127. 36 Escuder González, Alejandro. The Work of the Film-Music Composer after and before the Digital Era. Academia, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien (University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna), M. A. Thesis, 2017, mdw.academia.edu/aescuder, p. 35. 37 Ibid. 24 happens (Beat Sync) by finding the tempo (Bpm) of the musical cue times the total frame, divided by sixty seconds times frames (one minute per shot).38

푇푓 푥 퐵푝푚 Beat Synch = + 1 60 푥 퐹푟

Figure 1.1: Synchronization equation; the following key can be used to read the variables given:

(Tf = Total frame) (Fr = Frames) (Bpm = beats per minute).39

While this equation is still being used by film composers today, often when working with , most modern composers prefer to alter the synchronization of music to the frame by the ‘eye’ and ‘ear’ method, relying on their senses to match the moment with the music so that everything on screen has a more ‘natural’ occurring perception of music with motion.40

Musical Semiotics as Metaphor

The emotional response audiences have when listening to soundtrack music in films or on a television show is directly linked to musical semiotics41, with musical semiotics referring to the study of meaning in music. The study of finding meaning within a text was the work of Swiss linguist and semiotician, Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913), who analyzed the semiotic system of language, using structuralist theory42, to search for absolute structures underlying the surface phenomena of the use of language within a culture.43 Saussure’s structural analysis of language resulted in the introduction of the binary opposites of “langue” and “parole”, with langue as the linguistic system (the overall system or structure of a language, including: syntax, rules,

38 Ibid. 39 Ibid. 40 Ibid, 36. 41 Chattah, Juan Roque. “Semiotics, Pragmatics, and Metaphor in Film Music Analysis.” Academia.edu, Florida State University Libraries, 2006, diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:182108/datastream/PDF/view, p. 154. 42 Structuralist theories do not examine referential implication or the specifics of usage within a situation. Post-Structuralism places binary oppositions into context for interpretation. 43Ibid, 90. 25 conventions, meanings), and parole as the individual’s use of langue (the actual manifestation of language as dictated by “langue” [e.g. spoken or written communication]).44 Saussure broke this down to cultural understanding of “signs” (both in terms of language and any other ‘text’ that can be read/analyzed), into two parts: the “signifier” and the “signified”. The signifier is the physical existence of the sign (e.g., sound, word, or image), while the signified indicates the mental concept of what the sign represents within a culture (i.e., what the sign means beyond surface level recognition).45 Figure 1.2 provides a basic analytical structure of the semiotic

“parts” that make up the meaning of a “sign”.

(Signifier + Signified) = Sign

Figure 1.2: Simplified equation format to render the meaning of a sign; Saussurean semiotic

textual analysis.46

Saussure’s semiology applies to musical analysis by examining the relations amid elements and binary oppositions within music. Charles Seeger (1886-1979) uses this structuralist’s analysis to look at music through the framework of pitch, technique, interval, tempo, duration, dynamic level, etc.47 The main problem with Seeger’s approach is the recognition of binary oppositions in the signifier that do not have a counterpart in the signified.

For example, it would be erroneous to unequivocally conclude that a interval of a third

(between scale degrees48) has the thematic (cultural and emotional) meaning opposite to that of a

44 Ibid. 45 Ibid, 2. 46 Ibid, 91. 47 Yung, Bell and Helen Rees eds., Understanding Charles Seeger: Pioneer in American , University of Illinois Press, 1999. 48 Scale degrees referring to the tonal space (intervals) between two notes on a standard melodic musical staff. 26 rising interval of a third.49 However, one can use this semiotic (Saussurean) model to make connections between music and emotional response.

Continuing to examine musical semiotics by analyzing the workings of a sign, it is important to note that Saussure’s work was later developed by Louis Hjelmslev and Roland

Barthes. Barthes’s work concluded that to better understand what a sign might mean in terms of one culture to another, we must analyze the sign using the first and second levels of classification. In the “first order of signification” (or denotation50), a sign is classified as the combination of both the signifier and a signified. While interpreting the “second-order of signification” (or connotation51), it takes into account the first order signification as the signifier, as the signified part of the sign is extended to allow for socio-cultural and personal association with the given text. The general approach in analysis is to be able to distinguish those aspects of a sign which appear to be taken, in any language community at any point in time, as its “literal” meaning (i.e., the denotation of a sign) from the more associative meanings for the sign (i.e., the connotation of a sign).52 As illustrated in Figure 1.3, Barthes adopted Hjelmslev's idea of different orders of signification, to explain the dichotomy between the connotation and denotation within a sign.

49 Chattah, Juan Roque. “Semiotics, Pragmatics, and Metaphor in Film Music Analysis.” Academia.edu, Florida State University Libraries, 2006, diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:182108/datastream/PDF/view, p. 91. 50 Denotative meaning: What a sign actually or obviously represents; what we see or hear. 51 Connotative meaning: Cultural or symbolic meaning; what we associate with this text or sign (i.e. socio-cultural or personal associations). 52 Hall, Stuart. “, Decoding.” The Cultural Studies Reader, edited by Simon During, Second ed., Routledge, 2010, p. 512. 27

Figure 1.3: Barthes’s model of connotation.53

Umberto Eco (1932-2016), literary critic and semiotician, claims that music presents the problem of a semiotic system without a semantic level (or content plane).54 However, keeping in mind that most signs are polysemic55, most Westerners would agree that there are musical

“signs” with an explicit denotative value (trumpet signals in the army, drumming cadences within a marching band) and there are syntagms or entire “texts” containing pre-culturalized connotative value (e.g., or tempo).56 This association between semiotics and the cultural meaning behind signs concedes the need for divulging further into the study of pragmatics and its ties to metaphor during musical analysis.

Keeping in mind that semiotics is the study of signs and (on the most basic level of understanding) how they produce meaning; seeking to understand the very nature, origin, and evolution of signs in time along with cultural context57, semiotics and pragmatics have a close tie to one another in terms of Barthes’s levels of signification. Pragmatics is defined as the discipline of semiology that studies the sign’s meaning, focusing on the relationship (physical or otherwise) among signs, cultural uses, and contextual inferences, rather than on reference to

53 Ibid, 93. 54 Eco, Umberto. A Theory of Semiotics. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1979, p. 11. 55 Polysemic signs are texts that have more than one (cultural) meaning. 56 Chattah, Juan Roque. “Semiotics, Pragmatics, and Metaphor in Film Music Analysis.” Academia.edu, Florida State University Libraries, 2006, diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:182108/datastream/PDF/view, p. 93. 57 Danesi, Marcel and Paul Perron. Analyzing Cultures: An Introduction and Handbook. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999, p. 40. 28 other signs, intentional usage (truth or fictitious intent of comparison), or grammar (langue).58

The primary distinction between semiotics and pragmatics is that the semiotics focuses on the relation between signs (i.e. signifier) and what they represent (i.e. signified – the second level of signification), while pragmatics focuses on the relation between signs and their situational meaning within a culture and time. On a base level of examination, semiotics looks for meaning via the circumstances of the sign’s production and evolution, while pragmatics searches for meaning by considering the sign’s and context.59

Semiotics and pragmatics differ in how they incorporate contextual information to the sign. As Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914), American philosopher who was also known as "the father of pragmatism", would define it, semiotics addresses the context of a sign only during

“indexical” representation.60 Pragmatics, on the other hand, simultaneously combines the elements of a sign under examination and the context in which they are presented (culturally and in terms of time); that is, context provides the necessary clues that allow the receiver to interpret the message.61 On a fundamental level, distinguishing these two modes of inquiry when completing an analysis of a sign is as difficult as structuring a relationship between both semiotics and pragmatics; such is the case that separating the two to observe their analysis of a sign (in practice) cannot occur without the other. François Nemo, researcher of Semantics,

Pragmatics, Morphology and Prosody, states that a “a people-free semantics is just as impossible as an object-free pragmatics… Interpretation may be described as a process of unification of semantic indications and contextual elements”.62 Using Nemo’s view on the relationship between

58 Chattah, Juan Roque. “Semiotics, Pragmatics, and Metaphor in Film Music Analysis.” Academia.edu, Florida State University Libraries, 2006, diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:182108/datastream/PDF/view, p. 2. 59 Ibid. 60 ‘Indexical’ signs specify a sign where the signifier is caused by the signified (e.g. smoke indicates that there is a fire). The study of indexical signs falls within the area of pragmatics. 61Ibid. 62 Nemo, François. “The pragmatics of signs, the semantics of relevance” in The Semantics/Pragmatics Interface from Different Points of View, Ken Turner Ed., 357-387. Oxford: Elsevier. 1999, pp. 357-387. 29 semiotics and pragmatics, we can infer that the prevalent relation between semiotics and pragmatics lies in their common search for meaning for a sign, either as the manifestation of a sign (semiotics) or specified by the context (pragmatics).63 This Peircean approach allows for the use of trichotomies instead of binary oppositions of examining the composition of a sign.

Likewise, as mentioned above along with Nemo’s view, this approach allows for the reconciliation of both pragmatics and semiotics.

Examining the relationship between semiotics and pragmatics when analyzing a sign is of great importance with its ties to musical semiotics. These modes of textual analysis allow for an examination process of musical theory to provide context to a scene, but also using the music as a narrative tool acting as an auditory-constructed metaphor while on screen. One way that this thesis will analyze the OSTs for each superhero film is through looking at music via a metaphorical approach, as well as through score analysis via musicology.

On its most basic level, a metaphor can be expressed in written and spoken language as

“A is B” or “A is like B”.64 Using this comparison, screen music can function as metaphor when examining the relationship between the music used during a scene and the images shown on the screen at the same time. Jill Nelmes, author of the book, An Introduction to Film Studies, describes metaphors as something that “draw[s] attention to a relationship between things and prompt us to start looking for ways of making meaning,” for example, by “the transference of aspects of one object to another object so that the second object has an implied resemblance to the first object, yet is an original expression.”65 The same aspect of metaphors in the written language or seen as a montage on screen can also apply to music in how we associate meaning

63 Chattah, Juan Roque. “Semiotics, Pragmatics, and Metaphor in Film Music Analysis.” Academia.edu, Florida State University Libraries, 2006, diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:182108/datastream/PDF/view, p. 2. 64 Jill Nelmes, An Introduction to Film Studies 3e (London: Routledge, 2003), p. 162. 65 Ibid. 30 and feelings to certain sounds, instrumentation, and instrumental techniques that we (as a

Western audience) ascribe to various emotional responses. David Punter author of the book,

Metaphor describes the metaphorical approach: “although metaphor deals in likeness, similarity, it also deals in unlikeness and dissimilarity.”66

To better understand this relationship between that of a metaphor and music we must first examine how one ‘reads’ a text (in this case, a metaphor via music) through means of encoding and decoding. In 1973, one of the founding members of the Birmingham School of Cultural

Critical Studies, Stuart Hall (1932-2014), wrote the essay “Encoding, Decoding” that explained the complex relationship between media encoding and audience decoding of text.67 His

Sender/Messenger/Receiver model of the transference and understanding of information found that this process was broken down into four steps: Production, Circulation, Use/Consumption, and Reproduction.

The first step, Production, is where a specific message is encoded to the text by the original creators (e.g., composers working with Directors and editors to create a message). Hall writes that, “The institutional structures of broadcasting, with their practices and networks of production, their organized relations and technical infrastructures, are required to produce a programme. Production… constructs the message.”68 Circulation then occurs by describing when and how consumers encounter a text. (e.g., soundtracks heard in theaters and the date said viewing is involved; what’s happening in the world [current events – cultural, economic, political, etc.] that will affect the audience’s perception). The third step is Use/Consumption, where an active decodes and interprets the text. (e.g., audiences hear the music and see the visuals and infer their own meaning). The last step in this encoding and decoding process

66 David Punter, Metaphor (London: Routledge, 2007), 9. 67 Hall, Stuart. “Encoding, Decoding.” The Cultural Studies Reader, by Simon During, Second ed., Routledge, 2010, pp. 507–517. 68 Ibid, 509. 31 is Reproduction, where personal interpretations and assumptions are made about the text. (e.g. audiences create a personal meaning from the text, even if it is not what was intended). For example, a particular song invokes a triggering of a tragic event, even if the song playing was intended to create the general emotions of sadness.69 Generally you can find

‘meaning’ of a text somewhere in the middle of all four of these steps, or as a combination of more than one part. While this thesis uses all four steps to examine the OSTs for each superhero, we are primarily using the Use/Consumption lens using musical semiotics.

Once the process of encoding is found, the audience can use three different ways to decode said text: Dominant/Hegemonic, Negotiated, and Oppositional readings. The

Dominant/Hegemonic method is the “preferred” reading of a text (i.e., what the original creators intended for the message behind the text to be seen, or “read” as by their targeted audience). The

Negotiated reading accepts “preferred” reading, but will modify it for personal interpretation (i.e. understanding how the text is meant to be read, but also finding other or hidden meanings in the text, whether intended or not). This is all through heavy analysis of both the first and second levels of signification. And the final method of decoding a text is Oppositional, which rejects the

“preferred” reading and adopts counter-hegemonic interpretation (i.e., The audience creates their own meaning by ignoring the intended encoded message for personal entertainment or gain).70

This thesis is using the Negotiated method to decode the messages of each superheroes soundtrack and musical themes associated with them over the years.

When presented with music for analysis using musical semiotics, we can use the OST and other musical themes combined with the events happening on the screen as a type of metaphor encoded by the director and decoded by the audience. Michael Coombes, in his thesis

69 Ibid, 507-517. 70 Ibid. 32

“Screen Music as Montage and Metaphor” describes music’s relation to an image on screen as a metaphor in the following passage:

The audience will start to make meaning [of the screen music] by filtering similarities

and dissimilarities, in all the various ways music and screen image may have similarities

in formal composition (such as rhythm, dynamics, space, texture), denotative/connotative

meanings (such as emotional connections that can read from the music and image),

cultural associations (such as social associations, ethnicity, religion, rebellion), historical

associations (such as historical periods and events) and intertextual associations (such as

previously established codes from classic Hollywood film, , musical, ).

For conventional metaphors the audience won’t have to work so hard, such [as] the

association of nineteenth-century orchestral music with Hollywood , for less

conventional metaphors, such as the association of the Blue Danube Waltz with

spaceships docking, the audience will have to work harder to get something out of the

association.71

This metaphoric approach to analyzing music takes into consideration the audiences’ assumed response to the music they hear to create meaning, although this approach is utterly reliant on the cultural association and educational background of the audience watching it. For example, a Western audience might interpret the low brass syncopation72 and under-lying rhythmic basso ostinato73 line from the percussion of the “ March” from : The

Empire Strikes Back (Lucas, 1980) as a metaphor for the stormtroopers’ militaristic style of marching. While someone who is familiar with music history would recognize the famous march

71 Coombes, Michael. “Screen Music as Montage and Metaphor.” Academia.edu, www.academia.edu/10987919/Screen_Music_as_Montage_and_Metaphor, 2012, p. 15. 72 To shift the accent of a note or chord on the weak beat or the weak part of the beat (with the strong beats being that of “on beat” and “weak beats” as the off beat [i.e., on the “and” of beat four in a 4/4 measure]). 73 A bass part of a compositional phrase that is repeated. 33 from Star Wars as inspired by the rhythmic driving force of the percussion, low strings, and brass section within Gustav Holst’s symphony, The Planets74 specifically in

“Mars, the Bringer of War”.

Jean-Jacques Nattiez, a pioneer in musical semiotics, believed that looking at the audience’s response (emotional as well as logistical) to music was just as essential to understand musical analysis as examining the elements within the music that triggers a response.75 Nattiez used the formulaic methodology of structural linguistics to approach musical analysis. In his book, Fondements from 1975, Nattiez defined the analysis of music as a three-part structure for further examination: The first is the Poietic level (i.e., the creative process – in which we examine who wrote the music, who arranged it, transcriptional work, instrumentation used, recording elements, etc.). The second is the Neutral level, or the imminent structures of the work

(i.e., the score or sound itself – examining the written score via textual analysis76); the part that

Nattiez believed was most necessary for musical analysis. And the third part is the Esthesic level

(i.e. the perception and interpretation – how we as an audience perceive the music and within context).77

While Nattiez preferred the Neutral level of analysis for music, this step is not without its faults. The most obvious of these being that because of the limits of notation within a musical composition, some compositional aspects are best understood as deriving from performance practice (e.g., timbre, pitch, and tonal changing instrumental techniques that are best understood when heard rather than just scored as such). Additionally, the Neutral level of analysis in film

74 Holst, Gustav. The Planets, Op. 32. 1914-1916, Queen’s Hall, London, 1918, Print. 75 Chattah, Juan Roque. “Semiotics, Pragmatics, and Metaphor in Film Music Analysis.” Academia.edu, Florida State University Libraries, 2006, diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:182108/datastream/PDF/view, p. 154. 76 An observational practice of analysis often associated with Wagner’s compositional style. More on this will be covered in the following chapters. 77 Nattiez, Jean-Jacques. Fondements D'une sémiologie De La Musique. Union générale D'éditions, 1975. 34 music is rather impractical and unattainable for textual analysis.78 This is because when wanting to observe the scoring of film music, most of the music has not been published as printed music, or it is not available to the public because of copyright laws – only transcriptions are usually available, which often differ from the original score (an issue that I ran into trying to find original scores for musical analysis pertaining to each superhero in the following chapters).

Likewise, the artistic and technical implementation of music, as it is presented during the film diegetically or non-diegetically, results from the collaboration of the director, composer, and sound engineer.79

Along with this three-part structure for analysis, Nattiez breaks down any piece of music for examination with six analytical situations as can be seen in Figure 1.4.

Figure 1.4: Nattiez’s six analytical situations.80

78 Chattah, Juan Roque. “Semiotics, Pragmatics, and Metaphor in Film Music Analysis.” Academia.edu, Florida State University Libraries, 2006, diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:182108/datastream/PDF/view, p. 155. 79 Ibid. 80 Nattiez, Jean-Jacques. Music and Discourse: Toward Semiology of Music. Translated by Carolyn Abbate. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990, p. 140. 35

Figure 1.4, depicting Nattiez’s analytical situations, can be read in six different situations as part of the analysis of music: Situation I is examining only the musical materials (i.e., the score). The first situation looks at music on textual analytical level by thoroughly examining the form of the piece (e.g., fugue), written style (e.g., Baroque), and analysis (e.g., Roman numeral harmonic chordal analysis). In situation II, the textual analysis of the musical score allows for inferring conclusions about the compositional process; such is the approach taken by hermeneutics (i.e., often theological or philosophical; why was this piece written?).81 In situation

III, the analysis deviates from the physical process of composition (e.g., letters, sketches, etc.) to analyze the musical materials; this approach is often used in musicological research.82 In situation IV, the listener's response to the music is what creates the analysis of the musical materials presented. In situation V, the compositional analysis attempts to understand both the psychological and physical origins of the listener’s response, and how they react to the musical stimuli.83 In situation VI, both the process of composition and the listener’s response to the music are taken into consideration for the integral analysis.84 Throughout this thesis, we are using Nattiez’s analytical situations of parts I, III, IV, and VI to examine the music provided for the various soundtracks and themes associated with Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.

Figure 1.4 also shows the six analytical situations that Nattiez observes while looking at music in a format visually similar to Claude Lévi-Strauss’ analytical methodology of reading myths, found in The Structural Study of Myth.85 Lévi-Strauss mentions a technique in his work that explains while myths vary in interpretation, how you perceive myths remains structured. His

81 Chattah, Juan Roque. “Semiotics, Pragmatics, and Metaphor in Film Music Analysis.” Academia.edu, Florida State University Libraries, 2006, diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:182108/datastream/PDF/view, p. 155. 82 Ibid. 83 This approach is generally used in cognitive science when analyzing the brain’s responses to music. 84 Chattah, Juan Roque. “Semiotics, Pragmatics, and Metaphor in Film Music Analysis.” Academia.edu, Florida State University Libraries, 2006, diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:182108/datastream/PDF/view, p. 155. 85 Levi-Strauss, Claude. “The Structural Study of Myth.” The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 68, No. 270, Myth: A Symposium, 1955, pp. 428-444. 36 technique consisted of breaking down the main components of a myth onto separate flash cards containing detailed information (each containing only one aspect or element from the myth).

These cards you then lay into 2-D layers, which when overlaid together create a 3-D image of a whole myth with various details centered around a core concept.86

Lévi-Strauss’ technique allows for mythic structure to be examined similarly to how language is structured (i.e., such as language is structured in fragments of sound, myths can be separated into smaller key components). Lévi-Strauss explains that, “The true constituent unit of a myth are not the isolated relations but bundles of such relations and it is only as bundles that these relations can be put to use and combined so as to produce a meaning.”87 The same can be said that Lévi-Strauss’ model of analysis of myths can be applied to music in that the

‘completed’ score is just built from musical phrases and fragments, that only together make sense to the listener. Lévi-Strauss directly ties together his analysis of the myth (which pertains to metaphor in both language and music) to the musical score in the following quote: “The myth will be treated as would be an orchestra score perversely presented as a unilinear series and where our task is to re-establish the correct disposition.”88

This is similar to how Adorno and Simpson, in their work On Popular Music, described formulaic scoring in using the concept of standardization. This allows for the notion that classical music phrases only make sense within the context of music itself, while popular music can be segmented and replaced in its own song or taken from another song and it would still make sense.89 For this thesis, we are using the methodologies for musical analysis as defined by both Nattiez and Chattah.

86 Ibid, 435. 87 Ibid, 431. 88 Ibid, 432. 89 Adorno, Theodor Wiesengrund, and George Simpson. “On Popular Music.” On Popular Music: I. The Musical Material, Jan. 2000, www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/SWA/On_popular_music_1.shtml. 37

From Wagner to Leitmotifs

While humans have always developed a deep and often complex emotional connection with the arts and music, the modern concept of thematic music and its ties to visual iconography is attributed to the Late Romantic-era composer, . Wagner (1813-1883), was one of the most influential composers of opera who believed that story and music should have an equal importance in a performance piece, so much so that Wagner called his operas “Music

Dramas”.90 Some of his most notable operas include Der fliegende Hollӓnder, Tannhӓuser,

Lohengrin, Der Ring des Nibelungen, Tristan und Isolde, and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.91

In 1848, Wagner would forever change musical and operatic history with his writing of the operatic saga featuring the legend of the Nibelung, Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of

Nibelung). The fable of the legendary Norse hero, Siegfried, and a magical ring was told in a series of four different operas (known as “The Ring Cycle”) which is now considered by musicologists to be Wagner’s Magnum . Together, this Ring Cycle became a prime example of Wagner’s idea of a Gesamtkunstwerk – a total work of art – that would comprise of many forms of art under a theatrical performance (i.e., uniting opera and drama in one performance where neither the music nor drama may be at the forefront of attention for the audience).92 In Wagner’s Gesamtkunstwerk, both forms of performing arts mutually contribute to the overall work; this balance being necessary to produce Wagner’s desired aesthetic in his operatic works. Conor Power, author of the dissertation entitled, Williams and Wagner: The

Leitmotif from to a Galaxy Far, Far Away, describes the Gesamtkunstwerk as: “The drama and performers provide the surface of the story, they advance the plot and express desires

90 Harnsberger, Lindsey C. Essential Dictionary of Music: Definitions, Composers, Theory, Instrument & Vocal Ranges. Alfred Pub. Co., 1997, p. 268. 91 Ibid. 92 Power, Conor. “Williams and Wagner: The Leitmotif from Valhalla to a Galaxy Far, Far Away.” Academia.edu, Maynooth University, 2018, www.academia.edu/36845220/Williams_and_Wagner_The_Leitmotif_from_Valhalla_to_a_Galaxy_Far_Far_Away, p. 1. 38 and passions; while concurrently, the music adds a depth below the surface, giving an atmosphere, reminding us of the past and hinting towards the future.”93 Wanting to further incorporate a great artistic aesthetic to his Ring Cycle, Wagner developed a compositional tool for associating musical phrases with the drama that is being portrayed by the actors: the leitmotif.94 The leitmotif,95 also known as a leading motif, is a recurring musical theme or motive associated with a specific character.96

Before the leitmotif was created, composers wrote basic motifs into their works to express a theme. A musical motif, also known as an idée fixe, can be described as “a short musical idea, or a fixed idea”, which can be characterized as harmonic, melodic, rhythmic or a combination of all three characterizations.97 The musical phrase must be recognizable to an audience, used in repetition, and able to undergo a multitude of variations while still being discernable as the a variant of the original phrase; such variations are changes in orchestration, dynamics, accompanimental texture and/or have some melodic or rhythmic deviation.98

While Wanger is credited as making the leitmotif famous in its practice in compositional work as we know it today, he is not the first composer to use musical association in their work.

Such is the case with Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi's (1567-1643) L’Orfeo99, an opera written in 1607, depicting Orpheus’ descent into Hades to retrieve his dead wife, Eurydice, and bring her back to the living world.100 Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo is orchestrated with about 41

93 Power, Conor. “Williams and Wagner: The Leitmotif from Valhalla to a Galaxy Far, Far Away.” Academia.edu, Maynooth University, 2018, www.academia.edu/36845220/Williams_and_Wagner_The_Leitmotif_from_Valhalla_to_a_Galaxy_Far_Far_Away, p. 3. 94 Ibid. 95 The leitmotif is also written in the Germanic spelling of ‘leitmotiv’; both are used interchangeably in music. 96 Harnsberger, Lindsey C. Essential Dictionary of Music: Definitions, Composers, Theory, Instrument & Vocal Ranges. Alfred Pub. Co., 1997, p. 75. 97 Davies, Veronika. “The use of leitmotifs in film music” Academia, 2015, London Metropolitan University, Bachelor’s Dissertation, www.academia.edu/12429158/Leitmotifs_in_Film_Music_-_Dissertation, p. 3. 98 Ibid. 99 Monteverdi’s (1567-1643) madrigals and operatic works mark the transition from the Renaissance-era to the Baroque period. 100 “L'Orfeo.” Wikipedia, 12 Sept. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Orfeo. 39 instruments, with each of the characters and particular scenes being associated with different instruments (e.g., strings, harpsichords, and recorders representing the nymphs and shepherds in the fields of Thrace, while heavy brass represents the underworld and its inhabitants).101 This orchestrational theme persisted into the later classical operas of French composer, Étienne Méhul

(1763-1817), and Italian composer, Luigi Cherubini (1760-1842). Consequently, reminiscence motifs102 appeared in the operas and of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791),

Franz Schubert (1797-1828), and Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782), but these composers were unsuccessful in fully developing the musical and/or dramatic importance of the leitmotif as it is depicted in a scene.103 Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) was more proficient in his compositional style with the development of musical themes, association and instrumental families attached to characters and settings in his operas. Likewise, in the 1850s,

Franz Liszt (1811-1886) also wrote associative themes in his symphonic poems104. However, these musical motifs were not developed nor refined to the methodical extent of those found in

Wagner’s Ring Cycle.105

The musical term leitmotif was made widely known through Wagner’s operas, although he did not coined the term himself.106 German editor and publisher, Baron Hans von Wolzogen

(1848-1938), created the term leitmotif for the first time during the first Bayreuth festival in 1876 in his Leitfaeden (explanatory guides) that described in great detail the motifs of Wagner’s scores.107 Wolzogen’s publications popularized the leitmotif, his works explaining to the average

101 Ibid. 102 A precursor to the leitmotif, a reminiscence motif is a theme or musical idea that is an unaltered repetition of a musical phrase used to help an audience identify a character or their . 103 Power, Conor. “Williams and Wagner: The Leitmotif from Valhalla to a Galaxy Far, Far Away.” Academia.edu, Maynooth University, 2018, www.academia.edu/36845220/Williams_and_Wagner_The_Leitmotif_from_Valhalla_to_a_Galaxy_Far_Far_Away, p. 1. 104 Symphonic poem: An orchestral composition based on a non-musical source, such as a poem. 105 Ibid. 106 Audissino, E, John William’s Film Music, London: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2014, p. 34. 107 Grey Thomas, S., The Cambridge Companion to Wagner, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008, p. 87. 40 reader how these ‘leading motifs’ could be associated with the characters, symbols, and thematic ideas of Wagner’s Ring Cycle.108 However, Wagner and Wolzogen disagreed on the importance of the leitmotif in a score. In his book-length essay, Oper und Drama (1851), Wagner criticized

Wolzogen’s explanation of the function of leitmotifs in an opera by blaming the German editor for solely focusing on the leitmotif’s “dramatic importance and effect” rather than placing a further emphasis on “the way in which they are employed in the musical construction”.109

Concurrently, Wagner favored talking about main themes, motifs or motifs of reminiscence110 within his works. Wagner used musical motifs as a means of encoding the dramatic motifs of the plot into non-lyrical music.111

The leitmotifs in Wagner’s works form the bases of a symphonic composition, compared to acting as an audible marker in which seemingly unrelated short musical phrases were played whenever a character appeared, having little to no regard of the setting or dramatic importance.

Thus, his leitmotifs acted as dramatic action markers (encompassing the characters, setting, and thematic plot) that became decisive for the opera’s structure.112 Wagner expressed the importance of the leitmotif as more than a musical cue for a character’s entrance, as well as how a composer achieves musical unity (e.g. in an opera) and a coherent musical structure (e.g. in a classical symphony) in Ueber die Anwendung der Musik auf das Drama (1879) where he wrote the following passage:

108 Davies, Veronika. “The use of leitmotifs in film music” Academia, 2015, London Metropolitan University, Bachelor’s Dissertation, www.academia.edu/12429158/Leitmotifs_in_Film_Music_-_Dissertation, p. 4. 109 Nasta, Dominique and Huvelle, Didier, Le son en perspective: nouvelles recherches. New Perspectives in Sound Studies, Brussels: P.I.E. – Peter Lang S.A., 2004, pp. 195-196. 110 Motifs of reminiscence: A technique of using recurring motifs in order to remind an audience of previous scenes within a narrative. 111 Davies, Veronika. “The use of leitmotifs in film music” Academia, 2015, London Metropolitan University, Bachelor’s Dissertation, www.academia.edu/12429158/Leitmotifs_in_Film_Music_-_Dissertation, p. 4. 112 Ibid. 41

[T]he new form of dramatic music must show the unity of the symphonic movement, if it

still shall constitute an artwork as music. The music will achieve this if it progresses over

the complete dramatic duration and in the closest connection with this, and not only over

shorter, arbitrarily chosen sections. This unity is established by a penetrating web of basic

themes, which are contrasting and complementing each other, which are formed anew,

divided and joined in the same manner as in a symphonic movement…113

During Hollywood’s Golden Age (c. 1935-1955)114, taking heavy influence from the compositional practices of 19th century composers (Wagner, Chopin, Brahms, Debussy, etc.), most film music was written for large symphony orchestras.115 The use of irregular, dramatic forms found within Late Romantic music116 made it an opportune fit for film music, as this style offered a flexible approach to compositional work that allowed the music to best fit the narrative as depicted on screen. Thus, the music could be changed in such a way that allowed for the music to reflect the developing narrative.117

As such in 1910, it became no surprise that the journal Moving Picture World published an article that stated: “Just as Wagner fitted his music to the emotions, expressed by words in his operas, so in the course of time, no doubt, the same thing will be done with regard to the moving

113 Evensen, Kristian. Leitmotifs in Der Ring des Nibelungen – An Introduction. http://www.trell.org/wagner/motifs.html, 2008. 114 Cooke, Mervyn. A History of Film Music. Cambridge University Press, 2017. “Chapter One: The Composers.” Soundtrack Nation: Interviews with Todays Top Professionals in Film, Videogame and Television Scoring, by Tom Hoover and Murray Gold, pp. 1–86. Course Technology, 2011, p. xvii. 115 Nasta, Dominique and Huvelle, Didier, Le son en perspective: nouvelles recherches. New Perspectives in Sound Studies, Brussels: P.I.E. – Peter Lang S.A., 2004, p. 186. 116 Marking the death of Beethoven, the Late Romantic era (c. 1830-1900) was born. This music typical features of included the following: experimental instrumental colors which reflected an expansion of orchestral instruments (mainly brass) that were invented during this time, as well as an compositional push for quality or quantity of instruments and (no longer reliant on large spectacles of hundreds of musicians in one performance, instead reducing its numbers to the standard orchestra or small ensemble). The was experimentation with harmonic and tonal registers, often writing unstable and unresolved discords and chords using the higher intervals within the scale (e.g., such as the major and minor 7th, 9th, 11th and 13th). This era also saw a stronger emphasis on dynamic forms (often changing the form structure itself into something experimental) and a focus on melodic expressiveness which lead to an compositional increase of operas and Lied. 117 Nasta, Dominique and Huvelle, Didier, Le son en perspective: nouvelles recherches. New Perspectives in Sound Studies, Brussels: P.I.E. – Peter Lang S.A., 2004, p. 187. 42 picture.”118 With the increased length of films and the integration of a story-like narrative119, the relationship between cinema and music became strengthened as producers and composers turned to the dramatic and form-shifting sounds found in Romanticism, to complement their climatic films on screen as one entity: the Hollywood film.120 Composers during the Golden Age of

Hollywood found that since the film focuses so heavily on the narrative, Romantic era music’s unique style of a clear melodic line among more subtle harmonic tones in the background (the melody acting as a focal point for the audience combined with the visual stimulation on screen) was a cohesive and logical companion to the standard Hollywood film.121

However, not all film critics, musicologists, and followers of the arts were impressed with Hollywood’s singular focus on invoking Romantic-era compositional styles and practices.

Powers describes this cynical phenomenon found among critics during the Late Romantic era:

“Criticisms of leitmotif practice in film scores tend to disapprove of the leitmotif being used as a

‘visiting card’, or [argue] that the scope of film is not large enough to elicit use of the leitmotif when compared to the grandeur of Wagnerian operas.”122 Such is the case with Theodor W.

Adorno and Hanns Eisler write that the function of the leitmotif in a film is “the endowment of the dramatic events with metaphysical significance.”123 Before the age of the revitalization of the leitmotif and the romantic score in a film (such as in the case of film composer John Williams, who will be discussed further in this thesis), critics such as Adorno take a restricted view of the

118 Joe, J. and Gilman, S. L., Wagner and Cinema, USA: Indiana University Press, 2010, p. 27. 119 The integration of a more complex narrative contrasted to the original production of short sketches or clips that emphasized the technical prowess of the director. 120 Audissino, E, John William’s Film Music, London: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2014, p. 10. 121 Davies, Veronika. “The use of leitmotifs in film music” Academia, 2015, London Metropolitan University, Bachelor’s Dissertation, www.academia.edu/12429158/Leitmotifs_in_Film_Music_-_Dissertation, p. 15. 122 Power, Conor. “Williams and Wagner: The Leitmotif from Valhalla to a Galaxy Far, Far Away.” Academia.edu, Maynooth University, 2018, www.academia.edu/36845220/Williams_and_Wagner_The_Leitmotif_from_Valhalla_to_a_Galaxy_Far_Far_Away, p. 37. 123 Adorno, Theodor Wiesengrund, and Hanns Eisler. Composing for the Films. Continuum, 2010, p. 5. 43 musico-cinematic institution having written the following in his work with Eisler, Composing for the Films (1947/2010):

Here the function of the leitmotif has been reduced to the level of a musical lackey, who

announces his master with an important even though the eminent personage is clearly

recognizable to everyone. The effective technique of the past becomes a mere

duplication, ineffective and uneconomical. At the same time since it cannot be developed

to its full musical significance in the motion picture, its use leads to extreme poverty of

composition.124

With the onset of World War II, film music shifted away from late nineteenth-century

Romanticism to twentieth-century Modernism.125 And with it, the sound of film music moved away from balanced harmonies and soothing melodies with heroic fanfares, to unstable harmonic structures and greater dissonance, as well as the emergence of new instrumental and compositional techniques.126 While the world was shocked and inspired by composers experimenting with new sounds, instrumentation, and other techniques found in the Modernist compositional styles of expressionism, neoclassicism, avant-garde, and postmodernism, other composers focused on developing the Wagnerian leitmotif within their film scores by reinforcing the visual narrative through parallel musical audio cues, as part of an effective storytelling.127

Bernhard Herrmann (1911-1975) was one of the most influential composers of his time, with his motivic writing becoming his most prominent trademark in the industry. Herrmann stunned and shocked audiences alike with passionate scores such as North by Northwest (Hitchcock, 1959),

124 Ibid, 6. 125 Audissino, E, John William’s Film Music, London: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2014, p. 18. 126 Davies, Veronika. “The use of leitmotifs in film music” Academia, 2015, London Metropolitan University, Bachelor’s Dissertation, www.academia.edu/12429158/Leitmotifs_in_Film_Music_-_Dissertation, p. 18. 127 Ibid. 44

Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960), and Taxi Driver (Scorsese,1976), whose soundtracks became famous for the repetition and variation of their fleeting recurring musical motifs.128

While the leitmotif was adapted by modern composers in their scores to help push the narrative with attention grabbing melodic motifs, American composer, conductor, and pianist,

John Towner Williams (b. 1932) revitalized the Wagnerian leitmotif, bringing this musical tool to a new depth (narratively) and holding the music industry to a new standard of compositional skill. As one of the greatest film composers to date, Williams has written some of the most popular, recognizable, emotionally stirring, and critically acclaimed film scores in cinematic history, including the historic introduction of DC Comics’ Superman to the world on the silver screen with a heroic fanfare.

128 Audissino, E, John William’s Film Music, London: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2014, p. 19. 45

CHAPTER II. SOUNDS OF SUPERMAN: AMERICANIZATION, PATRIOTISM, AND

THE RISE OF SUPERMAN

“You will give the people of Earth an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun, Kal. In time, you will

help them accomplish wonders.”

– Jor-El, played by , Man of Steel, 2013.

Wagner to Williams

As one of the most influential operatic composers of the late-Romantic period, Richard

Wagner’s compositional prowess, unique style, and development of the leitmotif impacted contemporary composers throughout recent history. Wagner’s brilliance as a composer is derived from his ability to create a connection of greater significance than what is understood on surface level, by writing dramatic motivic themes to further compel the audience to create an emotional connection, as well as a logical one, to what was being portrayed on stage. On their own, leitmotifs do not automatically create an inherent association; rather the musical themes are reduced to their basic compositional components as melodic lines, harmonic progression, repeating rhythm, or instrumental technique.1 But it is Saussure’s utilization of the relationship between the signifier and the signified that an empathetic connection between characters and the audience is established by Wagner’s music.2

An example of this is the polysemic relationship seen in Wagner’s Der Ring des

Nibelungen (Ring Cycle) with the song “Ride of the Valkyries” that takes place in Act Three of the opera Die Walküre (the second of the four operas in the Cycle). At first glance, the

1 Power, Conor. “Williams and Wagner: The Leitmotif from Valhalla to a Galaxy Far, Far Away.” Academia.edu, Maynooth University, 2018, www.academia.edu/36845220/Williams_and_Wagner_The_Leitmotif_from_Valhalla_to_a_Galaxy_Far_Far_Away, p 7. 2 Ibid. 46 relationship between the Valkyries’ motif and the Valkyries on stage is not understood immediately by the audience. Wagner establishes a dramatic and thematic connection by having the orchestra playing the motif when the Valkyries appear in a scene or are otherwise mentioned within a scene.3 Wagner’s famous leitmotif for the Valkyries can be seen in Figure 2.1 (See

Appendix A)4, which depicts the (part 1) excerpt starting at rehearsal marker number three, (i.e., the number “3” above the staff where the trombone melodic line enters). This boisterous leitmotif played by the can be heard on Mp3 File #15 at the (1:02-1:17) minute mark.

As is the case with examining Wagner’s operas, once the meaning of a motif has become apparent (i.e. the of a character or setting to be associated with the motif in question), the musico-dramatic6 function of the motif is to evoke an emotional response in the audience. They are expected to recognize the motif upon its repetition, as well as how it is being used to add more depth to the scene.7

Wagner influenced modern composers to compose motivic works to accompany films that followed the same compositional rules and practices created by their Romantic-era predecessor. By the mid-twentieth century, film music composers were following what Matthew

Bribitzer-Stull, author of the book, Understanding the Leitmotif: from Wagner to Hollywood

Film Music, declared a “virtual playbook of culturally accepted, meaning-filled gestures.”8 These

3 Ibid, 8. 4 “Trombone: Wagner: Die Walküre, (Ride of the Valkyries 2 Excerpts).” Orchestra Excerpts, 2019, orchestraexcerpts.com/trombone-wagner- die-walkure-ride-valkyries-2-excerpts/. 5 Wagner, Richard. Die Walküre: Ride of the Valkyries. 1851. YouTube upload: TheWickedNorth, 2008, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGU1P6lBW6Q. 6 Musico-dramatic: Combining music and the drama so that something is at once both dramatic and musical; Wordnik.com. “Musicodramatic — Definition, Examples, Related Words and More at Wordnik.” Accessed June 18, 2020. https://www.wordnik.com/words/musicodramatic. 7 Power, Conor. “Williams and Wagner: The Leitmotif from Valhalla to a Galaxy Far, Far Away.” Academia.edu, Maynooth University, 2018, www.academia.edu/36845220/Williams_and_Wagner_The_Leitmotif_from_Valhalla_to_a_Galaxy_Far_Far_Away, p. 8. 8 Bribitzer-Stull, Matthew. Understanding the Leitmotif: from Wagner to Hollywood Film Music. Cambridge Univ Press, 2015, p. 124. 47

Urmotiv9 and motifs are commonly found in compositions with such tropes as a rising major sixth for love themes and female characters (love interest), a rising perfect fifth for heroism and adventures, and minor keys and chromatic scales to represent sadness or the appearance of a villain.10 Bribitzer-Stull writes that “topical resonance and temporal correlation are required in giving leitmotifs and meaning. Topical resonance arises from the listener’s own knowledge of the given musical style’s formal structures”.11 He claims that meaning is created through a composer’s use of these formulaic tropes, that when interpreted by the listener, can affix their own relating to these feelings and emotions to the given musical motif.12

By Bribitzer-Stull’s very definition, the analytical meaning of a musical motif is a combined creative effort by both the composer and listener.13

While seemingly rudimentary in terms of compositional prowess, this formulaic use of motivic tropes in a musical accompaniment to a visual drama (i.e. once an opera and now a film), modern film composers used these musical tropes to write their soundtracks. There was one composer who was unparalleled in his mastery of using these tropes and writing them into his scores as motifs that would become famous years after their debut: John Williams.

An American composer with a prolific career spanning over six decades in cinematic history, John Williams brought a historic resurgence to motif writing for film music. Williams’ scores were self-referential in use to these tropes, and as such, he wrote rich in dramatic leitmotifs that brought the practice of motivic writing back into popularity in Hollywood.

Williams is best known for his compositional works for the original soundtracks for Jaws

9 Urmotiv: A central musical idea or theme in a piece. 10 Bribitzer-Stull, Matthew. Understanding the Leitmotif: from Wagner to Hollywood Film Music. Cambridge Univ Press, 2015, p. 124. 11 Ibid, 102. 12 Ibid, 60. 13 Power, Conor. “Williams and Wagner: The Leitmotif from Valhalla to a Galaxy Far, Far Away.” Academia.edu, Maynooth University, 2018, www.academia.edu/36845220/Williams_and_Wagner_The_Leitmotif_from_Valhalla_to_a_Galaxy_Far_Far_Away, p. 24. 48

(Spielberg, 1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Spielberg, 1977), Schindler's List

(Spielberg, 1993), the trilogy (various, 1981-2008), the Star Wars saga (various,

1977-2019), and the series (various, 2001-2011). Power explains William’s motif writing style and rise to fame in the following passage:

Musical motifs had been present in films preceding Star Wars, notably in scores by

Steiner, Korngold, Waxman and their successors – yet they, like Wagner’s predecessors,

lacked a rich systematic diffusion and musical development, and as such, were more akin

to reminiscence motifs than the leitmotifs of Williams and Wagner. Williams continued

the neo-Romantic, symphonic scoring tradition of these composers after that tradition had

begun to die out.14

Williams’ compositional signature became his motivic writing with his attention- grabbing, historic leitmotifs starting with Williams’ famous Jaws score in 1975 with the minor second alternating ostinato (E to F) as can be seen in Figure 2.2.

Figure 2.2: Piano transcription of the theme from Jaws.15

14 Ibid, 9. 15 Williams, John. Theme from “Jaws”. 1975. Musicnotes Now, 2019. https://www.musicnotes.com/now/tips/musical-intervals-train-your-ear- with-these-easy-songs/. 49

Williams’ motivic writings often created a musico-dramatic relationship that is often interpreted by the audience as polysemic (whether this is intentional by the composer or not), in that his writings invoke multiple emotional responses and interpretations. This is unlike his late

Romantic-era predecessor, Wagner, whose leitmotifs only centered on one idea or character without deeper introspection into the musico-dramatic connection created by the music.16 As opposed to an opera where an audience is free to look anywhere on stage at one time, film requires that the audience only look where the camera is pointed. This not only restricts what is shown on screen, but also acts a visual cue in which what is depicted on screen is the focal point and should be associated with the music as a leitmotif for that scene or character.

However, the same could be said that using a camera allows for multiple events to play out on screen, sometimes making it harder for the audience to dictate which motif belongs to what on-screen .17 Polysemic, or otherwise intended, Williams’ compositions are as such that as one character or event is taking place on screen, the audience will often listen intently to the musical theme being played (non-diegetically) so as to better understand the scene and to know how they are meant to emotionally respond to the events or character depicted. Film historian and musicologist, Emilio Audissino, author of “John Williams and Contemporary Film

Music,” wrote the following passage about John Williams’ writing style and his use of motivic tropes:

Williams has an unmatched talent for taking inspiration from the most different sources

that are suitable to create the right atmosphere for the film, which nevertheless are not

simply plagiarized but assimilated and transformed into something that is clearly by

16 Power, Conor. “Williams and Wagner: The Leitmotif from Valhalla to a Galaxy Far, Far Away.” Academia.edu, Maynooth University, 2018, www.academia.edu/36845220/Williams_and_Wagner_The_Leitmotif_from_Valhalla_to_a_Galaxy_Far_Far_Away, p. 13. 17 Ibid. 50

Williams. reportedly said that ‘lesser artists borrow; great artists steal’…

A lot of these references are deliberate. They’re an attempt to evoke a response in the

audience where we want to elicit a certain kind of reaction.18

Unlike many of his fellow composers, John Williams does not use a computer to write his scores. Rather, his compositional tools are antediluvian19 in most modernists’ eyes: pencils, paper, and a traditional piano.20 Williams is a solo composer, in that he does not work in a team, but rather writes his own orchestration in a condensed form on 8-16 staves, with these bars of music acting as the phrases that are then expanded to full 30-35 stave conductor’s score by orchestrators.21 William’s orchestrators serve as “intelligent copyists” in that they do not take

Williams’ original work and arrange the musical phrases into a full score (often adding their own compositional flair), but in that they use his written work as a guide that must be followed when expanding into a full score.22 Williams’ work is precise, and as such it develops an originality that is not found in other composer’s work. However, it is because of his use of a team of writers that his compositional routine takes time – often needing at least eight weeks to create a completed score.23 He does not prepare mock-ups to be given to the director, but instead plays any in-progress music on the piano for himself and the director in question.24

Williams’ style is technically complex, harmonically refined, and timbrically nuanced to create the symphonic style that makes his writings so prolific.25 He has substantial mastery over

18 Audissino, Emilio. “John Williams and Contemporary Film Music.” Contemporary Film Music: Investigating Cinema Narratives and Composition, by Lindsay Coleman and Joakim Tillman, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017, p. 230. 19 John Williams uses the term ‘antediluvian’ to describe himself in an interview by Brian Williams, ‘Rock Center’, NBC, 26 July 2012, http://www.nbcnews. com/video/rock-center/48347279, accessed 28 February 2020. 20 “The Maestro: John Williams on Composing Olympic Theme.” Edited by Brian Williams, NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 26 July 2012, www.nbcnews.com/video/rock-center/48347279. 21 Audissino, Emilio. “John Williams and Contemporary Film Music.” Contemporary Film Music: Investigating Cinema Narratives and Composition, by Lindsay Coleman and Joakim Tillman, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017, p. 225. 22 In recent films, such as Lincoln (, 2012), The Book Thief (Brian Percival, 2013) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Abrams, 2015), John Williams orchestrated all the music himself without help from his assembly of orchestrators. 23 Ibid. 24 Ibid. 25 Ibid. 51 the use of counterpoint and inner voices in his music, that are based on iconic leitmotivs as well as their variations and reprise, which is only strengthened in their importance with precise split- second coordination between the music and visuals on screen.26 Williams has an instinctive sense for scoring dramatic melodies that are instantly recognizable and perfectly fitting for the characters, settings, and situations they depict. It is his versatility and talent for monopolizing different musical idioms that established Williams’ famous career in film music.27 Williams talks about his versatile writing as a principal component for a successful career as seen in the following passage:

When I do film [...] I’m not thinking about stylistic purity; I’m not thinking about

anything but, ‘Okay, here’s a film and my musical job is to construct something that will

live within it and seem to be part of it and will sound like the pictures looks.’ [...] If you

have only one style of music and do only one thing [...] you’re in trouble in the films

business. If you want to have a career in films, and do a hundred films, you need to be

very versatile.28

John Williams’ film music themes are generally based on eight-measure phrases that divide into distinguishable sections of 4+4 bars29, each half usually containing two short ideas of two bars each ([2+2][2+2]+[2+2][2+2]), or four bars of one theme followed by four bars of a variation on that theme (4+4).30 Based on models of sixteen-bar phrases, the eight-bar phrases as mentioned above appear as sections of larger thematic structures such as those: A-B or A-B-A binary forms and the like. Although this type of thematic structuring has been the norm for the majority of Hollywood film history, Williams’ themes include variation more frequently than is

26 Ibid. 27 Ibid. 28 Ibid, 229. 29 The terms “measure” and “bar” can be used interchangeably in music. 30 Richards, Mark. “The Use of Variation in John Williams's Film Music Themes.” John Williams: Music for Films, Television, and the Concert Stage, 2017, www.academia.edu/37265666/The_Use_of_Variation_in_John_Williamss_Film_Music_Themes, p. 119. 52 typical for these films.31 More specifically, many of his themes for films from the mid- through the early 1990s, rework the initial idea such that it is not merely repeated or contrasted with, but varied as is found in typical classical symphony works.32

John Williams’ unique compositional style and his innovative revitalization of the leitmotif led to his scoring of heroic themes for several famous franchises over the last six decades of his prolific career. But it was his famous score for Warner Brothers’ Superman

(Donner, 1978) that made the comic book character, Superman, into the hero and American icon he is today.

A Hero in the Making: John Williams’ Superman

During The Great Depression, two young Jewish boys from Cleveland Ohio, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, created the world’s first superhero: Superman. With the rise of Nazi Germany in

Europe, as well as the onset of World War II, Siegel and Shuster’s Superman became a symbol of hope and what Jeffrey A. Brown, in The Modern Superhero in Film and Television: Popular

Genre and American Culture, calls the character of Superman, “a powerful savior of the downtrodden.”33 Coming to life on the brilliantly colored pages of Action Comics No. 1 in 1938, newly created Superman, with his secret identity as a mild-mannered reporter for the Daily

Planet, Clark Kent, was an with superhuman abilities that had never before been depicted in comics. As the opening monologue for the 1952 television series, The Adventures of Superman, claims, Superman is "Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!"34

31 Ibid. 32 Ibid. 33 Brown, Jeffrey A. The Modern Superhero in Film and Television: Popular Genre and American Culture. Routledge, 2017, p. 90. 34 Fielding, Richard. “Superman On Earth.” The Adventures of Superman. National Comics Publication, Inc., 1951, pp. 1-40. http://www.knowitalljoe.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Superman-on-Earth-Script.pdf, 2014. 53

With the birth of Superman, an entire genre of superheroes emerged across various comics, all trying to capture the wonder, power, and readership that Action Comics’ Superman was able to draw in. With many of the rules and conventions of this genre established by

Superman, and with superheroes primarily portrayed in American media (produced by DC

Comics, , and Hollywood in comic books, television programs, films, etc.), superheroes are intrinsically associated with the ideologies of America as a nation and culture.35

From his earliest conception in the pages of a comic book, Superman was a superhero who fights an endless battle for “truth, justice, and the American way!"36

Superman's first depiction on screen was a television series, Adventures of Superman, that ran from 1952-1954 in black-and-white, and continued production in color from 1954-

1958.37 Although this action-adventure series was Superman’s first appearance on television, his character gained international recognition in 1978 with ’s Superman: The Movie.

Also known simply as Superman, Donner’s film starred as Superman/Clark

Kent, as reporter and love interest , and as the notorious . Superman featured a musical score by John Williams that highlighted

Superman’s heroics, Lois and Superman’s growing love, and our heroes’ victory over evil.38 It was in scoring Superman that Williams’ musical themes for the superpowered Kryptonian became some of the most recognizable motifs in the world and helped to boost Williams into a household name. Williams’ heroic fanfare captured the American ideals imposed on the superhero, so that once Superman was seen flying to save Lois Lane, and defeating his ,

35 Brown, Jeffrey A. The Modern Superhero in Film and Television: Popular Genre and American Culture. Routledge, 2017, p. 90. 36 Ibid. 37 “Adventures of Superman.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 19 Sept. 1952, www.imdb.com/title/tt0044231/?ref_=ttawd_awd_tt. 38 “Superman.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 14 Dec. 1978, www.imdb.com/title/tt0078346/. 54

Lex Luthor, audiences became enamored with the seemingly patriotic and justice-centered superhero.

Superman’s superpowered actions and heroic nature were attributes that Williams wanted to express in his score for Superman: The Movie. He used Wagnerian inspired compositional techniques, such as using motifs, developing period39, and chordal progressions to inspire culturally linked themes (e.g., a rising perfect fifth for heroism and adventures). This can all be seen in Williams’ scoring of the fanfare and main theme for Superman: The Movie. As shown below, Figure 2.3 (See Appendix A)40 depicts a piano reduction of “Superman Fanfare”. The fanfare theme from Superman: The Movie (Richard Donner, 1978), given in Figure 2.3, illustrates the concept of Williams’ development of ideas through substitution or alteration of an original theme.41 This can be heard using Mp3 File #242 at the (0:00-0:28 minute mark) to follow along with the score as shown in Figure 2.3.

But before we dive into a more in-depth analysis of Williams’ “Superman Fanfare” theme, we must first address a series of terms that will be used throughout the analysis as seen below in Figure 2.4. The image provided is a scale degree chart to use for reference throughout this thesis. In music theory, the term scale degree refers to the harmonic position of a singular note on a staff relative to the other notes within a given scale. Scale degree, shown as a caret (^) followed by a number (e.g., ^7 is a leading tone to a tonic ^1), indicating the size of intervals

39 Developing period, or musical development, refers to a process in which a musical idea or theme is expressed throughout a composition by means of transformation and reiteration of the original material. Not to be confused with musical variation, development is scored as the manipulation of multiple pieces of material, an assortment of combinations, and a variety of appearances at a time, while variation only affects one theme of original material to manipulate. 40 Richards, Mark. “The Use of Variation in John Williams's Film Music Themes.” John Williams: Music for Films, Television, and the Concert Stage, 2017, www.academia.edu/37265666/The_Use_of_Variation_in_John_Williamss_Film_Music_Themes, p. 126. 41 Ibid, 125. 42 Williams, John. Theme from Superman (Main Title). 1978. YouTube upload: TehGr81, 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGUyNy07ZYg. 55 between notes on the scale. Please refer back to Figure 2.4 for a visual reference for terms such as tonic, dominant, and leading tone.

Figure 2.4: Scale degree chart in the key signature of C Major.43

As shown in Figure 2.3, and can be heard in the Mp3 File #2, Superman’s iconic fanfare consists of two distinct motifs, each only one measure long, that are labeled x and y. Both of these motifs are composed of only the scale degrees ^1 and ^5, or the tonic (C) and dominant (G) in the theme’s key of C Major. Thus, this ascending and descending alteration between the tonic to the dominant (C-G) constructs a perfect fifth interval, and the perfect octave leap from (C4-

C5)44, creates a sound that is balanced, harmonious, and is pleasing to the ear. Perfect fifths and perfect octaves are known as such because they create an unaltered consonance interval in relation to the tonic, regarding Western music. This compositional choice suggests that the motif is morally “good,” powerful, and heroic by cultural standards used in later twentieth century film music.45 Williams’ Superman leitmotifs place a heavy emphasis on scale degrees ^1 and ^5

43 Clendinning, Jane Piper., and Elizabeth West Marvin. The Musician's Guide to Theory and Analysis. Second ed., W.W. Norton, 2011, p. 62. 44 The numbers assigned to each note denote their octave placement on a traditional western scale, with the higher the number the higher in range the note. The note, C4, is considered “the middle C” as it is the note that divides the grand staff from treble clef to bass clef on its own ledger line. 45 Bribitzer-Stull, Matthew. Understanding the Leitmotif: from Wagner to Hollywood Film Music. Cambridge Univ Press, 2015, p. 124. 56

(tonic and dominant) as a tribute to two other Superman themes found in media prior to Donner’s film. These other themes, one composed by Sammy Timberg for animated shorts throughout the

1940s, and the other written by Leon Klatzkin for the 1950s television series, Adventures of

Superman (1952-1958). Both composed their themes to ascend through the full major triad from the tonic to the dominant (^1 to ^5) of the scale.46

This emphasis between the tonic and dominant in the leitmotif for Superman Fanfare is a compositional technique that hopes to portray the “right” tone and character of the piece that matches with the scene or character. This connection between the tonic to dominant leitmotif found in the Superman Fanfare and what Superman represents to the audience is a relationship found in Saussure’s structure of the sign, in which the intervallic leitmotif is the signifier and the superhero Superman is the signified. With this signifier plus the signified conjunction, then the sign is the metaphoric relationship between the music and character to create one aspect of

Superman’s heroic persona depicted on screen. Likewise, Superman’s status as a cultural hero is further established using Barthes’ polysemic lens that connects Superman’s leitmotifs to the audience’s beliefs that the music heard reflects other characteristics such as strength, heroism, and moral might.47 Consequently, Williams establishes Superman’s superhero status, as well as protagonist status, by writing the leitmotif with powerful statements of these intervallic leaps and a stable harmonic progression. To a Western audience’s cultural understanding of music, there is an association with the use of a major key, as well as strong rhythmically driving themes, which we understand to mean a “good guy” is on screen. Thus accordingly, Williams’ Superman leitmotif in his fanfare channels feelings of strength and heroism.48 In the bass line of Figure 2.3,

46 Matessino, ET Al. Superman: The Music (1978-1988), 8 CDs, liner notes, Hollywood (CA), Monthly, 2007. 47 Hall, Stuart. “Encoding, Decoding.” The Cultural Studies Reader, edited by Simon During, Second ed., Routledge, 2010, p. 512. 48 Richards, Mark. “The Use of Variation in John Williams's Film Music Themes.” John Williams: Music for Films, Television, and the Concert Stage, 2017, www.academia.edu/37265666/The_Use_of_Variation_in_John_Williamss_Film_Music_Themes, p. 125. 57 the piano reduction is scored as a rhythmic march that is driven on the on-beat. Along with the militaristic triplet pattern, reminiscent of Gustav Holst’s underlying percussive triplet ostinato found in the low brass section and percussion in the movement “Mars, the Bringer of War” in

The Planets49, encodes the emotional connection of heavy brass and loud statements to mean a powerful force is on screen. This polysemic emotional response felt by the audience, suitably describes Superman as a hero.50

Along with Saussure’s semiotic understanding of Superman’s leitmotif in the Superman

Fanfare, Williams’ Superman score is riddled with the composition style of musical mapping, also known as tone painting51. This occurs when the written phrase of music visually represents what the motif is trying to convey – often easily accessible to a casual observer of musical scores in the metaphorical meaning and musical representation.52 This Wagnerian technique is famously found in Wagner’s own Ring Cycle, as can be discerned in Figure 2.5 which illustrates the

“rainbow” leitmotif in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen.

Figure 2.5: The ‘rainbow’ leitmotif in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen as a musical mapping

of a rainbow’s arched visual representation.53

49 Holst, Gustav. The Planets, Op. 32. 1914-1916, Queen’s Hall, London, 1918, Print. 50 Richards, Mark. “The Use of Variation in John Williams's Film Music Themes.” John Williams: Music for Films, Television, and the Concert Stage, 2017, www.academia.edu/37265666/The_Use_of_Variation_in_John_Williamss_Film_Music_Themes, p. 125. 51 While text painting is the musical depiction of images found in the words, tone painting is where the written score is compositionally mimicking or some other way of visually representing what is being heard. 52 Clendinning, Jane Piper., and Elizabeth West Marvin. The Musician's Guide to Theory and Analysis. Second ed., W.W. Norton, 2011, p. 432. 53 Chattah, Juan Roque. “Semiotics, Pragmatics, and Metaphor in Film Music Analysis.” Academia.edu, Florida State University Libraries, 2006, diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:182108/datastream/PDF/view, p. 139. 58

Notice how the phrasing, starting on the G flat, raises up to the D before returning to the

G flat, completing the arching phrase. With the small exception of the third beat in the third phrase, from the legato slur to the rising and falling structure of the notes, the general shape of the phrase mimics that of a rainbow.54 Likewise, in the background Wagner uses a sustained trill in the flutes to give the impression of glittering, or shimmering, of both the colored spectacle and the that would accompany it.55 This can be heard in Mp3 File #356 at the (0:00-0:09) minute mark in the strings. First found in the fourth scene of Das Rheingold, the rainbow motif is a prime example of Wagner’s musical mapping of a rainbow’s visual representation and into the musical score itself.57

While you can find this tone painting effect throughout many superheroes’ themes, specifically John Williams used compositional techniques such as musical mapping (tone painting) to create a visual and auditory cue for Superman’s entrance on screen, by writing a leitmotif that seems to explicitly exclaim Superman's name. This can be seen in the score for

“Superman Fanfare”, Figure 2.3, in the ascending and descending phrases found in motifs x and y. However, the greatest example of Williams’ tone painting is in his writing of the second musical idea in the “development” section, in which motif x is repeated and motif y is replaced by motif z. Keeping in mind that the theme is in the key of C Major, motif z is fuller texture with the addition of a second inversion of the dominant chord58, louder dynamic sforzando59, and ends motif z (and the development of the theme) on a dominant harmony (focusing on ^5) like a half

54 Wagner, Richard. “Rainbow: Der Ring Des Niblungen.” YouTube upload: Wagner Leitmotifs, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX2OhueZ-3Y. 55 Ibid. 56 Ibid. 57 Chattah, Juan Roque. “Semiotics, Pragmatics, and Metaphor in Film Music Analysis.” Academia.edu, Florida State University Libraries, 2006, diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:182108/datastream/PDF/view, p. 138. 58 The opening chord in the fourth bar at the start of motif z is a second inversion chord of the dominant (C), with the bass note being the subdominant ^4 (F). With the (E) on top of the chord, a listener of the score would hear the mediant ^3 (E). This is resolved to a Major II chord, completing the distinctive motive and vocal tone painting theme. 59 A sudden, strong accent placed upon a note or chord within a musical phrase on a normally unaccented beat. 59 cadence. This change from the constant tonic harmony at the opening idea makes the half cadence resolution stand out to our and seemingly demands our attention.60 Along with this abrupt change in harmonic scoring, the syncopated rhythm shown in measure 4, using the

Wagnerian tone painting technique, almost seems to shout the iconic superhero’s name.61

Superman: The Movie’s director, Richard Donner, commented on the score stating, “…[T]he day we went into a recording studio, and we ran the opening credits, as “Superman” came on screen,

I swear to God, if you listen carefully, it literally, the music, speaks the word [Superman]”.62

Along with the famous motif found in Figure 2.3 (See Appendix A)63, Superman’s iconic themes would not be complete without John Williams’ “Main Theme” from Superman: The

Movie. Returning to the Mp3 track #2, this second leitmotif is seen in Figure 2.6 (See Appendix

A)64 and heard at the (0:40-0:57 minute mark). Superman March is a theme associated with the titular hero, which is constructed as an eight-measure theme in the following pattern: (2 + 2) + 4 measured phrase.65 This pattern of constructing Superman’s theme as a total eight bar phrase allows for a symmetrical balance between the presentation and the continuation of the sentence, or phrase.66 It starts with a distinctive two-measure long motif (found in this piano reduction on the uppermost line), originally played by the trumpets (mm. 19-20).67 This two-bar phrase is then slightly varied in the next two measures (mm. 21-22) which together creates a four-bar phrase that seems to the basic idea in what is called the presentation of the sentence. The

60 Richards, Mark. “The Use of Variation in John Williams's Film Music Themes.” John Williams: Music for Films, Television, and the Concert Stage, 2017, www.academia.edu/37265666/The_Use_of_Variation_in_John_Williamss_Film_Music_Themes, p. 125. 61 Ibid. 62 Thau, Michael. ‘Making Superman: Filming the Legend’, in: Superman: The Movie, directed by Richard Donner (1978), DVD, Disc I, Side B, Burbank (CA), Warner Home Video, 2001. 63 Zacharopoulos, Konstantios. “ in John Williams’s Film Music Themes.” Contemporary Film Music: Investigating Cinema Narratives and Composition, by Lindsay Coleman and Joakim Tillman, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017, p. 240. 64 Zacharopoulos, Konstantios. “Musical Syntax in John Williams’s Film Music Themes.” Contemporary Film Music: Investigating Cinema Narratives and Composition, by Lindsay Coleman and Joakim Tillman, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017, p. 240. 65 Ibid. 66 Ibid. 67 Ibid. 60 presentation, which constitutes the basic idea (first motif) and its repetition (2+2 mm.), is supported harmonically throughout this four bar phrase by a sustained tonic chord found in the low brass and woodwind supporting ostinato motif.68 This leaping fanfare heard in the (C-G) perfect fifth interval, found the trumpet voice, allows the use of tone painting via the audio and compositional imagery to create the mental image of Superman flying, or at the very least, the ability to “leap tall buildings at a single bound.”69

The continuation of the sentence, or secondary motif that makes up the iconic leitmotif

(mm. 4), starting on the “fourth” beat of measure 22, ensues the presentation through a process of structural fragmentation.70 In other words, while the presentation of the theme is formed of two-measure grouped phrases, the continuation structure is focused on one-measure units (mm.

23-24) that shows an acceleration of the harmonic rhythm leading into the concluding cadence.71

The continuation, or second half of the famous leitmotif, builds on the original basic idea found in the presentation by building on the basic idea/first half of motif.72

The famous leitmotif ends, starting on the fourth beat73 of measure 24, in the resolving perfect authentic cadence (PAC)74. Furthermore, by resolving in a PAC, this only further proves that Superman is seen as a cultural hero, as well as a superhero, in that his theme’s ending cadence sounds (to a Western audience) to be “good” or “harmonically balanced” in the “best sounding possible way.” Resolving in any other cadence would sound incomplete, or unsettling.

By ending in a PAC, Superman’s theme is then associated with the Western standards of

68 Ibid. 69 “Adventures of Superman.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 19 Sept. 1952, www.imdb.com/title/tt0044231/?ref_=ttawd_awd_tt. 70 Zacharopoulos, Konstantios. “Musical Syntax in John Williams’s Film Music Themes.” Contemporary Film Music: Investigating Cinema Narratives and Composition, by Lindsay Coleman and Joakim Tillman, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017, p. 239. 71 Ibid, 240. 72 Ibid. 73 12/8 time is a compound quadruple meter, meaning that each beat (a dotted quarter note) of the measure is broken down into three eighth notes (this is compared to a simple meter which is comprised of two eight notes per beat). There are four beats per measure within 12/8 meter. 74 A cadence is a two-chord progression that concludes a phrase. A Perfect Authentic Cadence (PAC) occurs when a cadence resolved from V to I (dominant to tonic) with both roots of the chords in root (or lowest bottom) position and the highest note of the I chord is the tonic of the scale. The chord progression found in measure 26 meets all of these requirements. 61 perfectionism as the true embodiment of an American superhero, with Superman putting the

“perfect” within the perfect authentic cadence.

Making Music Memorable: Marches to Love Themes in Superman: The Movie

Williams’ Superman themes are the symbolic embodiment of heroism and the American ideals of strength and power by use of specific compositional choices that reflect Superman’s cultural significance and his superpowers via music. It is his stylistic writings and knowledge of specifically invoking such emotional responses from his audiences that made the

Superman themes from Superman: The Movie so memorable, as well as iconic, today.

Konstantios Zacharopoulos, in “Musical Syntax in John Williams’ Film Music Themes,” writes of Williams’ scores’ lasting impressions:

This is hardly surprising since these forms contain, and are characterized by, all those

elements that, according to Schönberg, contribute to a transparent and intelligible

presentation of the musical idea, which leads inevitably to memorability… Williams

himself recognizes the importance of memorability in film music and its subsidiary role

in the structural unity and functionality of a complete film score.75

While John Williams is not alone in writing famous film music scores that have remained popular decades past the film’s release, a determining factor in Donner’s Superman: The Movie’s success was Williams’ iconic music themes that brought the characters to life. Laurence E.

MacDonald, author of The Invisible Art of Film Music: A Comprehensive History, wrote the following passage on Williams’ scoring of the different characters and situations within the movie that brought emotional substance to the story:

75 Zacharopoulos, Konstantios. “Musical Syntax in John Williams’s Film Music Themes.” Contemporary Film Music: Investigating Cinema Narratives and Composition, by Lindsay Coleman and Joakim Tillman, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017, p. 248. 62

The best Williams score of the year is the one he wrote for Richard Donner’s epic screen

version of Superman, with Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel. The main theme

captures the heroic nature of the man from Planet with a rhythmically driven

march theme consisting of a boldly rising melodic statement. The love theme, which is

heard most prominently when Superman gives Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) a bird’s-eye

view of , is a lyrically soaring idea that later became a song hit with the title

“Can You Read My Mind?” There are many other musical themes in the film, including

the comical accompaniment of Lex Luthor’s slow witted henchman Otis, played

hilariously by … William’s score manages to keep pace with the film’s many

shifts in style.76

MacDonald’s quote provides commentary on Williams’ motivic scoring and how it helps to establish a plot, contribute to a characteristic/thematic flare to the scene, and adds to the character interactions on screen. Likewise, Kristopher Spencer, author of the book, Film and

Television Scores, 1950-1979: A Critical Survey by Genre, had the following to say about

Williams’ motivic scoring in Donner’s film:

For Superman (1978), Williams delivered another heroic score. The soaring, patriotic

theme is the very embodiment of the film’s superhuman hero. It is one of the finest

“superhero” scores of all time, more memorable than the bombastic scores that

accompany the superhero movies of the earliest 21st century. Following the rousing

theme, the music for the sequences on planet Krypton are relatively austere, sometimes

employing accents. Once “Clark Kent” is on Earth, however, the music takes

on an upbeat character. Even the gorgeous love theme exudes a heroic character…

76 MacDonald, Laurence E. The Invisible Art of Film Music: A Comprehensive History. The Scarecrow Press, 2013, p. 268. 63

Williams is at his most romantic on “The Flying Sequence” and the Margot Kidder

showcase “Can You Read My Mind,” but the remainder favors the action fans relish.77

Notice that both authors comment on the expert scoring of “Love Theme from

Superman”, later given lyrics and called “Can You Read My Mind” for Superman’s tender and intimate flight with love interest Lois Lane. It is here that Williams has done an amazing feat of cinematic iconography: making an action superhero into a romantic hero.

While the original rendition of Superman embodies all the standard traits found in the superhero genre, he also is written with the same moral code and characteristics of a hero found in the romantic genre. The hero in a romance story is, according to Brian Taves, author of The

Romance of Adventure: The Genre of Historical Adventure Movies, “fundamentally peaceful”.78

Taves goes on to list what makes a male character in the historical romance genre into a hero in the following description: “[T]he hero is usually attractive, endowed with personal magnetism, ardent romance, a natural with worthy goals and a sense of duty to a country or cause….

The hero is politically motivated and patriotic, selflessly dedicated to justice. Epitomizing altruism, the hero is pure of purpose, brave in war, honorable, fair, and chivalrous, behaving as a gentleman and recognizing a code of conduct.”79

Additionally, Timothy E. Scheurer, author of Music and Mythmaking in Film: Genre and the Role of the Composer, continues in this description of a hero in the romance genre in the following quote: “Like the epic hero, the hero of historical romance is the embodiment of the highest ideals and values of the dominant culture, which in the majority of cases means a white, male dominated, Christian culture of Anglo Saxon lineage”.80 If you replace the word “hero” in

77 Spencer, Kristopher. Film and Television Scores, 1950-1979: A Critical Survey by Genre. McFarland & Co., 2008, p. 199. 78 Scheurer, Timothy E. Music and Mythmaking in Film: Genre and the Role of the Composer. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland, 2008, p. 114. 79 Taves, Brian. The Romance of Adventure: The Genre of Historical Adventure Movies. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1993, p. 105. 80 Scheurer, Timothy E. Music and Mythmaking in Film: Genre and the Role of the Composer. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland, 2008, p. 114. 64

Taves and Scheurer’s descriptions with the name “Superman” then it is clear that the Man of

Steel is a hero of duality – both action and romantic protagonist.

As of Metropolis and “Truth, Justice, and the American Way” Superman is written as a superhuman, a symbol of American might, and the “perfect” male love interest as well as the hero that saves the damsel in distress. John Williams, knowing these conventional images and characteristics, wrote not only the trumpet centered and boisterous leitmotifs for

Donner’s Superman, but he also wrote a passionate and tender love theme for his flight with love interest and fellow Daily Planet Reporter, Lois Lane. This can be heard in Mp3 track #481 at

(1:02-2:04) and seen in Figures 2.7.1-2.7.5 (See Appendix A)82 below featuring the partial score83 from pages 7-11, measures 20-48. However, to hear the full development of the leitmotif of the love theme for Superman and Lois Lane, start the Mp3 track #4 at (0:00-2:04) with the score as shown below starting at the measure 20 (at the 1:02 minute marker).

The “Love Theme From Superman” has a form of the same repeating cycle: Introduction, with alternation between Theme A and Theme B (with transition section); or Theme A, Theme

B, and Theme A¹. starts (at the 0:00 minute mark) with an introductory section of a steady

French horn ostinato traded off between the first and second parts on beats one and three, with an answering eighth note pattern in the third and fourth part within the French horns. This horn theme is played over quick embellishments in the strings, harp, and starting on beat one and slowly adding on the down beats of each measure throughout the intro theme. It is here at measure 5 (0:12 minute mark) that the main instrumental line is introduced as the first iteration of Theme A with a solo played by the oboe, continuing over the French horns and strings. Theme

81 Williams, John. “Love Theme From Superman,” track #5 on Superman The Movie/Original Sound Track, Warner Bros, 1978, CD. 82 Williams, John. Love Theme From Superman. Warner-Barham Music LLC. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard, 1978, pp. 7–11. 83 This score is an edited version of the original print by removing the trombone, trumpet, and tuba lines so as to fit the more “important” instrumental voices of the score for analysis and to fit the formatting page space limit while still being able to see the distinction between the notations. 65

B is found for the first time as the oboe is joined by the flute on measure 13 (0:36 minute mark) until the transition section at measure 17 (0:49 minute mark) that lasts until measure 21 (1:02 minute mark).

Figure 2.7.1 depicts page 7 of the original score where the Introduction theme is played again, now with the distinctive French horn ostinato picked up the clarinet and the first and second parts84 of the bassoon at measure 21-25 (1:02-1:14 minute mark). At rehearsal marker, or measure 25, Theme A is repeated for the first time, changing the motif from the oboe solo to a soli85 for the French horn and cello sections. The horn and cello soli continue in Theme B at measure 33 (1:38 minute mark) with 32nd note embellishments in the flutes and clarinets as seen in measures 33 and 35 in Figure 2.7.3. This rapidly slurred line, along with the glissandi played by the harp in measures 32, 36, 40, and 46 emulate the whirling wind during Superman and Lois’ flight through the sky as a tone painting effect. Theme A¹ picks up again at measure 37 (1:51 minute mark) and ends at measure 45 (2:15 minute mark) with measures 45-53 returning to a more developed Theme A with the addition of the trumpets, trombones, and tubas adding to the

French horn line as well as violin parts 1 and 2 taking the place of the cello soli in Figure 2.7.5.

The rest of “Love Theme From Superman” follows these two distinct patterns with little variation, creating one of the more memorable songs from John Williams’ soundtrack for

Donner’s Superman: The Movie. After listening through this selection, Williams’ passion for

Donner’s film, along with his commentary on heroics, strength, and love, is made apparent with

Williams’ himself saying the following:

84 In an orchestra, instruments of the same section are often split into multiple parts (shown within the same bracket) so that the same instrument can play more than one line. Parts are usually numbered 1-4 on the score with the “first” part playing the line marked with the “1”. This can be seen in Figure 2.7.1 in the Bb clarinet where numbers 1 and 2 are found after the clarinet abbreviation (CL.). With the first part playing the running eighth notes on the upper line and second part with the staves connected on the lower part. 85 While a solo is one person playing a music passage alone, a soli is multiple or all members of one instrumental section playing the same passage of music. 66

I will always treasure Donner’s love scene, where this mysterious man from another

planet takes a very down-to-earth Lois Lane on their first date… soaring so majestically

above the clouds…. Seeing Chris and Margot flying in this scene suggests that it may be

true after all, that love triumphs over gravity… at least in the movies!86

What is so interesting when listing to the soundtrack for Superman: The Movie is the emphasis placed on the “Love Theme From Superman”, so much so that not only did Williams score the original song for the soundtrack, but that it was also given lyrics and released as its own single, “Can You Read My Mind”, starring artist Maureen McGovern and featuring Margot

Kidder (Lois Lane). When observing the character of Superman through today’s lens, seeing such a superhero tied to a passionate and majestic love theme seems out of place compared to the darker and grimmer versions of the caped hero that will be discussed in the next section of this thesis. But for the late ‘70s, Superman represented an iconic American hero with all of the ideals of the nation’s citizens of that time; acting as both superhero and romantic hero to the American people via protecting the interests of the people while being “defender and protector of the people’s rights”, living by a moral “code”, and “embod[ying] the and the traditions of the nation.”87 By focusing on the love theme associated with Superman and Lois Lane, as well as placing such an importance on his other brass heavy leitmotifs, his status as a western hero allows for his character to feel the positive emotions of love while simultaneously to reaffirm his masculinity through the lens of an adolescent male power fantasy: saving the day and getting the girl.

86 Williams, John. Love Theme From Superman. Warner-Barham Music LLC. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard, 1978. 87 Richards, Jeffrey. Swordsmen on the Screen: From Douglas Fairbanks to Michael York. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1977, p. 5. 67

Williams' score allows for Superman to be seen by the audience as more than a two- dimensional character, but one of complexity who felt loyalty to his adoptive world, the responsibility to protect all people, and love for a human. But Superman’s days as a bright and optimistic hero were numbered. As with the turn of the century, and the cultural shock felt by the

Nation from the events of 9/11, the kind-hearted superhero was no more. In his wake was a hero that represented the sorrow of the American people.

Entering a New Era: Hans Zimmer’s Man of Steel, Superman Returns, and Danny Elfman’s

Justice League

With the attacks on September 11, 2001, Superman’s tone shifted away from tight spandex, brightly colored costumes, and victorious along with boisterous tunes to a more subdued and morose theme found in the costuming, filming techniques, and music associated with the (believed) last surviving member of Krypton. This dramatic shift in tone for the superhero reflected the state of the American mindset that has lasted even two decades after experiencing the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil in history. But before we can discuss the impact of this tragedy on the American people and their perception of Superman, we must first explain one of the thematic connections between the fictional and reality: Metropolis.

While Superman/Clark Kent calls the fictional city of Metropolis his home, the city that houses the Superhero and the headquarters of the Daily Planet news publication is New York

City.88 While filming Superman: The Movie, Donner’s vision of Metropolis is thinly masquerading as the fictional city, while a keen-eyed film viewer would notice the obvious landmarks and buildings found in the NYC skyline and downtown Manhattan. Donner’s

88 New York City will henceforth be referred to as the popular acronym NYC. 68

Metropolis is portrayed as a busy island, whose city streets are filled with people from all backgrounds swarming below skyscrapers who have a striking resemblance to the Chrysler

Building and the Twin Towers.89 Joined by the iconic Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge, the backdrop of the flying scenes from Superman: The Movie clearly indicates to a casual viewer of the film that the fictional city of Metropolis is our beloved city of New York.

From one of the earliest renditions of the Man of Steel shown on the silver screen,

Superman has been flying over the famous skyline of New York-esque Metropolis for decades, protecting his fellow citizens from all evils on screen. As Rich Juzwiak, author of The Muse article “Time Has Not Been Kind to Superman,” has so candidly put it, “Metropolis is New

York. You see so many obvious landmarks that even someone who only read about Manhattan in books and to themselves, ‘What New York really is, is it’s an island, with lots of people, lots of different people,’ would recognize it… Unlike ’s , also clearly inspired by New York but with its own dark and seedy spin on it, Donner’s Metropolis has no vision of its own.”90 With Metropolis and NYC’s close cinematic connection, the 9/11 attacks had an enormous impact on the American perception of Superman.

Peter van der Veer, author and editor of Media, War and Terrorism Responses from the

Middle East and Asia, makes a compelling argument that media representation is a crucial component of the formation of warfare, terrorism, and the understanding of both tragedies’ occurrence. He states that cultural of the self, of the nation, and sense of one’s community on a local and global scale are constructed by the media’s interpretation of life-

89 The Muse. “Time Has Not Been Kind to Superman.” Accessed April 21, 2020. https://themuse.jezebel.com/time-has-not-been-kind-to- superman-1842918587. 90 Ibid. 69 altering events due to severe trauma inflicting events such as acts of war on a community.91 With the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon shown across every major news station across the nation and around the world, 9/11 was an act of war on American soil that drastically changed how America viewed itself, its perceived threats, while the American people affected had fantasies of violent retribution. It is because of this tragedy and its world wide publicity, that

American ideals, beliefs, and very way of life dramatically shifted from the seeming façade of safety and unshakeable fortitude to the trauma, vulnerability, xenophobia, and paranoia instantaneously faced by the nation.92

But with this terrorism came an inadvertent consequence of a prevailing dominance of the superhero that resulted from the rapid uptake in American’s perception of unity, its passionate need for “justice” brought from an ever-vigilant attitude post-9/11.93 After almost two decades since 9/11, superhero films are still in production and are more popular than ever, including: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Captain America, Iron Man, and Spider-Man.

These cinematic renditions of comic book heroes allow for audiences to experience a reassuring revision of 9/11 and other attacks of terror where super-powered heroes can protect American citizens from terrorism conspired by fictional foes.94 The immediate response to 9/11 started with the original medium from which superheroes came into existence: comic books. Brown wrote extensively on the comic industry’s reaction to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the American people directly in the wake of the assault on American soil, including the following passage:

91 Veer, Peter van der. “Introduction.” Media, War and Terrorism Responses from the Middle East and Asia, edited by Shoma Munshi and Peter van der Veer, Taylor and Francis, 2004, p. 4. 92 Brown, Jeffrey A. The Modern Superhero in Film and Television: Popular Genre and American Culture. Routledge, 2017, p. 63. 93 Ibid. 94 Ibid. 70

The initial reaction by the comics industry was, like most of the nation, shock and a

desire to help the victims of the attack. Marvel and DC Comics, as well as many of the

other smaller publishing companies, quickly released tribute collections with all of the

proceeds going to 9/11 charities. The collections featured numerous drawings and short

stories by the biggest creative names in the industry. While many works incorporated

superheroes, they did so solemnly with images of Captain America or Superman bowing

their heads or crying in anguish as they looked over the wreckage of the twin towers.

While a couple of the more bombastic superhero images suggested desire for immediate

and violent revenge, the overwhelming majority focused on the heroes mourning along

with the rest of the nation.95

Brown’s commentary on how the comic book industry changed their running stories, so that their characters would have realistic reactions to 9/11, was due in part to how NYC was directly tied to the fictional city of Metropolis. Additionally, it is also how the media portrayed the 9/11 attacks as needing all types of heroes, not only first responders, but also those of cultural importance too, such as superheroes. This can be seen in Figure 2.8 (See Appendix B)96 depicting DC Comics’ response to the attacks featuring Superman inspired one-year anniversary tribute to the first responders of NYC entitled, Eleven (9-11): The World's Finest Comic

Book Writers and Artists Tell Stories to Remember.

Other artists paid tribute to the families of the fallen and first responders by drawing commissioned work depicting superheroes mourning the loss felt by the nation. One such example of this touching tribute can be seen in Figure 2.9 (See Appendix B)97 with Marvel’s X-

95 Ibid, 66. 96 Carey, Mike. Nine Eleven (9-11): The World's Finest Comic Book Writers and Artists Tell Stories to Remember. Cover Art by Alex Ross, vol. 2, DC Comics, 2002. 97 Conrad, Kevin. Superman 9-11. Color by Todd Broeker. Pencils and Ink, 2001. 71

Force ink artist, Kevin Conrad, vividly depicting Superman holding the body of a fireman, presumably pulled from the smoldering rubble that remains of the World Trade Center.

DC Comics and independent artists were not alone in their tribute to this catastrophe.

With Marvel’s publishing headquarters located in Manhattan, they released powerful comic storylines where their heroes faced the same tragedy witnessed by the Marvel workers themselves. A famous example of this is The Amazing Spider-Man issue #36, Vol. 2, published in December of 2001 starting off that issue with the panel saying, “Some things are beyond words… Beyond comprehension,” as seen in Figure 2.10 (See Appendix B)98. Later in the same issue in a story called “Standing Tall” Spider-Man recites a now famous monologue after being unable to prevent the catastrophe that befell his home city:

Only madmen could contain the thought, execute the act, fly the planes. The sane world

will always be vulnerable to madmen, because we cannot go where they go to conceive

of such things. We could not see it coming. We could not be here before it happened. We

could not stop it. But we are here now. You cannot see us for the , but we are here.

You cannot hear us for the cries, but we are here.99

While the terrorist attacks on 9/11 changed not only how Americans viewed themselves, but it also changed their very culture. To many Americans these attacks sparked a dramatic shift in tone away from comfort and stability to one of blind patriotism, overt seriousness in the face of great trial, and remorse over the loss of their citizens. Giselinde Kuipers, author of the article

“Where was King Kong When We Needed Him?” claimed that “September 11 was the death of comedy… After 9/11, Americans have stopped laughing '' and that most Americans “felt that

98 Straczynski, Michael J. The Amazing Spider-Man 36. Vol. 2. New York: Marvel Comics, 2001. 99 Ibid. 72 after these events, humor and laughter had become inappropriate.”100 Jeffrey A. Brown, author of

The Modern Superhero in Film and Television: Popular Genre and American Culture, wrote the following on Superman’s cultural significance before and after the terrorist attack on 9/11:

When director Richard Donner’s feature film version of Superman, starring Christopher

Reeve, was released in 1978 the studio was concerned that Superman’s status as the

quintessential American hero would hamper the film’s appeal in foreign markets. In an

attempt to avoid alienating non-domestic audiences Superman’s most recognizable

slogan was altered to “Truth and Justice for All.” The comics followed suit and for years

Superman was presented as a global force for good. But Superman’s true efficacy as a

symbol of America was quickly reinstated after the devastating events of September 11,

2001. Early in January of 2002, while the nation was still reeling from the terrorist

attacks on New York and Washington, the special 600th issue of The Adventures of

Superman was released with a bold cover featuring a stoic looking Superman holding the

American flag, with the firm declaration: “Now, More Than Ever – For Truth, Justice and

the American Way!” The quick mobilization of superhero mythology in post-9/11 culture

helped bolster a sense of American unity and perseverance in the wake of devastating

attacks. No hero was better suited to personify the American spirit than Superman during

those turbulent times.101

As a symbol of American might and retribution, Superman was soon shown all around the country depicted with the American flag as can be seen in Figure 2.11 (See Appendix B)102,

100 Kuipers, Giselinde. “Where Was King Kong When We Needed Him? Public Discourse, Digital Disaster Jokes, and the Functions of Laughter after 9/11.” The Journal of American Culture: A Decade of Dark Humor, vol. 28, no. 1, 2005, p. 70. 101 Brown, Jeffrey A. The Modern Superhero in Film and Television: Popular Genre and American Culture. Routledge, 2017, p. 93. 102 Didio, Dan. “Adventures of Superman Vol 1 600.” Cover Art by Daniel Adel, DC Database, 2002, dc.fandom.com/wiki/Adventures_of_Superman_Vol_1_600. 73 featuring the comic’s cover for “The Adventures of Superman” issue #600. The image expertly depicts this vigilant need for patriotism directly in the aftermath of 9/11.

The Kansas-raised Kryptonian became the perfect poster boy for American values as both a symbol of a successful All-American, immigration story, while also maintaining hope for the future. As Amin Maalouf, author of the book Disordered World: A Vision for the Post 9/11

World, writes in reference to the world a decade after 9/11, “If there is a lesson to be drawn from the events of 2011, it is that the future does not allow itself to be contained within the limits of what is foreseeable, plausible or probable. And it is precisely for that reason that it contains hope”.103 Not only was this symbolism of American might as well as strife found in the pages of the comics, but this change became a prominent theme in movies, and extremely apparent in the most recent retelling of Superman’s origin story ‘s Man of Steel (2013). Filmed a decade after 9/11, Man of Steel reflected the contemporary themes of a darker perception of

American ideals, as well as fears about impending terrorist attacks and justifiable violent redemption.104 Starring Henry Cavill as the titular character, Superman was shown as somber and serious. Cavill’s Superman focused little on the clumsy and graceless of Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent, nor was he one for making quips and cheesy one-liners. He is less concerned with flirting with his on-screen love interest, Lois Lane (), and instead his prime focus is defending the nation and planet from foreign (alien) invaders.105

This dramatic characterization shift of one of America’s favorite superheroes was heavily criticized by fans and critics alike in the wake of Man of Steel’s premier. Variety called the film

“humorless… dour and brooding… gloomy, with little of the genuine wonderment the very name

103 Maalouf, Amin. Disordered World: A Vision for the Post 9/11 World. Bloomsbury Publishing (PLC), 2012, p. xviii. 104 Brown, Jeffrey A. The Modern Superhero in Film and Television: Popular Genre and American Culture. Routledge, 2017, p. 100. 105 Ibid. 74

Superman calls to mind”106, while described Cavill’s Superman as “a joyless ”107. Additionally, The Sun-Times claimed the film to be “dark, convoluted and violent,”108 with Newsday describing it as “dark and bitter”109. Time magazine stated that Superman became a shell of the character he once was, claiming “Like its hero, Man of Steel at its best is serious, stripped down and pumped”110. Similar to ’s111 dark envisioning of Batman, as will be discussed in the next chapter, this version of Superman represents post-9/11 American feelings of anxieties and paranoia, as well as embodying vengeful military might and the necessity of sacrifice.112 Brown wrote the following on this thematic shift from embodying the beliefs of “Thou Shall Not Kill” to one of “Judge, Jury, and ”.

The shift to a grimmer and grittier version of Superman in Man of Steel as a reflection of

contemporary cultural attitudes about external threats to the American way of life is most

evident in the controversial scene where Superman snaps ’s neck in order to

defeat him. A primary principle of the Superman mythos has always been that he does

not kill. Though with his powers Superman could easily resort to mortal violence to

defeat his enemies, his unquestionable moral values have always prohibited him from

doing so. This abrupt departure from 75 years of Superman stories where he always

found a non-lethal way to overcome every villain shocked many critics and fans. This

Superman may still be All-American, but he is not the naïve boy-scout character that he

was often portrayed as in the past. Michael Soares links the infamous neck-snapping

scene directly to the real world logic of protecting America from its enemies at any cost:

106 Foundas, Scott. “Film Review: Man of Steel” Variety, variety.com, June 10, 2013, paras. 2 and 5. 107 Hornaday, Ann. “Man of Steel: Henry Cavill Stars as Superman in this Bombastic ,” The Washington Post, washingtonpost.com, June 13, 2013, para. 2. 108 Seitz, Matt Zoller. “Review: Man of Steel,” The Chicago Sun-Times, rogerebert.com, June 14, 2013, para. 1. 109 Guzman, Rafer. “Man of Steel Review: Why So Serious?” Newsday, newsday.com, June 12, 2013, para. 1. 110 Corliss, Richard. “Man of Steel: Super man … or Human God?” Time Magazine, June 12, 2013, para. 6. 111 Nolan also served as both producer and co-writer of Man of Steel, and as such greatly contributed to this humorless and grim take of the alien immigrant from Kansas. 112 Ibid. 75

“In a sense, much like the American military making life and death decisions for

American interests through tactics like drone strikes, Superman also decides to kill, albeit

for the greater good with the implication that he is forced to do so”113.114

As Brown stated above, this established connection between Superman and militaristic strength/tactics was a deliberate ploy by the producers of Man of Steel since the film’s main promotional partner was the National Guard115 and their “Soldiers of Steel” recruitment campaign.116

This drastic change in thematic material and morals for Superman is heard in Hans

Zimmer’s scoring for Man of Steel. However, when presented with such a monumental task,

Zimmer was unsure if he would be able to write such a famous score, the likes of which

Williams wrote nearly four decades previously. When asked how he would score a Superman reboot in an interview with Tom Hoover, author of Soundtrack Nation: Interviews with Today's

Top Professionals in Film, Videogame and Television Scoring, in 2011, Zimmer expressed his doubts:

Tom Hoover: Indeed. And has the thought of potentially creating music for a Superman

movie ever crossed your mind?

Hans Zimmer: No, and Chris [Nolan] and I haven’t even spoken about that. That one I

can be really open about. We’ve spoken about Superman, we’ve spoken about him

having ideas, et cetera, and working on it. But we’ve never talked about me being

involved in any way.

113 Soares, Michael. “The Man of Tomorrow: Superman from American Exceptionalism to Globalization,” The Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 48, No. 4, 2015, p. 756. 114 Brown, Jeffrey A. The Modern Superhero in Film and Television: Popular Genre and American Culture. Routledge, 2017, pp. 100-101. 115 Pumroy, Ryan. “Recruiting Soldiers of Steel: The Cross-promotion of Man of Steel and the National Guard,” Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 48, No. 4, 2015, pp. 762–775. 116 The National Guard’s “Soldiers of Steel” campaign correlated their soldiers with Superman-like traits: heroism, patriotism, and super strength of the like that only the military could offer the American people. 76

TH: Well suffice it to say, I would be very curious and interested to see what you might

do with material like that. Hypothetically, of course.

HZ: Hypothetically, I have no idea where I would even start. John Williams’ tune for that

movie is unsurpassed.

TH: For sure, and I think the key to success in restarting a franchise like that is maybe to

distance oneself from what we’ve already seen and heard.

HZ: Yeah, but that’s a bit like a sculptor being asked to do something like

Michelangelo’s David, but not. It’s a pretty big benchmark that John set there.117

Which, when the situation presented itself, Zimmer did exactly this and incorporated his own signature style while writing a score that emulated John Williams’ own for Superman. At first glance Zimmer’s score for Man of Steel sounds drastically different from Williams’ own, but upon further analysis his thematic language in his scoring reflects his predecessor’s while retaining his own unique compositional style. As Bribitzer-Stull explains, in order for a musical theme to be recognizable to an average listener, a theme must follow “a variety of key musical parameters that includes but is not limited to the following: contour, rhythmic content, pitch content, length, orchestration, texture, register, tempo, harmonic progression, harmonic function, and contrapuntal framework”.118 And Zimmer successfully does this and more in his scoring for

“Flight” for Superman in Man of Steel as can be seen in a piano reduction of the score in Figure

2.12 (See Appendix A)119, as well as heard in Mp3 track #5120 starting at the 0:00 minute mark.

While other Superman themes were used intermittently throughout the movie as a true leitmotif, “Flight” from Man of Steel is used less as a “true” leitmotif, and is instead introduced

117 Hoover, Tom, and Murray Gold. Soundtrack Nation: Interviews with Today's Top Professionals in Film, Videogame and Television Scoring. Course Technology, 2011, p. 18. 118 Bribitzer-Stull, Matthew. Understanding the Leitmotif: from Wagner to Hollywood Film Music. Cambridge Univ Press, 2015, p.34. 119 White Admiral. “Man of Steel (Flight) - Hans Zimmer | True Piano Transcriptions.” Accessed April 5, 2019, http://www.truepianotranscriptions.com/man-steel-flight-hans-zimmer, p. 1. 120 Zimmer, Hans. “Flight.” YouTube upload: JexMavik, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4OdIOGBW2Q. 77 during the scene where Kal-El’s father, Jor-El (Russell Crowe), gives Kal-El his own iconic supersuit, where he tests his powers to learn how to fly, ultimately embracing his identity as the hero Superman for the first time.121 Donner’s Superman almost always had John Williams’

Superman themes played any time the hero was seen on screen, but the main difference found in

Snyder’s Superman is that while there are certain motifs associated with him as written by Hans

Zimmer, they are not always used as a leitmotif is expected to be scored: prominent and played in its entirety with little deviation. However, “Flight” from Man of Steel has musical themes associated with Superman that can be heard woven in with the other parts of the soundtrack as a smaller motif, rather than one easily recognizable leitmotif.

This is neither a “good” or “bad” way for Zimmer to score for Man of Steel, but rather a compositional technique that makes his scoring for the titular character different from his predecessor. Arguably, this shift away from direct association of one dramatically scored theme is a result of the more ominous, morose, and awe-inspiring tone that Snyder, Nolan, and Zimmer were all hoping for when creating the film for a post-9/11 audience. Instead of blatant heroism found in Williams’ scores, Zimmer gives us reflection, introspection, and a feeling of almost spiritual awakening in the slow, interplay of intervals found in the horns in the thematic section of “Flight” that is dubbed as “Superman Heroic”. This scoring is a reflection of the tone set by the monologue of Jor-El as he tells his son of his (2:12 minute mark): “You will give the people of Earth an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun, Kal. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders.”122

121 Snyder, Zack, director. Man of Steel. 2013; DC Entertainment, Legendary Pictures, Syncopy, Cruel and Unusual Films, Warner Bros. Pictures. DVD. 122 Ibid. 78

Looking back at Figure 2.12, and starting at the 0:00 minute marking, the first part of

Theme A of Zimmer’s “Flight”, part 1 of the “Superman Heroic” motif (0:00-0:27 minute mark), is slow and building in its momentum with an opening fifth interval between the C and G (the same opening intervallic sequence as William’s Superman March) before jumping down to the tonic C and back up to a sixth at the A. Returning to the fifth interval, the opening line ends with a drop to the fourth interval. Theme B, part 2 of “Superman Heroic” (0:28-0:53 minute mark), is similar to theme A in terms of structure but the chordal progression is raising into the treble clef range, adding a crescendo before falling into its resolution on a F Major chord. Theme B¹, part 3 of “Superman Heroic” (0:54-1:26 minute mark) continues with the same initial chord progression as the previous theme, only deviating in the last line with the addition of more instrumental voices and a louder crescendo into the resolving cadence. It is at the start of Theme

C that “Flight” continues with abandoning the slow rise and fall phrasing and instead enters with a percussive ostinato overlaid by an electric guitar played with pedal steel slides, creating a fittingly otherworldly glissando effect to create a secondary motif. Additionally, Zimmer uses minor second intervals in the electric guitar in his ‘Flight’ score, highlighting a tension and alienness (the other) with the contrasting timbre123 of the instruments and the high register of the guitar. The rest of the song further develops on these themes with added textures and instrumental voices (solo female voice and ).

After examining the first motif found in “Flight”, Zimmer’s score has several notable resemblances to that of William’s “Superman March”124 from Superman: The Movie. One of the most prominent similarities is that the both themes open with the same rising fifth interval from

123 Timbre: Also known as tone color/quality, musical timbre is explained as the perceived of notes, sound, and/or tone. Timbre allows for the distinguishing between instruments using psychoacoustics to differentiate between two sounds. 124 Please refer to back to Figure 2.6 for the “Superman March” score and Mp3 Track #2 for the audio reference. The score reduction in Figure 2.6 was previously transcribed in bass clef, but in Figures 2.13-2.14 the “March” reductions are transcribed in treble clef (as it would be for a trumpet line). 79

C to G with Williams’ found in the trumpet motif and Zimmer’s in the low brass and strings.

Another being that when comparing a breakdown of the two themes from “Superman March” and “Superman Heroic” the same five notes of G-A-G-F-G used in the trumpet motif of

William’s score is used as the top note of each interval leap found in Theme A and B in

“Superman Heroic”, as can be seen in Figure 2.13 (See Appendix A)125. Along with this basic construction featuring of the same five notes, starting with the third G in Figure 2.13 in the

“Heroic” rendition (start of Theme B), Zimmer also copies Williams’ use of the notes G-A-B-C in the “March” also found in the trumpet motif as the basis of Theme B of “Heroic”. This direct connection between the compositional styles can be seen in Figure 2.14 (See Appendix A)126.

Using Mp3 track #2 for the “March” at the (0:40-0:57 minute mark) and track #5 for

“Heroic” at the (0:28-1:26 minute mark), by isolating the key notes on a separate staff (seen above in Figure 2.14) this G-A-B-C connection can be seen as well as heard between the two songs. Another interesting connection is that both Williams’ “Superman March” and Zimmer’s

“Superman Heroic” can be written within the 12/8 meter, while the “March” is significantly faster at around a dotted quarter note equal to 115 BPM127, or allegretto, “Flight” is much slower with a dotted quarter note equal to 60 BMP, or adagio. It is important to note that the BMP markers are different here than in Figure 2.12, since that transcriber wrote “Flight” in 4/4 meter while Figures 2.13-2.14 are written in 12/8. As mentioned in the Introduction, Figures 2.12-2.14 are examples of a re-notated reduction of a composition in a meter different to what the original score denotes, to better clarify the length of the basic thematic idea (e.g. transcribing Zimmer’s

“Flight” in either 12/8 or 4/4).

125 Richards, Mark. “Hans Zimmer's Score for Man of Steel.” Film Music Notes: Analysis, Style, Technique, and More, 11 Aug. 2013, www.filmmusicnotes.com/hans-zimmers-score-for-man-of-steel/. 126 Ibid. 127 BPM: Beats Per Minute. 80

After careful examination of both Williams’ “Superman March” and Zimmer’s “Flight”, the thematic and compositional similarities are undeniable. Now one possible reasoning for this is since William’s Superman themes are under copyright, Snyder could not use his “traditional” themes for Man of Steel and thus asked Zimmer to write something that “sounded like

Superman” but wasn't the copyright protected theme. Or, as believed by music theorist and author Frank Leham, perhaps that Zimmer was subconsciously writing for Man of Steel with the original tunes accidentally influencing the most recent Superman composer.128 However, based on the Zimmer interview with Tom Hoover as previously mentioned in this chapter, the more simplistic and probable theory, as supported by fellow music theorists Mark Richards, suggests that Zimmer was consciously writing “Flight” as a homage to his predecessor while still retaining his own unique compositional style.129

Hans Zimmer “Flight” in Man of Steel is a perfect example of his motivic minimalism compositional style that strips away any sound or phrasing that he considers to be “too buoyant” or “lyrical” in nature – the exact opposite of William’s colorful and rich tonal writing.130 Zimmer instead focuses on musical realism via very little motivic writing and instead develops the interplay between intervals or rhythmic sequence to give musical cues on screen. Frank Lehman, author of “Manufacturing the Epic Score: Hans Zimmer and the Sounds of Significance”, wrote the following concerning Zimmer’s darker take on Superman and his scores:

We have already seen how many of Zimmer’s protagonist themes do not radiate the

brightness and optimism of, say, a Williams or [James] Horner hero leitmotif. Rather,

they take themselves very seriously. Indeed, the mere presence of a raised leading tone in

minor might sound too consolatory! Even his major-mode theme for Superman in Man of

128 Lehman, Frank. “Manufacturing the Epic Score: Hans Zimmer and the Sounds of Significance.” Edited by Stephen C. Meyer, p. 55. 129 Ibid. 130 Ibid, 49. 81

Steel—which the composer deliberately crafted to sound hopeful—is restrained and self-

important, with none of the sense of fun, nor the winking bluster, present in forerunners

by [John] Williams or Shirley Walker131. Again and again, Zimmer’s modern scores

cultivate the dark and burdened attitude of a man who is reluctantly forced to take action

against a complex threat.132

It is this style of writing that gives the audience a feeling of ceaseless action that, because it is “decidedly non-heroic music” in its nature, results in a feeling of our protagonists being in constant threat133 or that a “disaster is always impending”.134 These compositional and thematic choices are extremely apparent in Zimmer’s scores, so much so that as Lehman notes, “Our heroes are not motivated because of an innate benevolence, and their musical characterization reflects this outlook. Rather, it is the necessity of action against evil that rouses a Zimmer protagonist.”135 While Zimmer’s scoring for Man of Steel does not reaffirm Superman’s superhero status to a general audience, it does allow for a post-9/11 audience to connect to the less flamboyantly-clad protagonist, and instead creates support for the modern and serious take on the Kryptonian hero.

It would be an oversight if one does not bring up Bryan Singer's Superman Returns

(2006) when looking at a pre- and post-9/11 take on Superman’s music and characterization changes. Released five years after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon,

Superman Returns is Signer’s attempt at a balancing act of nostalgia, utopianism, and acting as a homage to the original Donner series of Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980).136 Matt

131 is best known in the superhero genre as a music composer for Superman: The (1996-2000) and animated television series, (1999-2000). 132 Ibid. 133 Ibid. 134 Reyland, Nicholas. “Corporate Classicism and the Metaphysical Style: Affects, Effects, and Contexts of Two Recent Trends in Screen Scoring,” Music, Sound, and the Moving Image, 9.2, 2015, pp. 115–130. 135 Lehman, Frank. “Manufacturing the Epic Score: Hans Zimmer and the Sounds of Significance.” Edited by Stephen C. Meyer, p. 49. 136 Yockey, Matt. “Somewhere in Time: and the Return of Superman,” The Velvet Light Trap, No. 61. 2008, pp. 26–37. 82

Yockey, author of “Somewhere in Time: Utopia and the Return of Superman” describes this version of Superman as a reflection of the old rather than focusing on the new: “In Singer’s hands, as in Donner’s… Superman is simultaneously new and old, with the emphasis on the latter”. Yockey’s observations are not unfounded as Superman Returns makes several obvious references to Donner’s Superman films through Singer’s casting, parallel of specific scenes, and the use of John Williams’ music score with so little changes to the original themes, they can barely be called a variation upon a theme.137

However, as both Brown and Yockey argue, this homage to Donner’s films through such obvious parallels and call-backs to the 1978 version of Superman only adds to the “nostalgic presence of Superman Returns sought to bolster an America that had come to feel lost”138 and that “[d]espite the film’s perceived failure at the box-office, Superman Returns [that] demonstrates the centrality of nostalgia and Americanness inherent in any depiction of

Superman”.139 Singer’s Superman Returns is a true reflection of its time by adding a more morose flair to the normally charming and witty version of Superman from the animated series in the fifties, and the Donner films from the late seventies, while also trying to bring an optimistic approach to a healing nation – or in this case, a superhero returning to Earth after of

Krypton’s demise and reconnecting with loved ones (Lois Lane and his son).

With the fifth installment in the DC Extended Universe film set, Justice League (2017) graced the silver screen featuring a team up story featuring members of the Justice League:

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Aquaman, and . Also directed by Zack

Snyder, this film was notable at the time of its release for introducing half of the members of the team up in one film (Cyborg, Aquaman, and the Flash) with Superman first appearing in Man of

137 Brown, Jeffrey A. The Modern Superhero in Film and Television: Popular Genre and American Culture. Routledge, 2017, p. 98. 138 Ibid. 139 Ibid. 83

Steel and Batman and Wonder Woman both introduced in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

(2016). What is notable about Justice League is that instead of using Hans Zimmer, who had already scored both Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, they enlisted the help of Danny Elfman – a composer who is best known within the DC Comics history as the original composer for the 1989 Batman film, which will be discussed further in the next chapter.

When the public learned of Elfman’s hiring as the composer for Justice League, he told fans that he planned to reintroduce the 1978 Williams’ Superman theme in the score.140 This announcement was met with conflicting views as fans feared that the use of upbeat, patriotic sounding themes would not fit with the more serious and darker tones that the Snyder films embodied.141 Ever up for the challenge, Danny Elfman successfully incorporated Williams’

“Superman Fanfare” from Superman: The Movie, in which the original leitmotif can be seen back in Figure 2.3 and heard in Mp3 track #2 (0:00-0:28 minute mark). The adaption of the

William’s “Superman Fanfare” can be heard in the Justice League soundtrack “The Final Battle” on the Mp3 track #6142 at the (2:35-2:58 minute mark). While not the only superhero theme to be heard in this song, the incorporation of the 1978 “Superman Fanfare” theme, written in lower brass registers and with hints of a minor key when it appears earlier in “Friends and Foes” to keep with the serious and somber tone of the film, is a great callback to Donner’s Superman without taking away from the legitimacy of Snyder’s take on the Kryptonian.143

As the hero that defined a new genre, Superman has always stood as a symbol of hope and strength for the American people. It is his famous slogan of “Truth, Justice, and the

American way!” that has kept Superman’s popularity at an all-time high when the nation was in

140 “Justice League (Danny Elfman).” Filmtracks, 29 Dec. 2017, www.filmtracks.com/titles/justice_league.html. 141 Ibid. 142 Elfman, Danny. “The Final Battle.” track #20 on Justice League: Original Motion Soundtrack, Watertower Music, DC Comics, CD, 2017. 143 “Justice League (Danny Elfman).” Filmtracks, 29 Dec. 2017, www.filmtracks.com/titles/justice_league.html. 84 despair and a time of national mourning. But where Superman is the embodiment of America’s sense of morality, justice, democracy, social responsibility, and a greater sense of community through passionate patriotism, then it is his comic book counterpart, Batman, who embodies

America’s need for violent retribution and righteous . If pre- 9/11 America relied on

Superman as the cultural hero that the nation deserved, then Batman became the hero that the nation needed post- 9/11 because as Commissioner Gordon says in The Dark Knight (2008,

Nolan), “[Batman]'s a silent , a watchful protector, a Dark Knight.”144 In essence:

Superman represents our nation's ideals, while Batman is our nation’s reality.

The character of Superman was written and portrayed differently pre- and post- 9/11, and with it, this increased connection with Americanization and patriotism is heard in his newer musical themes. Be it a different composer, a change in director, or a new cultural crisis that shaped the Nation, Superman’s leitmotifs have changed with the times to best reflect – and in some ways, musically project – the sound expected of a superhero. Superman’s majestic themes, loud and boisterous in characterization to match the ideals of the spandex-clad Super, is thematically challenged by the dark and brooding low brass motifs by the Caped Crusader.

Superman and Batman have always been character foils to one another, whose leitmotifs are equally recognizable, but these on-screen adversaries remain compositional and thematic opposites.

144 Nolan, Christopher, director. The Dark Knight. 2008; Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Comics, Legendary Pictures, Syncopy, Warner Bros. Pictures. DVD. 85

CHAPTER III. BECOMING THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD: THE MULTIPLICITY OF

BATMAN’S IDENTITY AND MUSICAL THEMES THROUGHOUT THE AGES

“Superman is the way America sees itself. Batman is the way the rest of the world sees

America.”

– Michael Caine, quoted in Brown, The Modern Superhero in Film and Television, 110.

Batman Begins: The Origins of the Caped Crusader

Since his comic book debut in May of 1939, Bruce Wayne has had many names: the

Caped Crusader, the Masked , of Gotham, the Dark Knight, and originally the Bat-Man.1 But as the protector of Gotham and as a deliverer of moral justice,

Bruce Wayne is the , Batman. Founding member of the famed superhero team-ups The

Justice League and The , as well as one half of the Dynamic Duo of Batman and Robin,

Batman is one of the many superhero characters from DC Comics that has his own graphic novels, movies, toys, action figures, clothing, television shows, and feature films.2 Known as

“the World’s Greatest Detective,” he is one of the most profitable fictional characters and a defining cultural figures in popular culture in the world.3

One of the many appeals of Batman is that he is a superhero without being a super- powered hero. Without the added benefits of superstrength, superspeed, or the ability to fly,

Batman is just as human as his fans. Without superpowers, the Caped Crusader is what his fans aspire to be: a rich, powerful, disciplined, and an extremely smart man with access to cool gadgets, a tricked out car nicknamed the , and a penchant for punching villains under

1 Harris, Ben, and Sebastian Raatz, editors. “: Where Batman Came from - and Why He Was Such a Hit.” The Ultimate Guide to Batman and the , 2019, p. 9. 2 Brown, Jeffery A. Batman and the Multiplicity of Identity: The Contemporary Comic Book Superhero as Cultural Nexus. Routledge, 2018, p. 1. 3 Ibid. 86 the cover of night.4 But in a post-9/11 society, it is his strong sense of morals and vigilante justice that makes Batman the American cultural hero that he is today.5

Batman’s creation is inherently tied to Superman’s, making the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel bound by fate and often depicted as close friends and confidants, unlikely partners as found in Justice League (Snyder, 2017) or even bitter rivals in comics or on screen, such as in the comic book series Dark Knight Returns (1986) and the film Batman v Superman: Dawn of

Justice (Snyder, 2016). Hoping to create a counterpart to Superman, and capitalize on the superhero’s initial sales success, artist sketched out a man with tights and black shorts, a “” styled eye-, and large wings affixed to his arms to strike fear in his enemies.6 He then asked writer to help him bring his new hero to life, a man whom

Kane called Bat-Man. Finger prompted Kane to switch out the red for grey, and add the famous -like cape and pointy-eared cowl.7 Together, they added millionaire, playboy Bruce

Wayne as a secret identity to their Bat-Man (soon to be renamed Batman) who would fight crime and vanquish foes with reckless abandon, with the same finesse as Finger’s Batman inspirations: swashbuckling actor Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and famous fictional detective .8

With a dual persona and updated costume, Batman made his debut in

No. 27 in 1939 in a murder mystery-styled plot entitled “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate.” It is here that Commissioner Gordon informs his friend, Bruce Wayne, about a troubling case which he later solves while in his Batman persona. Batman’s story was colored in darker tones than Superman’s lively debut in Action Comics, operating almost entirely at night in the streets of Gotham – a literal night and day difference to his superpowered counterpart. Whereas

4 Harris, Ben, and Sebastian Raatz, editors. “What Makes Batman Special?” The Ultimate Guide to Batman and the Joker, 2019, p. 7. 5 Ibid. 6 Harris, Ben, and Sebastian Raatz, editors. “The Dark Knight Rises: Where Batman Came from - and Why He Was Such a Hit.” The Ultimate Guide to Batman and the Joker, 2019, pp. 9–12. 7 Ibid. 8 Ibid. 87

Superman used his superpowers to beat his enemies into submission, Batman relied on his wits and detective skills to solve crimes, only using force when necessary. But one thing separated the

Dark Knight from the Kryptonian, Batman was willing to kill. By the end of the first comic story, not only had Batman solved the case and revealed his identity as Bruce Wayne to the readers, but he had also killed at least two people, including the murderer, along the way.9 It was this dramatic shift from the noble Superman to justice style of Batman that made the

Caped Crusader so intriguing to his young reader base, so much so that the character gained enough popularity to launch his comic book series (now matching Superman’s two books of

Action Comics and Superman title series).10

Over the next seven decades, Batman would undergo multiple different reiterations of his character, with some being a dark murderous force of justice, to a campy crime fighter that specialized in silly one-liners before knocking out a bank robber. But almost all of these renditions of Batman starts with the story of a young Bruce Wayne who is soon orphaned, as a man kills both of his parents in a mugging gone wrong outside a theater in .11 This tragedy shatters Bruce’s childhood and forces him to grow up alone in his mansion with his loyal butler, . Training in various martial art forms, until he becomes a fighter with muscles rivaling those of an Olympic athlete, Bruce Wayne donned the pointed cowl and utility belt that made him into the vigilante superhero, Batman.

Batman retains his superhero status by representing the “absolute pinnacle of human achievement,”12 something that young male readers and viewers all aspire to be. He is depicted as a prime example of American exceptionalism, a characterization that is often found in the

9 Ibid, 10. 10 Ibid. 11 Brown, Jeffrey A. Batman and the Multiplicity of Identity: The Contemporary Comic Book Superhero as Cultural Nexus. Routledge, 2018, p. 21. 12 Ibid. 88 conventions of the superhero genre.13 This genre is specially written to counter cultural fears held by a nation concerned with self-preservation against an unseen terror and a questioning of vulnerability and emasculation of Americans.14 It is rare to find a superhero without a backstory plagued with tragedy, such is a common convention within the superhero genre. As men (and later women) with a history of trauma, superheroes are able to overcome their tragedies and become stronger than the threats that faces them – just as the American people rally behind extreme patriotism and military strength for violent retribution.15 Slavoj Žižek, author of

Welcome to the Desert of the Real: Five Essays on September 11 and Related Dates, highlights this collective ethos in the wake of terrorism: “The true ethical test is not only the readiness to save victims, but also – even more, perhaps – the ruthless dedication to annihilating those who made them victims.”16 This became the mindset that many Americans had after the events of

9/11 who wanted to see their heroes like Batman fight with “the burning anger of the righteous”17, to protect the people and hurt those who harm others. It is Batman’s historic ties with depictions of violence and vigilante justice that American viewers of his television shows and films heavily empathized with and supported after the events of 9/11.

If Superman represents America’s hope for the future, then Batman represents America’s fears and the lengths at which the nation will go to seek justice. This delicate balance between the law and moral justice is one that is reflected heavily in the differences between the fictional characters of Superman and Batman, but it is also something that is reflected in how Americans view themselves as well as how they are viewed by others. This parallel between the popular culture heroes and the culture of America/Americanization itself is famously commented on by

13 Brown, Jeffrey A. The Modern Superhero in Film and Television: Popular Genre and American Culture. Routledge, 2017, p. 64. 14 Ibid. 15 Ibid. 16 Žižek, Slavoj. Welcome to the Desert of the Real: Five Essays on September 11 and Related Dates. London: Verso ed. 2012, p. 68. 17 Maalouf, Amin. Disordered World: A Vision for the Post 9/11 World. Bloomsbury Publishing (PLC), 2012, p.250. 89

Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy actor, Michael Caine (playing Bruce’s loyal butler, Alfred

Pennyworth) who claimed that “Superman is the way America sees itself. Batman is the way the rest of the world sees America.”18

For as much as Batman is associated with vigilante justice, he is not like Marvel’s

Punisher, a vigilante whose definition of justice is leaving behind a trail of dead bodies, by any means. The Caped Crusader’s early origins depicted a vigilante that used deadly force to solve a case or stop violent criminals, but Batman’s characterization quickly changed to showcase his new moral code of never resorting to murder even in the name of justice, something that will be further discussed in this chapter. Whether as millionaire Bruce Wayne, or as the crime fighting vigilante Batman, his hero status is enough to rival that of Superman. Batman has ensured his popularity through his cultural appeal to the male viewership, and an American audience bent on violent retribution in the wake of 9/11.

The Man Behind the Mask: The Duality of Bruce Wayne and Batman

While not the only superhero to live a double life, /Bruce Wayne duality is one that needs further scrutiny. In order to better understand the character, one must look at him as two halves of one whole, instead of two separate entities. The best example of superheroes living as multiple personas is looking at the differences between Clark Kent/Superman/Kal-El and Bruce Wayne/Batman. Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne are different in that while both experienced trauma, Clark with the explosion of Krypton, and Bruce with the murders of his parents, how they went through their traumas is important to their development as heroes.

Although he was just a child, Bruce Wayne was old enough to not only experience the trauma himself, but it also shaped his life into becoming a vigilante. Meanwhile, Kal-El was too young

18 Brown, Jeffrey A. The Modern Superhero in Film and Television: Popular Genre and American Culture. Routledge, 2017, p. 110. 90 to remember Krypton, and was raised as a human named Clark Kent until he was old enough to know he was an alien. It was only until adulthood that Clark learned of Krypton’s fate. Their differences in experiencing trauma shaped their characters differently so that the lives of

Superman and Clark Kent are almost polar opposites and treated as two separate people – or rather three, if you count Kal-El as someone who acts as both Clark Kent and Superman. But as

Bruce Wayne’s trauma is one that he had to live through, it formed him into the character he is – one that struggles to maintain the Bruce Wayne persona in the day, while fighting as Batman at night.

Just as philosopher and gender theorist, Judith Butler, explains how humans perform their gender and identity in her book Subversive Bodily Acts, so too do the characters of Superman and

Batman to differentiate their superhero personas from their secret identities.19 Both hero’s performances of multiple personalities is not unlike that of a drag queen’s performance of their dual personalities and how they perform all aspects of their identities. Butler comments on this concept of performing identities in drag culture.

The performance of drag plays upon the distinction between the anatomy of the

performer and the gender that is being performed. But we are actually in the presence of

three contingent dimensions of significant corporeality: anatomical sex, gender identity,

and gender performance.20

Just as drag queens perform all aspects of their separate identities in terms of gender and physical portrayal, so too does Clark and Bruce's performance of their identity changes whether in their secret identities or their superhero personas. Just as drag queens perform three separate

19 Butler, Judith. “Subversive Bodily Acts.” Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, Routledge, 1990. 20 Ibid, 379. 91 identities, so too does Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman. But the personas of Bruce Wayne and

Batman are, in the simplest of terms, opposites. Bruce Wayne is charismatic, a socialite, who rarely gets involved with the politics within Gotham, concerned instead with partying and dating women. But Batman is a loner, focused only on fighting criminals, and struggles to maintain any meaningful relationships outside of the - something that is the highlight of many jokes in The Movie (McKay, 2017). The distinction between the personas of Batman and

Bruce Wayne is accentuated in how the characters are portrayed in the comics, and even more so by how they are played by the actor on screen. Just as a director and composer for a film can change how the character is portrayed, it is the specific acting choices, the analyzing of gestures, and (micro-) expressions that can differentiate which persona is seen on screen.21 Cynthia Baron and Sharon Marie Carnicke, authors of Reframing Screen Performance, explains this phenomenon further: “When these gestures resonate with the artistic conception and style of a film, the actor not only makes the editor’s work easier, but, more significantly, actively contributes to the final screen product.”22 As will be discussed further in the chapter, Baron and

Carnicke’s commentary can be seen implemented in the dramatic differences in how plays a more whimsical Batman on screen versus how portrays the Dark Knight, emphasis on the “dark”, that helps set the tone of their respective films.

Depicted as foils to the other, Superman and Batman are opposites in how they perform their identities in the comics as well as on screen: Clark Kent is portrayed as the weak, timid, clumsy reporter – in essence, a nobody – so that his Superman persona captures the greater attention. But Bruce Wayne is the flashy, charismatic playboy who is always in the public eye so that Batman stays out of the spotlight and can fight crime in the shadows. Because Kal-El was

21 Baron, Cynthia, and Sharon Marie Carnicke. Reframing Screen Performance. University of Michigan Press, 2008, p. 114. 22 Ibid, 127. 92 raised as Clark Kent by two loving parents, Clark becomes Superman as part of embracing his identity as reaching adulthood and the (supposed) last surviving Kryptonian. But since Bruce

Wayne’s childhood is shaken by the death of his parents, his taking on the vigilante role of

Batman is a direct result of this trauma. Each character portrays their personas differently because of how they were raised and how their lives were affected by their separate traumas.

While both characters are entitled to their sorrow, Bruce Wayne’s story is one that connected to American people post-9/11. Readers of the comics and those who watched his films empathized with the young Bruce Wayne as he witnessed his parents’ death, just as countless people watched the horrors of 9/11 unfold on their television screen, along with those who witnessed the tragedy in person. As a culture, Americans needed a hero that they could connect to and identify with in their mourning. Butler weighs in on this need for collective mourning post-9/11 as a common and communal experience of loss and grief23: “This means that each of us is constituted politically in part by virtue of the social vulnerability of our bodies… Loss and vulnerability seem to follow from our being socially constituted bodies, attached to others, at of losing those attachments, exposed to others, at the risk of violence by virtue of that exposure”.24 To put it simply, pre-9/11 fans only cared about Batman as a hero with cool gadgets who beat the bad guys, but post-9/11 audiences connected with the traumatized child who grew from his pain and sought justice for his parents. With the harsh realities that came with witnessing 9/11, audiences wanted to know less about Batman and more about the man – the hero – behind the mask playing off the belief that anyone can be Batman, just as anyone can choose to be a hero in the wake of the terrorist attacks. While there are some exceptions to this factor, this is not the case as seen with Michael E. Uslan, executive producer of Batman (Burton,

23 Butler, Judith. Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence. London and New York: Verso, 2004. 24 Engle, Karen. Seeing Ghosts: 9/11 and the Visual Imagination. Montreal: McGill UP, 2009, p. 115. 93

1989) who is claimed to say the following: “This is not a movie about Batman. If we are going to do this seriously, this is a movie about Bruce Wayne,” Batman’s on-the-edge playboy who is willing to “get nuts.”25 The music played in scenes involving Bruce Wayne was scored with far more emotional depth than before.

Thus, the tone of his films shifted to reflect this cultural shift to looking at “everyday” heroes such as first responders in the aftermath of 9/11, and those in the front lines during the coronavirus pandemic. A tone shift that is easily heard in his soundtracks, as well as seen in the changes of iconography associated with the Dark Knight. This is because of compositional techniques utilized by Hans Zimmer and Danny Elfman to create so-called “empathetic music.”

Coined by French film theorist and music composer Michel Chion26, empathetic music describes music played during a scene that supports the iconography on screen, that is used to create a deeper emotional connection to the scene, and furthermore uses Saussure’s semiotics to examine past the surface-level connection between music and imagery to create or strengthen a logos/pathos connection.27 In other words, the mood and tone of the music matches the iconography on film so that the tone is reaffirmed through the added textual layering of music.

While used throughout the different Batman films, empathetic music is dramatically scored differently for Batman and Bruce Wayne’s appearances on screen post-9/11. As will be explored later in this chapter, empathetic music is used throughout films after September 11,

2001 to further create a sympathetic connection with both Bruce Wayne, as well as Batman, that added an emotional depth and supplemental character development to otherwise two- dimensional characters.

25 Cavna, Michael. “Tim Burton's 'Batman' Was a Game Changer.” The Flint Journal, 9 June 2019, p. L8. 26 Chion, Michel. Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen. Trans. Claudia Gorbman. New York: Columbia University Press, 1994, p. 8. 27 Coombes, Michael. “Screen Music as Montage and Metaphor.” Academia.edu, 2012, www.academia.edu/10987919/Screen_Music_as_Montage_and_Metaphor, p. 21. 94

Batman and Multiplicity: Camp, Reverence, and Revenge

While Superman has had multiple renditions of his character, no rewriting of a hero is as drastically different than that of the multiplicity of Batman. Multiplicity, by its very definition, is a postmodernist concept where one entity crosses several different boundaries, each affecting the original text with a juxtaposition of various images, materials, or persons creating a “plurality of voices” in which the original is manipulated by different sources.28 Batman’s multiplicity comes from the many revisionings of the Caped Crusader, including that of a campy nonsensical crime fighter to a serious revenge seeking vigilante. In his book, Batman and the Multiplicity of

Identity: The Contemporary Comic Book, Jeffrey A. Brown talks in length about the many characterizations of Batman as showcased across multimedia platforms:

A large degree of flexibility has been essential for Batman to remain popular over 80

years of different stories, from thousands of different writers and artists, portrayals in

different media forms, and reflecting different time periods. Henry Jenkins has

insightfully described the character and story variations that are an inherent part of the

superhero genre as “multiplicities.”29 A comic book hero as popular as Batman can, and

does, appear in radically different ways at the same time. For example, in 2008, Christian

Bale played Batman as a grim avenger in the film The Dark Knight, at the

same time that Batman was a self- mocking cartoon in the television series Batman: The

Brave and the Bold. In the comics, Batman fought versions of himself from Bat-mite to

Batman of the Future, and gamers could play as the extremely violent Caped Crusader in

the newly released Batman: . At the same time, older versions of the

28 Douwe Fokkema and Hans Bertens (eds), Approaching Postmodernism: Papers presented at a Workshop on Postmodernism, 21 – 23 September 1984, University of Utrecht, (Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1986), p. 213; 222. 29 Jenkins, Henry. “Just Men in Tights: Rewriting Silver Age Comics in an Era of Multiplicity”. In L. Geraghty & M. Jancovich (Eds.), The Shifting Definitions of genre: Essays on labeling films, television shows and media, New York, NY: McFarland &Company, 2009, pp. 229–243. 95

character existed in back issues, reprints, prestige graphic novels, and archive collections,

as well as television reruns of Batman: The Animated Series and the campy 1960s

Batman.30

As mentioned in the above quote, media scholar Henry Jenkins wrote in his article “Just

Men in Tights: Rewriting Silver Age Comics in an Era of Multiplicity”, about the numerous ways in which the modern comics (and now films, television shows, and video games) re-create, modify, and recontextualize the comic book superhero genre.31 Jenkins argues that the elaborate multiplicity of reiterations of the same character in the superhero genre leads to an audience’s multiple of the same hero. Jenkins states that the superhero genre has entered a time where multiplicity and are of equal importance to the genre in its development.

Because of this change, readers and viewers may see various adaptations of the same franchise which could include the following: different renditions of a character and/or perceptions of the relationships with the secondary characters, different moral perspectives within a narrative, re- examining diverse storylines that are imperative to a character’s development, etc.32 Such is the case with DC Comics’ Batman, something that comic book writer cared to comment on in the following passage:

Batman is a cheery Saturday morning cartoon with The Brave and the Bold but he’s also

beating people to a pulp in The Dark Knight, a film that pushes the limits of PG-13. He’s

a Fisher Price toy for toddlers and a sociopath in Frank Miller’s books. And nobody

blinks. It’s really weird. Batman can take anything. You can do comedy Batman, you can

30 Brown, Jeffrey A. Batman and the Multiplicity of Identity: The Contemporary Comic Book Superhero as Cultural Nexus. Routledge, 2018, p. 9. 31 Jenkins, Henry. “Just Men in Tights: Rewriting Silver Age Comics in an Era of Multiplicity”. In L. Geraghty & M. Jancovich (Eds.), The Shifting Definitions of genre: Essays on labeling films, television shows and media, New York, NY: McFarland &Company, 2009, pp. 229–243. 32 Ibid. 96

do gay Batman… it all works. It’s something intrinsic to the character. It’s so strange and

amazing.33

With this close history with multiplicity, Batman acts as a cultural phenomenon in which each rendition not only reflects on the cultural climate at the time politically, but it also comments on America’s ideologies of hegemony34, masculinity, and interpersonal relationship values. In their book, The Many lives of the Batman: Critical approaches to a superhero and his media, William Uricchio and Roberta E. Pearson supports this claim that the character Batman is an agent of hegemony, stating that Batman functions as a character that is intrinsically tied to the hegemonic norms of society.35 This is because, like Superman, Batman adheres to the adolescent male power fantasy. This convention found in the superhero genre states that having visible muscles, acting super tough, saving the day, using symbols of power and masculinity (e.g., guns, cars, money, acts of violence, sex, etc.) and getting the girl is all what makes the hero a superhero. But the adolescent male power fantasy, is just that – a fantasy. Writers of comic books and directors of superhero films focus on writing their plots and their characters so that the, generally male, audience members identify with the main male superhero.

Batman is a prime example of this hegemonic ideal in that he is regularly depicted as performing not only his two separate identities as both Bruce Wayne and Batman through mannerisms, demeanor, dialogue, and acting choices – but rather the gender norms that are prescribed to him becomes extreme (i.e. hyper masculine). As Butler describes in her book,

Gender Trouble, gender roles is a performance, one that everyone regardless of age or biologic

33 Brown, Jeffrey A. “L.A. Times, Hero Complex, 2010.” in Batman and the Multiplicity of Identity: The Contemporary Comic Book Superhero as Cultural Nexus. Routledge, 2018, p. 19. 34 Hegemony: A term defined by Italian philosopher and political activist, Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937), that means the process whereby those in power (either by appointment or otherwise) have control over a consenting populace and that any deviation from this is considered a deviation from the societal “norm”. 35 Uricchio, William and Pearson, Roberta E. “I’m not fooled by that cheap disguise.” In R. E. Pearson & W. Uricchio, Eds., The Many lives of the Batman: Critical approaches to a superhero and his media, New York: NY: Routledge Press, 1991, p. 207. 97 sex performs – often unconsciously.36 According to Butler’s theories on gender, personally ascribed gendered identities are “not a reflection of one’s authentic core self, but are a culturally coded effect of performance”37. Because Batman is inherently linked to this idea of the adolescent male power fantasy as a convention of the superhero genre, his fans expected any depiction of Batman to follow this hegemonic rule of hyper masculinity in which he is shown as extremely muscular, violent, and emotionally limited (with the exception of anger). Any refuting of this performance is seen as Batman acting outside of the hegemonic norm – a character that while having the name Batman is not “quite” Batman, but rather one of his more obscure multiplicities. This leads to any version of Batman who does not fit these societal standards as part of camp, a consequence of the establishment of the Comic Code Authority.

Incorporated into comics in the 1950s, the Comic Code Authority was developed by New

York City psychiatrist Dr. Fredric Wertham to create a censorship stamp for comic books.38

Wertham argued that children who read comic books would develop violent tendencies and imitate the actions of those they read. He used social psychiatry to gather his findings and publicize his view on popular culture and the harm that comic books posed to the American youth. Unable to pass legislation banning the violent storylines in comic books (generally associated with superheroes), Wertham published Seduction of the Innocent in 1954.39 His book swayed public opinion enough that the Comics Magazine Association of America created a seal, made to resemble that of a postage stamp, that would appear on each cover of comic books that proved that issue of comics was “Approved by the Comics Code Authority” – the very same words seen on the seal of approval.40

36 Butler, Judith. “Subversive Bodily Acts.” Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, Routledge, 1990, p. 138. 37 Ibid. 38 “Comics Code History: The Seal of Approval – Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.” Accessed May 17, 2020. http://cbldf.org/comics-code- history-the-seal-of-approval/. 39 Ibid. 40 Ibid. 98

With the seal of approval, superhero storylines must stick to a set rule of guidelines in order to be printed that no longer allowed for “questionable and immoral” themes such as: the depiction of acts of violence, hints at sexual themes, slang terms and colloquial language, homosexuality, and the vague rule of “any other content not in keeping with critics’ standards”.41

Belonging to both the superhero genre, as well as the crime and mystery solving genres (as found in Detective Comics), Batman was no longer able to stop crime fighters with a violent retribution and leaving dead bodies in his wake. But rather, Batman suddenly was written to be child- friendly, trading bloody knuckles and stopping murders for wacky gadgets and thwarting harmless and silly crooks.42 This censored and silly portrayal of Batman resulted in the extremely Camp driven Batman (1966–1968) television series following the adventures of the

Dynamic Duo of Batman (Adam West) and Robin ().43 This over-the-top Batman series parodied some of the more serious moments in the comics, so all that was left was this of 1960s Pop Art esthetic and the heavily queer-coded style of Camp, that turned a serious superhero into a ridiculous and harmless remnant of a beloved character.44

Camp is defined as something that is ironic, self-aware, a perversion of the performance of gender roles, often coded as homosexual, and described as “a metaphor of life as theatre” implying heavy theatrics.45 Jarman, author of “Watch My Lips: The Limits of Camp in

Lip-Syncing Scenes.” from the book Music & Camp, described Camp is the following:

In particular, I argue that camp is a distinctly fragile phenomenon, and that its fragility

can be well understood by exploring these scenes. More particularly, it is a style that is

41 Ibid. 42 Brown, Jeffrey A. Batman and the Multiplicity of Identity: The Contemporary Comic Book Superhero as Cultural Nexus. Routledge, 2018, pp. 21–22. 43 Ibid. 44 Ibid. 45 Medhurst, Andy. “Batman, Deviance and Camp.” Hatfield, Charles, Jeet Heer, and Kent Worcester, eds. The Superhero Reader. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2013, p. 243. 99

extravagant, potentially to the point of excess – camp is widely understood to contain a

distinct element of exaggeration, theatrically, or even gaudiness… This is certainly my

position: camp can work like a cultural Trojan horse, slipping in gender subversion

beneath the radar, infiltrating our living rooms under the guise of trashy entertainment,

particularly entertainment in which comedy is paramount. This is not, of course, to say

that camp is always trashy; any trashiness in which it might delight is evidence of its

proximity to kitsch, but such a relationship is not always so palpable.46

Keeping this vivid description of Camp in mind, the enforcement of this Comic Code

Authority was continued into the television depictions of superheroes, tinting the once genre with a Campy tone of disbelief out of foolishness and absurdity derived from the heroes' ineptitude. Besides the 1960s television program of Batman, other superhero television series that became “Camp classics” include: Wonder Woman (1975-1979), The Amazing Spider-

Man (1977-1979), and (perhaps to a lesser extent) The Incredible Hulk (1978-1982) which were all seen as comedic enactments of the titular superheroes.47 These superhero television shows fell under the category of a genre parody, in that while certain aspects of the shows mocked certain superhero genre conventions, visualization, props, and plot lines; the spoofing of these elements does not deter from the original sources’ credibility.48 Rather the television shows rely on a certain familiarity with the genre’s conventions among the fans so that changed elements are better understood such as jokes, callback to plots and thematic material, over-the-top gadgets, and silly one-liners that are all derived from the original comics.49 While not alone in its ridiculous portrayal, Batman took the greatest hit to his once thought of “serious” image,

46 Jarman, Freya. “Watch My Lips: The Limits of Camp in Lip-Syncing Scenes.” Music & Camp, edited by Christopher Moore and Philip Purvis, Wesleyan University Press, 2018, p. 97. 47 Brown, Jeffrey A. The Modern Superhero in Film and Television: Popular Genre and American Culture. Routledge, 2017, p. 138. 48 Ibid, 139. 49 Ibid. 100 becoming an all-out-mockery of the character as well as the superhero genre as a whole.50 Brown capitalizes on this notion of Batman’s history with Camp and how it forever changed the fan’s image of the Caped Crusader:

With ridiculous costumes, prancing , absurd death traps, and Adam West’s

overly dramatic delivery of overly dramatic dialogue, the Batman TV program managed

to undermine any notion of taking superheroes seriously. The intentional absurdity of

Batman pretending to be very serious fare, though with an ever-present wink and smirk,

is considered the epitome of camp.51

Brown is joined by Kristopher Spencer, author of Film and Television Scores, 1950-

1979: a Critical Survey by Genre, in his commentary on Batman’s Campiness, that was found both in the iconography of the show and soundtrack, as well as in Batman: The Movie

(Martinson, 1966). This can be seen in the following quote from Spencer on the production of both the television show and film similarly entitled, Batman.

With its campy dialogue, art direction and zany comic energy, Batman

(1966-1968) was a big hit for ABC, and was one of the first TV shows to inspire a

theatrical release. The music for both the show and the original movie, starring Adam

West, blends high-energy and early rock ‘n’ roll. (who wrote the

catchy surf rock theme music), , Warren Barker and Billy May contributed

to the TV soundtrack. Riddle scored the less successful theatrical release. Electric guitar,

organ, brass, woodwinds, electric bass, and drums join forces to vanquish the boring and

ordinary. Riddle’s Batman movie soundtrack is a bit more sophisticated and more

cinematic than Hefti’s record. While the energy level is suitably cartoonish, Riddle finds

50 Ibid, 138. 51 Ibid. 101

room to explore moods ranging from romantic to suspenseful. The score has as much

“pop” as the Technicolor set pieces they aurally depict.52

Both Brown and Spencer’s observational commentary on the television show and film’s

Campy depiction of Batman is evident in the chaotic and flamboyant iconography shown on the cover of the original motion picture soundtrack cover. Described as capturing the show’s

“cartoonish crime-fighting sense of excitement”53, the remastered CD’s iconic cover is found in

Figure 3.1 (See Appendix B) 54. As is made apparent by the spandex-themed costuming, dramatic posing, and over-the-top imagery in general seen in Figure 3.1, Batman: The Movie, as well as the television series Batman, was the embodiment of Camp that defined the superhero genre in the 1960s. Just as the imagery used throughout the television show and film in the 1960s is crafted so that it invokes Camp aesthetic, Batman Theme, the song that is heard during the introduction sequence of the 1966 television show Batman also has elements of Camp. One of these iconic musical traits include an opening bar that mimics the typical sound of a “news flash” found in early television. This is originally performed as a glissando or trill in the trumpets, possibly with a mute in the bell. It is then followed by an energetic second intervallic eighth-note ostinato sequence comprised of an electric guitar and bass, organ, brass, woodwinds, and a rhythmically driving drum set creating an almost surfer-like tune. This Campy tone can be heard in the Mp3 File #755 at the 0:00 minute mark. The first few seconds (0:00-0:03) of the iconic, yet

Campy introduction theme has been transcribed in Figure 3.2 (See Appendix A). Depicting the rhythmically simplistic phrasings that relies on the seemingly random accents in the high brass to match with each punch thrown by Batman or Robin in the intro sequence, and the clipped

52 Spencer, Kristopher. Film and Television Scores, 1950-1979: A Critical Survey by Genre. McFarland & Co., 2008, p. 216. 53 Ibid, 217. 54 Ibid. 55 Hefti, Neil. “Batman Theme,” track #7 on The Music of DC Comics: Volume 2, Watertower Music, DC Comics, 1966, CD, 2016. 102 emphasis on the chorus call of “Batman!”, the 1960s Batman Theme for the television series is easily recognizable by fans.

But Batman’s ties to camp were not solely restricted to the ‘60s. As other superheroes were slowly breaking away from the mold of being a silly super, Batman was still battling with breaking away from his ties with Camp, with little success. Wishing to draw on Batman’s serious tone and darker origins, ’s (1995) director purposefully wanted to give the Caped Crusader an updated look away from spandex that would hopefully make the character regain its popularity, but failed in anticipating the fans’ reactions to the infamous costuming for the Dynamic Duo. While Schumacher believed they would draw fans to the

Batman and Robin duo, the new suits with anatomically correct muscle lining had one detail that had fans cringing: rubber nipples.56

Schumacher would soon find out how vehemently the fans disagreed. The coined “Bat

Nipples”57 became a prime example for film makers on what not to do for a Batman film, indicating that the infamous rubber nipple were a symbol of Batman’s continued relationship with Camp. This dramatic, but ultimately failed use of shocking costumes for

Batman and Robin are tied to Schumacher’s (perhaps unconscious) need for displaying the superheroes with his ideals of hegemonic masculinity derived from the genre’s conventions of depicting the adolescent male power fantasy. In 1987, Raewyn Connell first coined the term of

“hegemonic masculinity” in their work Gender and Power: Society, the Person and Sexual

Politics that describes this term as the dominant ideals of masculinity in Western culture.58 By depicting Batman and Robin in costumed combat suits that imitate muscles of the mythological

56 Schumacher, Joel, director. Batman Forever. 1995; Warner Bros. Pictures. DVD. 57 Ibid. 58 Connell, Raewyn. Gender and Power: Society, the Person and Sexual Politics. Palo Alta: University of Press; 1987. 103

“ideal male”, Schumacher is enforcing the hegemonic notion of hypermasculinity through their display of the human male body.59

However, these ideals associated with hegemonic masculinity are often misconstrued or are seen only as an example of parody through Camp’s thematic nature. This is glaringly evident with the character of Batman who is supposed to be a serious superhero, but actually refutes this claim to ‘ideal’ masculinity in the writing, plot, and iconography in Batman: The Movie, and later in the costuming with Batman Forever. But with this refuting of the hegemonic norms came the, perhaps unfounded, concern for Batman’s sexuality. Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent suggested that stripping away the hegemonic symbols of masculinity in the depictions of the

Caped Crusader’s strength, bundling muscles, and violent tendencies made Batman a homosexual.60 Andy Medhurst, author of “Batman, Deviance and Camp” in The Many lives of the Batman: Critical approaches to a superhero and his media, describes the character of

Batman as closely affiliated with the queer components of Camp that allowed for gay men to read61 the character of Batman as gay.62 From Adam West’s over-the-top and flamboyant acting as the Caped Crusader, to comic panels of Bruce Wayne lounging around the manor in a bathrobe with his ward, Robin, the LGBTQ community took these elements as signs of Bruce

Wayne’s more closeted lifestyle. And these rumors of his homosexual tendencies were only spurred on by Batman’s close relationship with Robin in the 1960s television show as well as comics. Their close relationship was no guarded secret, in that George Melly, author of Revolt into Style: The Pop Arts in the 50s and 60s, is even quoted as saying, “We all knew Robin and

59 Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge, 1990, p. 138. 60 “Comics Code History: The Seal of Approval – Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.” Accessed May 17, 2020. http://cbldf.org/comics-code- history-the-seal-of-approval/. 61 This is done using Stuart Hall’s Sender/Messenger/Receiver model of the transference with encoding/decoding messaging from Hall, Stuart. “Encoding, Decoding.” The Cultural Studies Reader, by Simon During, Second ed., Routledge, 2010, pp. 507–517. 62 Medhurst, Andy. “Batman, Deviance and Camp.” In R. E. Pearson & W. Uricchio, Eds., The Many lives of the Batman: Critical approaches to a superhero and his media, New York: NY: Routledge Press, 1991. 104

Batman were pouves”.63 Even now, the seemingly gay relationship64 between heroes is one that has been explored and parodied on Saturday Night Live’s cartoon shorts entitled The

Ambiguously Gay Duo.65

Bruce Wayne, acting both as mentor and father-figure to his adolescent partner in crime fighting, brought up serious concerns with critics of the superhero, questioning just how far did this partnership go behind the walls of and the Batcave? But who is this Boy

Wonder that Batman is said to have a salacious and steamy homoerotic relationship with: his ward, – known to Batman fans as the first Robin. Wanting to draw in a younger readership, the character of Robin was introduced in Detective Comics in 1940, less than a year after Batman’s first appearance, to serve as Batman's sidekick.66 Richard “Dick” Grayson is not immune to trauma as he first meets Bruce Wayne at the circus the same night as a mobster cuts the ropes on his parents’ trapeze act. No longer wanting to follow in his parents’ footsteps, and instead wanting revenge for his parents’ untimely demise, Bruce takes in the orphan as his official ward.67 Sticking to his circus motif of colorful costumes, tights, and using his stage name

“Robin”. the Boy Wonder quickly joined Batman in his pursuit for justice and protecting the citizens of Gotham. Grant Morrison, author of Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous

Mutants, and a Sun God from Can Teach Us about Being Human, describes Batman’s characterization transformation with the introduction of the Boy Wonder in Bruce’s life:

There was the sense that the young Bruce Wayne, who died emotionally along with his

parents in Crime Alley, had finally met a friend with whom to share his strange, exciting

63 Melly, George. Revolt into Style: The Pop Art in the 50s and 60s. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989, p. 192. 64 “Comics Code History: The Seal of Approval – Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.” Accessed May 17, 2020. http://cbldf.org/comics-code- history-the-seal-of-approval/. 65 Brown, Jeffrey A. The Modern Superhero in Film and Television: Popular Genre and American Culture. Routledge, 2017, p. 138. 66 Brown, Jeffrey A. Batman and the Multiplicity of Identity: The Contemporary Comic Book Superhero as Cultural Nexus. Routledge, 2018, p. 47. 67 Ibid. 105

secret life. The emotionally stunted Batman found a perfect pal in the ten-year-old

orphaned acrobat. Batman was forced to grow up and develop responsibility as soon as

Robin came on the scene, and the savage young Dark Knight of the original pulp-tinged

adventures was replaced by a very different kind of hero: a dashing big brother, the best

friend any kid could have. The outlaw gangbuster became a detective, a man we could

trust, even with our children.68

The concern that needed to be addressed, according to the comics’ critics, was just how close the relationship between mentor and mentee ran. These allegations of queer coding Batman from critics and fans alike were never addressed directly in the original comics, nor in the numerous television shows and films, both and animated.69 Rather, by not addressing this accusation, Batman’s sexuality can remain in a state of liminality: as neither confirmed or denied as a homosexual icon. Thus, the Batman and Robin relationship is one that is presented to audiences as “straight” in that while they have no male romantic partners to refute this claim, there is also a noticeable lack of female love interests for both members of the famous duo.

Because the 1960s Batman show was so ridiculous and over-the-top, the common consensus amongst fans was that it had to be self-aware (a major component to Camp), so that it could never be taken seriously and, in a way even the characters knew it too. And that the two titular characters were written and coded as so gay, that audiences decoded this message so that they believed that there was no way that Batman and Robin could be anything but gay – no matter how “straight” they were portrayed together. Therefore, their sexuality of being “straight” is

68 Morrison, Grant. Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us about Being Human. Spiegel & Grau, 2012, pp. 74–75. 69 Medhurst, Andy. “Batman, Deviance and Camp.” In R. E. Pearson & W. Uricchio, Eds., The Many lives of the Batman: Critical approaches to a superhero and his media, New York: NY: Routledge Press, 1991. 106 placed in quotations because of its performance of an identity, one that is so exaggerated at times in the 1960s Batman television show, as well as in the comics, that it seems to Camp.70

It would not be until 1986 that the character of Batman would be able to break free from its ties to Camp with the four-part comic book miniseries, Batman: .

Written by Frank Miller, this comic series was a complete revisioning of the character that would later set a precedent for the darker thematic tones found in modern depictions of Batman.71

Following the story of a sixty year old Bruce Wayne, the reclusive man takes on the mantle of

Batman once more after leaving Gotham virtually undefended for over a decade. This dark revisioning of Batman has no time for Camp as he faces old enemies such as Two-Face, a street gang called “the Mutants”, and of course, his old nemesis the Joker in a deadly battle for retribution. Each foe is more violent and merciless in their hostile takeover of Gotham, causing

Batman to respond with an equally violent vengeance that borders on obsession.72

This grittier, pulpier tone for Batman in The Dark Knight Returns is one that is strictly followed by other Batman revisions in the late 1980s including: Frank Miller’s Batman: Year

One (1987) which continues the storyline in the Batman: The Dark Knight Returns comic miniseries, ’s violent and Batman: Joke (1988), and Grant Morrison’s Arkham Asylum (1989). Miller’s Batman would be the characterization that would follow the Caped Crusader for decades, creating a new era for the vigilante that would influence the cinematic depictions of Batman for years to come as found in Tim Burton’s

Batman (1989), Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy (2005, 2008, 2012), and Zack Snyder’s

Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017).73

70 Ibid. 71 Brown, Jeffrey A. Batman and the Multiplicity of Identity: The Contemporary Comic Book Superhero as Cultural Nexus. Routledge, 2018, p. 62. 72 Ibid. 73 Ibid. 107

Return to the Knight: Danny Elfman’s Batman

It is no coincidence that in the same year that Batman: The Dark Knight was released in

1986, the character Batman celebrated his 50th anniversary.74 It would seem Miller, along with most of Batman’s initial fanbase at the time, wanted to bring back Batman’s more violent and serious tones from his comic origins. Batman’s future shift in tone in multiple feature films was so dramatic compared to the decades of Camp that overshadowed the Caped Crusaders’ past, that he would be almost unrecognizable by the fans of the beloved character. The thematic and characterization metamorphosis from the Campy Caped Crusader to the grim Dark Knight was unmistakably prominent: Gone were the spandex tights, bright colored outfits and props, and quirky foes and in its place was a monotone , blood and gore, and nightmare-inducing villains. It was on Batman’s 50th anniversary that famous horror writer Stephan King claimed that there was “something sinister”75 about this new Batman. King insisted that, “The real reason that Batman appealed to me more than the other guy. There is something sinister about him.

That’s right. You heard me. Sinister”.76 Stephen King is not alone in his perception of Batman’s thematic change, as fans and critics alike, including Jeffrey A. Brown, believed that this new characterization of Batman was one that made him stand out from his fellow DC Comic heroes as a new type of hero – a true vigilante, an anti-hero… a Dark Knight.

Superman is a solar-powered of virtue raised on a Kansas farm and is often

referred to as a “big blue boy scout,” Wonder Woman holds press conferences about

world issues and gives lectures on feminism… But Batman is defined as a mysterious

creature of the night, a dark vigilante who often seems closer to being a villain than a

74 Ibid, 157. 75 Ibid. 76 King, Stephen. “Introduction.” Batman, Anniversary Issue #400. DC Comics, New York, 1986, p. 1. 108

hero. Batman’s position as a more liminal hero – an antihero straddling the line between

good and evil, morality and immorality, legal and illegal – demonstrates the broad public

appeal of violent retributive characters who still manage to adhere to a strict code of

morality.77

This dramatic revisioning of a darker, grimmer Batman is right at home in Tim Burton’s foreboding twist on Batman (1989). On June 23, 1989 Burton’s Batman was introduced on the silver screen as the new Batman (), where he has to face his arch nemesis, the

Joker (Jack Nicholson), as the King of Crime terrorizes the streets of Gotham. Keaton’s dark revisioning of Batman was a stark contrast to the Adam West portrayal of the Caped Crusader, that under the direction of rising animator and film director, Tim Burton, helped to continue the grim and mysterious themes that Batman: The Dark Knight Returns was able to accomplish in the comics. But Burton knew that in order to successfully sell this characterization of Batman on screen, he needed the music to back up his vision of a crime fighting vigilante in the moonlit streets of Gotham. Danny Elfman, the chosen composer that would accept the task of scoring for

Batman, describes the moment he heard from Burton asking him to write the famous score.

I got a call from Tim [Burton] saying, “I’m doing this thing, and you might be interested

in it.” He sent me the Dark Knight comics – that was much more up my alley then what I

had known of the original Batman comics as a kid. There was a point where Warner

Bros. wanted a production, so I flew out to London to visit Tim on the set. I really got my

initial ideas from walking around at night on the set of Gotham City, but the real

inspiration came on the flight back to Los Angeles. I was sitting there, and then it just hit

me. I knew I would never remember it by the time I got home, so I pulled out a tape

77 Brown, Jeffrey A. Batman and the Multiplicity of Identity: The Contemporary Comic Book Superhero as Cultural Nexus. Routledge, 2018, p. 158. 109

recorder, ran into the bathroom, and started humming different parts of the theme over

the roar of the 747. I was saying, “Part number one: French horns. Part number two…” I

made several trips to the bathroom and the flight attendants kept asking me “Are you ok?

Are you ill?” When I got home, I worked out what I had recorded, and the material ended

up being the main title.78

Wanting to set the tone for the film by writing a powerful and dramatic score, Danny

Elfman’s score for Batman would later gain him recognition as a major film composer.79

Elfman’s Batman leitmotif, simply called “Main Theme”, can be heard in Mp3 File #880 from the

(0:00-1:21) minute mark and seen in the score sample featured in Figures 3.3.1-3.3.7 (See

Appendix A)81. Elfman’s famous Batman leitmotif was composed with heavy low brass instruments with ornamentation phrases from the high brass and percussive accents.82 The introduction opens with a climbing low brass motif that is continued in the bass clarinet and bassoon, with the contrabass establishing a droning G that is joined by the cellos creating the ominous and mysterious tone both Elfman and Burton wanted for introducing a for a rooftop climbing, brooding vigilante. This opening section is a deconstructed version of Theme A. The addition of the descending glockenspiel and celesta from measures 5-11, that fluctuate from eighth notes to a stream of sixteenth notes, serves two purposes within this introductory phrase: tone painting imagery of a twinkling starry night, and building suspense comprised of a brief modulation to C# Major at measures 12-15. Starting at measure 16 at the 0:47 minute mark, the chord resolves to tonic, B minor, while Batman’s leitmotif shifts to the rhythmically pulsating

78 Elfman, Danny. Batman. Los Angeles, CA: Omni Music Publishing, 2016. 79 MacDonald, Laurence E. The Invisible Art of Film Music: a Comprehensive History. The Scarecrow Press, 2013, p. 371. 80 Elfman, Danny. “Main Title.” 1989. Batman 1989 Extended Soundtrack. YouTube upload: BmSt32, 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILsCZAi6sOc&list=PLlfEHtRqlVCot2RNgYOeRwiBAlTIryUyL&index=1. 81 Elfman, Danny. Batman. Los Angeles, CA: Omni Music Publishing, 2016, pp. 1–7. 82 MacDonald, Laurence E. The Invisible Art of Film Music: a Comprehensive History. The Scarecrow Press, 2013, p. 332. 110 orchestral scoring that most people recognize as his “main” theme83, which will be called Theme

B found in Figure 3.3.3.

During this second part to the leitmotif, there is a quick modulation to A minor at measure 21 which can be heard in the descending trumpet triplets and French horns at 0:55 minute marker. Batman’s theme returns to Theme A in the flutes and violins at measure 25, momentarily in the key of G minor before switching to a quick transition section in F# minor at measure 29 (found in the French horns, trombones, violins, and clarinet). Theme B ends with another modulation to D minor at measure 32, with the phrase played by bassoon, trombone parts 1 and 2, and cello before it resolves to G minor with a return to the deconstructed Theme A ending at measure 36, or the 1:21 minute measure mark, which is consequently the end of the score sample (Figure 3.3.7).

Danny Elfman talked at length on how writing for Batman was difficult because the tone of the film was darker than your typical hero film. And yet, Elfman was expected to write a heroic motif fit for a vigilante that fought crime in a monochrome batsuit. The paradoxical nature of this request was not lost on the composer.

With the Batman theme, I just looked for something that had the components that could

be mysterious, that could be dark, that could also get fun, and can also have a driving

heroism, too, while maintaining that dark side to it. I wasn’t trying to come up with

something people remember so much as something that fit the footage. I needed

something heroic and simple, and in that simplicity you have building blocks, and you

can use different building blocks and expand on them… Most of the hard work on

83 Ibid, 371. 111

Batman was establishing the tone of the movie and Gotham City and everything else.

Once that was figured out, things just fell into place rather easily.84

While the general darker thematic elements for the score came relatively easily for

Elfman, the main theme for Batman was one that still eluded him. In an interview, Elfman confided that he accidentally stumbled upon the theme while brainstorming with producer John

Peter and director Tim Burton.

I had written all this dark music, and John Peters was saying, “Look, this is fine, but you

know, we’re talking about a Hero here!” I played him all these pieces, and Tim was there,

and he had confidence in me, but, at this point, it was essential that I came up with this

one heroic theme. I just took the same basic theme and turned it into this march, and did

it in a certain way— changed the key around a little bit— and all of a sudden he leapt up

out of his chair, and it was completely obvious that I had found the Batman hero theme!

And John actually started conducting, you know, he was waving his arms, and we knew

that there was simply no question!85

Elfman’s initial struggle with writing for Batman was only further conflicted by working alongside Tim Burton to create the right tone for the Caped Crusader, while also being mindful of its Campy past. The hope was with Burton’s visionary directing and Elfman’s dramatic score, the character Batman would restore the vigilante to his original thematic image since his debut in

1939.86 Like Batman’s creators, Burton and Elfman both believed that the Caped Crusader not as journalist Michael Cavana states, “a wacky combatant, but as a menacing, tormented figure of the night who was bent on vigilante justice”.87

84 Elfman, Danny. Batman. Los Angeles, CA: Omni Music Publishing, 2016. 85 Hubbert, Julia Bess, ed. Celluloid Symphonies: Texts and Contexts in Film Music History. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011, p. 447. 86 Cavna, Michael. “Tim Burton's 'Batman' Was a Game Changer.” The Flint Journal, 9 June 2019, p. L8. 87 Ibid. 112

With the help of Elfman’s masterful scoring for the Dark Knight’s adventures in Gotham,

Tim Burton’s Batman was successful in changing the negative perspective of the character

Batman, comic books, and superhero centered films. Batman was the biggest box office success of 1989, with the fans and critics alike touting on the film’s achievements: the Washington Post’s

Hal Hinson proclaimed the film to be “dark, haunting, and poetic… a magnificent living comic book,”.88 gave a postmodernist take on reviewing Batman, calling it a “ of design over story”.89

Danny Elfman’s rhythmically driven score for Tim Burton’s dark, but fascinating version of Batman was iconic in its scoring of Batman’s “Main Theme”. The bold, rhythmically driven minor-key motif featuring low and high brass instruments, perfectly matched the tone created by the imagery found in Burton’s film. Together, Burton and Elfman changed the fans and critics’ outlook on Batman, while also setting the standard thematic tone for the Caped Crusader and other superhero for decades to come.90

A New Take on the Dark Knight: Hans Zimmer’s Batman

By the time Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy (Batman Begins [2005], The

Dark Knight [2008], The Dark Knight Rises [2012]) was released, Batman’s characterization had undergone multiple revisions: from daring vigilantism, to a Campy slap-stick hero, back to brooding serious anti-hero. But after the life-altering events of 9/11, the Caped Crusader’s description was also changed to reflect the nation’s response to the terrorist attacks. Up until this point, most of the feature films and comic book plots focused on Batman’s story, as he defended

Gotham’s city streets from violent criminals and other ne'er-do-wells who threatened his citizens.

But after 9/11, Americans turned to their cultural heroes seeking solace in the face of terror.

88 Ibid. 89 Ibid. 90 MacDonald, Laurence E. The Invisible Art of Film Music: a Comprehensive History. The Scarecrow Press, 2013, p. 332. 113

Additionally, they also desperately tried to form greater emotional connections to superheroes, relying on their superstrength, physical or inner, and resolve during these trying times. And thus, gone was the fascination with a humorless and “violent Dark Knight avenger”91 Batman and instead fans became more intrigued with the traumatized, and very human, Bruce Wayne. This duality of identities is something that The Dark Knight trilogy music composer, Hans Zimmer, focused on in his writing for the themes for Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman Begins: “I wasn't really writing about a big, oversized, heroic character… I was trying to write about a slightly psychologically damaged character. And I'm always better with those”.92

This change in perspective, from focusing on our heroes to wanting to know more about the man/woman behind the mask, is due in part to how Americans saw humor change in their culture so quickly after 9/11. American humor after the events of September 11, 2001, changed dramatically and seemingly ceased to exist as if the nation was trapped in a liminal space of emotional stagnation. Late-night comedy shows’ sets went dark, satirical magazines such as The

Onion were not published for two weeks, while The New Yorker magazine paid tribute to the victims by displaying a blackout cover and went cartoonless.93 The general consensus across the country was that any display of humor was inappropriate, while laughter was thought to be not only in poor taste, but also absurd in a time of national grief and sorrow.94

A major issue Americans faced with the 9/11 attacks was how much media news outlets showed horrific images of the events of that day on loop as if they were stuck in some sort of grotesque, almost pornographic, fascination with the death and destruction shown on screen.95

91 Brown, Jeffrey A. Batman and the Multiplicity of Identity: The Contemporary Comic Book Superhero as Cultural Nexus. Routledge, 2018, p. 21. 92 “Batman Begins (Hans Zimmer/).” Filmtracks, 14 Sept. 2011, www.filmtracks.com/titles/batman_begins.html. 93 Kuipers, Giselinde. “Where Was King Kong When We Needed Him? Public Discourse, Digital Disaster Jokes, and the Functions of Laughter after 9/11.” The Journal of American Culture: A Decade of Dark Humor, vol. 28, no. 1, 2005, p. 72. 94 Ibid. 95 Munshi, Shoma. “Television in the United States from 9/11 and the US's Continuing 'War on Terror'.” Media, War and Terrorism Responses from the Middle East and Asia, edited by Shoma Munshi and Peter van der Veer, Taylor and Francis, 2004, p. 48. 114

Slavoj Žižek describes this phenomenon in length in his book, Welcome to the Desert of the

Real: Five Essays on September 11 and Related Dates.

For the great majority of the public, the WTC [World Trade Center] explosions were

events on the TV screen, and when we watched the oft-repeated shot of frightened people

running towards the camera ahead of the giant cloud of dust from the collapsing tower,

was not the framing of the shot itself reminiscent of spectacular shots in catastrophe

movies, a special effect which outdid all others, since – as Jeremy Bentham knew –

reality is the best appearance of itself?... This is the element of truth in Karl-Heinz

Stockhausen’s provocative statement that the planes hitting the WTC towers was the

ultimate work of art: we can perceive the collapse of the WTC towers as the climactic

conclusion of twentieth-century art’s ‘passion for the Real’ – the ‘terrorists’ themselves

did not do it primarily to provoke real material , but for the spectacular effect of

it.96

With these most recent terrorist attacks on American soil, American consumers of the superhero genre did not want to read/watch superheroes who were depicted as either of the two extremes: too Campy and silly (found with Adam West’s Batman from the ‘60s) or extremely violent and immoral (Kane and Finger’s 1939 Detective Comics’ Batman and The Dark Knight

Returns arc). Christopher Nolan’s Batman offered the perfect balance for audiences across

America by presenting a traumatized child-turned hardened vigilante, who did not kill his foes while offering violent retribution that provided adequate atonement for their crimes.

Nolan was able to provide a series of three feature films that allowed audiences to experience similar scenes and acts of horror compared to 9/11, while in a controlled and safe

96 Žižek, Slavoj. Welcome to the Desert of the Real: Five Essays on September 11 and Related Dates. London: Verso ed. 2012, p. 11. 115 environment of a fictional world protected by Batman. The Dark Knight, in particular acts as a tone shift change within the superhero genre that not only shows various scenes that allude to the

9/11 attacks, but also address the psychological toll of that day on people through their characters, while also incorporating multiple ideological themes found in the United States during the immediate aftermath of the attacks.97 While watching The Dark Knight, it is easy to see Nolan’s commentary of the horrors of 9/11 through thinly veiled reenactments of the events of that day. Such scenes depicting Batman’s seemingly futile efforts to stop Gotham’s descent into chaos include: firebombs exploding buildings with remnants of skyscrapers falling on terrorized citizens below, Batman’s defeated seen standing amidst the smoke and burning wreckage, aircraft such as helicopters careering in the air before crashing, police cars and fire trucks exploding, ambulances and school buses hijacked by criminals, etc.98 Such is the destruction and reign of terror felt by the citizens of Gotham that Alfred Pennyworth, faithful butler to Bruce Wayne, and District Attorney Harvey Dent, later turned villainous Two-Face, explicitly refer to the Joker as a “terrorist”.99

Nolan furthered his views on the Bush administration and other controversial topics in

The Dark Knight by adding scenes that allude to these issues and concerns faced by America in a time of uncertainty facing an unknown terror. Such scenes include police brutality through the use of torture on prisoners as an “enhanced interrogation technique”, and the erasure or complete dismissal of the civil liberties offered to both criminals as well as civilians by means of covert legalized wire-tapping and surveillance of their everyday activities.100 But Nolan falls back onto a familiar superhero genre trope in The Dark Knight’s plot surrounding the continued conflict

97 Brown, Jeffrey A. The Modern Superhero in Film and Television: Popular Genre and American Culture. Routledge, 2017 p. 83. 98 Ibid. 99 Nolan, Christopher, director. The Dark Knight. 2008; DC Comics, Legendary Pictures, Syncopy, Warner Bros. Pictures. DVD. 100 Brown, Jeffrey A. The Modern Superhero in Film and Television: Popular Genre and American Culture. Routledge, 2017 p. 83. 116 between opposites, Batman and the Joker, as a clear depiction between the struggle between good and evil.101 By showing the audience this battle of order and chaos, Nolan is able to remind his American audience of their fight against a common enemy, something often found in times of war as a source of propaganda, while he also uses his film as a critique of the question of the morality behind the people’s struggle and of the division found among those deemed “the enemy”, both within and outside of the nation’s borders.102 Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy allows for a decisive narrative surrounding the cultural and political struggles sustained against the American people in a safe entertainment platform, masquerading as a masked hero.103

Knowing that after the events of 9/11, people were still processing their own traumas and wanting to see their heroes grow from their suffering too, Nolan’s revisioning of the Batman character kept the serious tone set in The Dark Knight Returns comic miniseries, the Schumacher films Batman Forever (1995), and Batman & Robin (1997) by focusing on the psychological trauma experienced by Bruce Wayne.104 The first half of Batman Begins shows a young Bruce

Wayne witnessing the murders of his parents in the back alley of Gotham’s streets in the theater district, followed by Bruce’s self-exile as he travels around the world hoping to seek redemption from his past failures.105 This brutal murder and subsequent lonesome journey to “find himself” proves to be the catalyst that sparks his transformation from socialite Bruce Wayne to the hardened vigilante of Batman.106 It is Bruce Wayne’s deeply ingrained sense of guilt for being unable to save his parents, and by extension the city of Gotham, which becomes a defining character trait for Batman, while also establishing Nolan’s Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) as a

101 Ibid. 102 Ibid. 103 Ibid, 80. 104 Ibid, 81. 105 Nolan, Christopher, director. Batman Begins. 2005; Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Comics, Legendary Pictures, Syncopy, Patalex III Productions, Warner Bros. Pictures. DVD. 106 Brown, Jeffrey A. The Modern Superhero in Film and Television: Popular Genre and American Culture. Routledge, 2017, p. 81. 117 character that Brown explains is “a tragic victimized hero whose violent actions are completely justified and mortal”.107

Composers Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard (Batman Begins and The Dark

Knight) worked in tandem to create a soundtrack that perfectly fits the tone and thematic elements found in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight films. Frank Lehman, author of

“Manufacturing the Epic Score: Hans Zimmer and the Sounds of Significance” commented on

Zimmer’s stylistic compositional methods that gave Batman films their ominous, mysterious, and powerful tones.

Thematic abstraction is particularly clear in the hugely influential music for the Dark

Knight trilogy, which Zimmer co-wrote with progressively decreasing input from co-

composer James Newton Howard. Zimmer has referred to the specifically antiheroic

quality of Batman as justification for denying the character a “full-blooded” theme. To

Zimmer, Batman’s vigilantism is a symptom of arrested psychological development,

which he translates by eschewing traditional thematic work and instead placing his motifs

in relative stasis. The one piece of melodic material that is preserved through all three

films is incredibly spare: a two-note motion from D to F and back, which is essentially

Batman’s “theme” throughout the franchise. Once in a while, the intervallic cell is

harmonized in a striking way, and it is frequently subjected to augmentation and

diminution. Yet in no case is it ever developed into anything larger than a repeating

minor third ostinato.108

Lehman is right in his analysis of Zimmer’s themes for Batman in that the character appears to not have a true leitmotif, but rather a vague motif that sporadically appears in the

107 Ibid. 108 Lehman, Frank. “Manufacturing the Epic Score: Hans Zimmer and the Sounds of Significance.” Edited by Stephen C. Meyer, p. 43. 118 soundtrack as a repeated ostinato of a minor third, although on the occasion the notes will change, the intervallic leap will not. But writing an abstract motif is not something solely assigned to Batman, as the villains introduced in the series have motivic themes that can be understood as less about pitch than timbre: the Joker is given a major second motif (C to D) and a glissando cello motif that is warped into an edited electrical shrill wall of sound that represents the character’s madness in The Dark Knight; and the villain, Bane, has a 5/4 metric pattern and rhythmic Arabic chanting in The Dark Knight Returns.109 Unlike the traditional scoring for a villain in a Hollywood film, in which only the bad guy’s theme is dark and chromatically different, in The Dark Knight trilogy both the antagonists and protagonists share themes that are comprised of minor harmonies.

By having very little compositional differences (instrumentation, key signature, harmonies, rhythmic patterns, instrumental techniques, etc.) in writing the leitmotifs for his protagonist versus his villains in the films, Zimmer’s scores reflect Nolan’s portrayal of Batman as an antihero, rather than a morally centric superhero like Superman.110 This is especially interesting for Batman considering that Hans Zimmer also wrote a similarly deconstructed theme for Superman in Man of Steel (Snyder, 2013), as previously mentioned in the last chapter. But where the Superman theme follows a harmonic and melodic pattern, the Batman themes relies on the rhythmic motif, distorted low brass, and use of synthesizers to create a “landscape of sounds”111 to act as a memorable motif for the Dark Knight.

Equally concerning with Zimmer and Howard’s minimalist scoring for the Batman films, is that without a clear recognizable Wagnerian thematic motif found in most superhero films,

109 Ibid. 110 Scheurer, Timothy E. Music and Mythmaking in Film: Genre and the Role of the Composer. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland, 2008, pp. 120-121. 111 Escuder González, Alejandro. The Work of the Film-Music Composer after and before the Digital Era. Academia.edu, University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, 2017, mdw.academia.edu/aescuder, p. 61. 119 both in the DC Comics films and Marvel Cinematic Universe, the lack of these themes and the use of deconstructed motifs with heavy electronic synthesizers, creates a constant sense of neutrality for an audience in terms of actions sequences and narrative importance.112 Thus, to a passive audience of the soundtrack, the music played throughout the movies does little thematically to support or discourage a scene’s sense of dramatics, such that the rising action or climatic point in the film is scored with very little difference to the exposition components to the plot.113 Therefore, despite the variety of action scenes to the more conversational heavy elements of the film, with Zimmer and Howard’s scoring of the films each scene has a relatively similar degree of suspense and drama as thematically and narratively supported in the score.114

An example of Zimmer’s minimalist, abstract style of composition for the Dark Knight films is best found in the songs “Molossus” from Batman Begins and “Rise” from The Dark

Knight. In Batman Begins, “Molossus” is played over the chase scene between the police and the batmobile.115 It is during this sequence that Zimmer and Howard’s constant synthesizer looping, loud dynamics, and continuous underlying eighth note ostinato creates this sense of prolonged suspense masquerading as a motif for Batman, as can be heard in Mp3 Track #9116 starting at the beginning with a Batman motif at the (0:40-1:08) minute marker. The “Molossus” passage is transcribed and broken down into its separate compositional elements in Figure 3.4 (See

Appendix A)117.

112 Lehman, Frank. “Manufacturing the Epic Score: Hans Zimmer and the Sounds of Significance.” Edited by Stephen C. Meyer, p. 44. 113 Ibid. 114 Ibid. 115 Nolan, Christopher, director. Batman Begins. 2005; Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Comics, Legendary Pictures, Syncopy, Patalex III Productions, Warner Bros. Pictures. DVD. 116 Zimmer, Hans and James Newton Howard. “Molossus.” YouTube upload: Hans Zimmer - Topic, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtHO0P4bKrY. 117 Lehman, Frank. “Manufacturing the Epic Score: Hans Zimmer and the Sounds of Significance.” Edited by Stephen C. Meyer, p. 45. 120

The main theme found in “Molossus” starts at the 0:40 minute marker by maintaining a constant ostinati118 found in the strings, synthesizer, and drums.119 This constant rhythmic sound helps to create a feeling of liminal space and speed, something that is being reflected on screen by having the song take place during the pivotal batmobile chase scene with the police in Batman

Begins. Over this constant cacophony of sound, Zimmer and Howard write the melody in the

French horns and supporting low brass line with a counter-melody, serving as a secondary theme, found in the violins. This melodic line in the horns and low brass has very little rhythmic variation, with long sustained tones reminiscent of the stylistic Wagnerian structuring of an antecedent/consequent form acting as a diatonic harmonic support with little chromatic variation.

120 The violin counter-melody found here is one that would later be developed further into a motif for the character of Harvey Dent/Two-Face in the next film, The Dark Knight.121 Deviating away from the traditional development of a Wagnerian theme, “Molossus” calls back the horn theme only in small fragments of deconstructed note clusters, instead revisiting the consequent phrase as expected.122

As the action-pack events of the chase scene continues, the melody line becomes less and less structured, acting more as a general harmonic progression of sound rather than the distinct motif.123 It is here in this deconstruction of the theme that there is a quick deviation away from the destructuring sentence and instead briefly has a chromatic sequence of: D minor - Bb minor -

F minor - Db Major - Eb minor - B Major - D minor as heard at the (2:15-2:35) minute mark in the strings and low brass before deferring back to the main theme in D minor.124 “Molossus”

118 Ostinati: Plural form of ostinato; multiple lines of instruments playing the same repeating phrase of music together. 119 Ibid, 44. 120 Ibid. 121 Ibid, 45. 122 Ibid. 123 Ibid. 124 Ibid, 54. 121 continues in this cycle of deconstructed harmonic progression of the strings and percussion ostinati, until the final choral ascending progression and resolution of D minor at the 4:15 minute mark and subsequent diminuendo until the end. Lehman explains how the compositional choices made by predominantly Zimmer, and also Howard, reflects our current culture’s beliefs and fears, as is also apparent in Nolan’s political and cultural critics using Batman:

Music like “Molossus” wishes for the listener to surrender to the idea that danger is ever-

present and implacable. The normalization of threat creates a situation in which (male)

heroes who use violence or vigilantism—who are in a sense familiar with or even one

with of [sic] the threat—seem like the most natural and inevitable means to confront it. In

an era grappling with an endless war on terror, creeping government surveillance, and

frayed trust between the public and law enforcement, this musical ideology may seem

downright unsavory. Yet whether it knows it or not, Zimmer’s brand of epic significance

is perfectly suited to its age.125

As heard in the “Molossus” theme, Zimmer and Howard’s score deviates away from not only traditional scoring, but also traditional instrumentation. Along with Zimmer’s usual orchestra ensemble of about ninety players from other London ensembles, Filmtracks: Modern

Soundtrack Reviews describes Zimmer’s utilization of electronic sound effects and synthesizers,

“to further sink the score into the realm of brooding darkness”.126 Hans Zimmer talks extensively about his compositional style with scoring for Nolan’s Batman films, especially the heavy use of electronic incorporation in the score. “I think this one has more electronics in it than anything else. I didn't want to do straight orchestra because Batman, he's not a straight character. I mean, where do you get those wonderful toys from and the technology? So I thought I could embrace a

125 Lehman, Frank. “Manufacturing the Epic Score: Hans Zimmer and the Sounds of Significance.” Edited by Stephen C. Meyer, p. 50. 126 “Batman Begins (Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard).” Filmtracks, 14 Sept. 2011, www.filmtracks.com/titles/batman_begins.html. 122 bit more technology in this one.”127 Zimmer’s compositional styles of elongated chordal phrasing over a continuous ostinato and a fond use of synthesizers and other electronic sound effects are a prominent theme in “Rise”, a Batman motif from “A Dark Knight” in the film The Dark Knight.

This Batman motif in “Rise” can be heard in Mp3 File #10128 at the (1:54-2:30) minute mark with a transcription of the for this passage provided in Figures 3.5.1-3.5.3 (See

Appendix A)129.

When looking at the score found in Figures 3.5.1-3.5.3, you can see that structurally it is very similar to “Molossus” in the beginning. “Rise” starts with a sixteenth note ostinato in the strings, which is later joined by the percussion, with an overlaying melody in the low brass. Once again, we find that in Zimmer and Howard’s scoring for this Batman theme, it does not take the traditional compositional form of a fully fleshed out melodic tune with rhythmic variation.

Rather, the long drawn out tones in the low brass, typically in the key of D minor, is written with intervallic leaps following a basic ascending harmonic progression (e.g. the Perfect 4th leap from dominant to tonic, or A to D, in the opening interval of the theme). “Rise” differs from

“Molossus” in that while the previous theme slowly deconstructs itself as the piece progresses, the choral progression pattern of long drawn out notes is continued – with the addition of added dynamic changes and a descending line in the strings and woodwinds as a counter-melody that follows after almost every ascension, and can be seen scored in measure 7 in Figure 3.5.2.

Zimmer and Howard’s compositional styles, found when writing for their Batman themes in “Molossus” and in “Rise”, are fairly consistent with the compositional conventions found in writing for a . This connection is not accidental as Nolan’s Batman is considered more

127 Ibid. 128 Zimmer, Hans and James Newton Howard. “Rise.” YouTube upload: xman77c, 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94TAFSMdkvk. 129 Zimmer, Hans and James Newton Howard. “Rise.” Musescore.com. Accessed April 22, 2019. Credited arranger: Christian Blöcher (christobal550). https://musescore.com/user/184101/scores/174560. 123 of an anti-hero or vigilante than a superhero, and thus does not follow a typical scoring for a hero’s theme. One of the many conventions in a horror film is use of compositional techniques and instrumentation to create tension and a sense of foreboding through timbral modifications and motivic contrast.130 Zimmer and Howard’s Batman scores are filled with tremolo or ostinati in the high strings with dissonant or minor chords in the low brass or strings, intervallic leaps in the violins and low brass, a sustained dissonant chord shared by strings and brass, and heavy use of electronics and synthesizers to emulate unsettling sound effects and warp tonal quality – all of which are compositional conventions found in the horror genre that Zimmer exemplifies in his scoring for the Dark Knight trilogy.131

Zimmer describes his utilization of synthesizers in writing for Batman as a calculated compositional technique to merge technology and music together to create the unsettling and mysterious tones necessary for The Dark Knight films.

Part of the great thing about what I do when I work with Chris [Nolan] is that I get to do

a couple of years of just throwing myself into crazy research. What happens if you time-

stretch not just a single note, but the spectrum within a note? You get to meet with smart

scientists and discuss the idea of time and all these sorts of things. You get to develop

sounds; you get people to develop machines for you that can go and alter sounds… all

those sort[s] of things. Hugely exciting… it’s a year [or so] spent having a lot of fun

investigating things and then, in a funny way, throwing them all out the window, sitting

down, and just writing some sort of an emotional tune. But the score itself is a sort of 3D

mathematical chess game, you know – this little Rubik’s Cube.132

130 Scheurer, Timothy E. Music and Mythmaking in Film: Genre and the Role of the Composer. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland, 2008, p. 180. 131 Ibid. 132 Hoover, Tom, and Murray Gold. Soundtrack Nation: Interviews with Today's Top Professionals in Film, Videogame and Television Scoring. Course Technology, 2011, p. 15. 124

Along with Zimmer’s compositional techniques, one must also address the gender politics that is heavily tied to both his character, in terms of his musical themes, and who is scoring them. Since the mid-1990s, there have been several studies in film musicology on gender representation in American film music.133 Zimmer is a composer whose music is replete with subliminal gendering and the writing of his ideals of masculinity through sound.134 When interpreting Zimmer’s compositional style for Batman through a gendered lens, Zimmer’s heavy use of compositional techniques such as the marcato135 action motifs and percussive-ostinato loops, are as explained by Lehman as “manifestly aimed at injecting a scene with as much testosterone-infused energy as technologically possible.” Zimmer showcases his masculinity through his score by writing themes predominantly in minor keys with phrasing involving heavily abstracted leitmotifs and unusual instrumentation and instrumental techniques, giving his works a darker, more serious tone than is perhaps needed.136 Lehman is not alone in his criticism of Zimmer’s almost over-compensation of dramatic tonality and use of electronics to create a simple motif, as such is the case with film reviewer, Christian Clemmensen, whose claims on the score of The Dark Knight Rises are the following: “The totality of the dwelling in the bass region has reached the point of laughability. Any veteran composer can unleash horrifically rumbling, masculine force from the bass while also employing concurrent appeal from the treble, a technique Zimmer still chooses not to attempt.”137

133 For further research on gender politics in American film music, please consult such works as Heather Laing’s The Gendered Score: Music in 1940s Melodrama and the Woman’s Film (Aldershot: Ashgate, 1991), Peter Franklin’s Seeing through Music: Gender and Modernism in Classic Hollywood Film Scores (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015), and John Benyon’s Masculinities and Culture (Buckingham: Open University Press, 2002), pp. 75–97. 134 Lehman, Frank. “Manufacturing the Epic Score: Hans Zimmer and the Sounds of Significance.” Edited by Stephen C. Meyer, p. 46. 135 Marcato: A musical instruction indicating that a note, chord, or section should be played louder or with more force than the surrounding dynamic; often a louder version of an accent. 136 Ibid. 137 “The Dark Knight Returns (Christopher Nolan).” Filmtracks, 15 July. 2012, https://www.filmtracks.com/titles/dark_knight_rises. 125

While examining Zimmer’s uniquely gendered writing style, it is important to note that both John Williams and Hans Zimmer drew inspiration from Gustav Host’s The Planets138, specifically the movement “Mars, the Bringer of War” as inspiration for their superhero themes.139 But a key difference in their thematic writings is that while Williams uses this inspiration to write heavy percussive brass to represent strength, and high brass for Superman’s heroism; Zimmer relies on the use of low brass, loud dynamics, and an abundance of repetition to represent pure masculinity140 – a symbol that is literally, as well as traditionally, male and associated with Mars, the Roman God of War. Lehman continues in his examination of

Zimmer’s ties to gendered musicology with the following observation: “His is a style that strives to deliver an overwhelming amount of force, preferably through as few “words”—that is, distinctive, independent musical ideas—as possible. It is primarily in this way that, in Zimmer’s music, the Epic often blends seamlessly into—and is sometimes is synonymous with—the

Male.”141 It is important to remember that the gender politics found in an examination of

Zimmer’s music for the Dark Knight films is intrinsically tied to the demographics, genre, and culture surrounding the films and characters for which he scores.142 Many of the projects that

Zimmer works on belong to action and adventure-filled movie genres that cater to 18-34 year old white male, such as action-thrillers, horror, graphic historical dramas, and superhero films often with a variety of plots revolving around the military’s might.143

As such, his compositional choices will reflect the conventions found in these genres to best adapt the film to its chosen audience. However, with this being said, many of these films deal with themes of hyper (bordering on toxic) masculinity and heterosexuality that can result in

138 Holst, Gustav. The Planets, Op. 32. 1914-1916, Queen’s Hall, London, 1918, Print. 139 Lehman, Frank. “Manufacturing the Epic Score: Hans Zimmer and the Sounds of Significance.” Edited by Stephen C. Meyer, p. 46. 140 Ibid. 141 Ibid. 142 Ibid, 48. 143 Ibid. 126

Zimmer’s scores to be encoded with musical semiotics associated with compositional symbols of masculinity.144 Overall, just as Nolan utilized darker iconography in his films to disassociate his version of Batman from his days in the 1960s, Hans Zimmer tries to break Batman away from

Camp by over-selling his masculinity through music that matches the dark and serious imagery now associated with Batman.

A Different Kind of Hero: Batman v Superman and the Justice League

With Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Snyder, 2016) came a general concern for this latest depiction of Batman, as played by . Zack Snyder’s film portrayed Batman as a ridiculously over-the-top grim and brooding vigilante, tormented by his dark past.145

Relentless in his need for justice, Snyder’s Batman is excessively violent based on the unfounded belief that if he doesn’t kill him first then Superman might one day kill them all, going so far as to physically brand his bat symbol on his victims by burning their skin with his fist.146 Over the course of the film, Batman is seen attempting to kill Superman, causally snapping necks, and shooting and running over the henchmen of Lex Luthor with the batmobile.147 Batman’s moral code of “never kill your enemies” is thrown out the window in regards to this dark and dangerous characterization.148 Supported with an equally dark and brooding soundtrack written by Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL, Snyder’s Batman is a prime example of the multiplicity of

Batman in how drastically different his character could be portrayed depending on who is writing/directing his characterization.

144 Ibid. 145 Brown, Jeffrey A. Batman and the Multiplicity of Identity: The Contemporary Comic Book Superhero as Cultural Nexus. Routledge, 2018, p. 205. 146 Snyder, Zack, director. Justice League. 2017; DC Films, RatPac Entertainment, , Cruel and Unusual Films, Warner Bros. Pictures. DVD. 147 Ibid. 148 Brown, Jeffrey A. Batman and the Multiplicity of Identity: The Contemporary Comic Book Superhero as Cultural Nexus. Routledge, 2018, p. 205. 127

This Batman is so far gone from the man in spandex who beat up criminals with the help of his sidekick Robin, that Snyder’s Batman’s morals and characterization are akin to that of

Marvel’s assassin/anti-hero, the . Published in the same year as Zack Snyder’s Batman v

Superman: Dawn of Justice, one of the characterizations of Batman found in the comic series

Batman & Robin Eternal depicts Bruce Wayne as a loving father figure and mentor to his ward,

Robin as shown in Figure 3.6 (See Appendix B) 149.

This caring and responsible version of Batman is so drastically different than the grim and violent, lone wolf-style of Batman we see on screen in Batman v Superman that fans and critics alike were displeased with Snyder’s revisioning of both the apathetic, god-like Man of

Steel and the violence-crazed Caped Crusader.150 But the cinematic version of Batman would change once more with the addition of Justice League, shifting the tone of the vigilante once again away from mindless violence and a grim reality to one that works well with others and has a returning sense of humor when appropriate – all with the help of a recognizable theme.

With the fifth installment in the DC Extended Universe film set, Justice League (2017), as mentioned in the last chapter, Hans Zimmer was not asked to score the film. But rather they enlisted the work of Danny Elfman, the original composer for the 1989 Batman film, to write the score for Justice League. When Elfman was hired as the composer for Justice League, some of the fans and critics alike were concerned that if he used his old work on the 1989 Batman for

Justice League, it would be met with conflicting views as fans feared that the use of upbeat, dramatic scoring with a purchase of sentimentality would not fit with the serious and darker thematic tones that the Snyder films embodied.151 Rather, it would represent a “frustrating

149 Snyder, Scott and James T Tynion IV. Batman & Robin Eternal. Issue #22, Burbank, CA: DC Comics, 2016, p. 14. 150 Brown, Jeffrey A. Batman and the Multiplicity of Identity: The Contemporary Comic Book Superhero as Cultural Nexus. Routledge, 2018, p. 205. 151 “Justice League (Danny Elfman).” Filmtracks, 29 Dec. 2017, www.filmtracks.com/titles/justice_league.html. 128 backwards move towards a nostalgia” that no longer is appropriate, nor the right fit for the tone of modern superhero films.152 Ironically enough it was Zimmer himself, that after stepping down from writing more superhero soundtracks, who claimed that Elfman’s classic Batman score of

1989 would be “irrelevant in the newer generation of more depressingly divisive superhero depictions”153, only later to be replaced by Elfman himself for the Justice League score. Thus,

Elfman’s own signature Batman theme returned, along with a homage to Williams’ Superman motif, to fans’ excitement and surprise. Elfman’s friendly rivalry with Zimmer in scoring for the titular character has led to Elfman refuting Zimmer’s claim saying, “... that there has only ever been one true Batman theme for the big screen, and that his 1989 identity would return in this score”.154 Keeping to his promise, the adaption of the Elfman’s own 1989 “Main Theme” for

Batman can be heard in the Justice League soundtrack “The Final Battle” on the Mp3 File #6155 at the (1:13-1:32 minute mark).

Joining Superman in having a returning theme in the “The Final Battle”, Batman’s 1989 theme is relatively unchanged from the original scoring. The revision has an increased tempo for the percussive driving theme, only to deviate from the original scoring by having the ascending line, at the 1:22 minute mark, be elongated into a new rhythmic pattern: one whole note followed by two half notes, into the final whole note sustained in the low brass. Similarly, the original phrase at 1:22 consists of four of the original five notes from the 1989 theme. Earlier in the film’s soundtrack, when the villain is introduced on screen in the song entitled,

“The Story of Steppenwolf”, Elfman writes a dramatic and dark choir-heavy piece, that while

152 Ibid. 153 Ibid. 154 Ibid. 155 Elfman, Danny. “The Final Battle.” track #20 on Justice League: Original Motion Soundtrack, Watertower Music, DC Comics, CD, 2017. 129 differs in structure, it is reminiscent of his chorale inspired “Descent into Mystery” from

Elfman’s 1989 Batman score.156

The use of Danny Elfman’s old themes in scoring for Batman in Snyder’s Justice League allows for the audience to reconnect with the character and associate him away from his darker and violent persona from Batman v Superman, at the cost of enacting a growing sense of nostalgia for a time pre-9/11 where our nation’s outlook on Batman was only hindered by his close association with Camp in the 1960s. Batman's connection to multiplicity allows for the

Caped Crusader to be one the most revised comic book characters to grace the silver screen, while also becoming one of the most relevant and beloved superheroes of our time.

In a time of shock and grief after the events of September 11, 2001, America turned to their cultural heroes for an explanation of the horrors they witnessed that day. Hoping that by watching television shows and films reenact these scenes of terror, the stories found in the superhero genre could offer a façade of protection and to bestow a resolution to their pain via entertainment. Post-9/11, Superman and his musical themes become the embodiment of our nation’s grief and persistent hope. His moral counterpart, Batman, stood for the need for justice through violent retribution in the wake of America’s sorrow – something that his dark, but powerful musical motifs conveyed to audiences around the world. But after almost two decades in the wake of the terrorist attacks on American soil, audiences turned to their beloved superheroine, Wonder Woman, who for the better part of eighty years has stood for compassion and healing in the face of great sorrow. It is through Wonder Woman’s leitmotifs that audiences could hear the growth of the nation after years of mourning, balanced by the superheroine’s passion and drive for a better world for all.

156 Elder, Travis. “ScoreCues: Justice League by Danny Elfman (2017).” ScoreCues (blog), November 11, 2017. http://scorecues.blogspot.com/2017/11/justice-league-by-danny-elfman-2017.html. 130

CHAPTER IV. GENDER, FEMINISM, AND HEROINES: IDENTITY POLITICS AND

MUSICAL MEANING WITH WONDER WOMAN

“I used to want to save the world. To end war and bring peace to mankind; but then I glimpsed the darkness that lives within their light. I learnt that inside every one of them there will always be both. The choice each must make for themselves—something no hero will ever defeat.”

— Diana, Wonder Woman (2017)

The Wonder Behind the Woman

A superheroine of legendary skills and power, Wonder Woman joined fellow superheroes

Superman and Batman in #8 in October 1941 with her first feature in Sensation

Comics #1 in January of 1942.1 Created by , American psychologist and inventor of the polygraph test apparatus – the inspiration behind Wonder Woman’s – the famed heroine leaped onto the pages of comics as a symbol of feminism, virtue, and women’s capability in the fight for justice against the evils of the world. After years of publishing his works in the academic community, Marston wanted to use a new platform to inspire generations of readers with his research on human , gender, and sexual practices. He saw the potential of comic books as an educational tool, as well as a clever storytelling method, to capture the interest of the younger population and suggest his theories on gender, sex and sexuality, and feminist activism to readers. This was a medium that allowed

Marston to express his beliefs and research that, to an extent, was not accepted in the academic field – promoting women-centric ideals in a man’s world.2 Three years after the creation of

1 Cocca, Carolyn. “Gender and the Political Economy of Superheroes in Wonder Woman and Buffy the Slayer.” Heroines of Film and Television: Portrayals in Popular Culture. Jones, Norma, Maja Bajac-Carter, and Bob Batchelor, eds. Lanham: Rowan & Littlefield, 2014, pp. 265–293. 2 Morrison, Grant. Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us about Being Human. Spiegel & Grau, 2012, p. 41. 131

Superman, and subsequently the superhero genre, Marston’s wife Elizabeth, a psychologist in her own right, suggested that her husband create his own hero to portray his progressive ideologies – specifically, a heroine.3 Thus Wonder Woman was born.

Inspired by their shared life partner, – the character model for the original

Wonder Woman design, Wonder Woman was introduced to comic readers as Princess Diana of the Amazons.4 As described in Sensation Comics #1, Marston describes Diana as a “a woman with the eternal beauty of Aphrodite and the wisdom of , yet whose lovely form hides the agility of Mercury and the steely sinews of .”5 Smart, beautiful, and strong, Diana’s purpose was to bring love and compassion to mankind while subduing Axis spies, taking down common criminals, fighting mythical creatures and characters, foiling foes, and teaching the

“Man’s World” about the peaceful and equal way of life found with the Amazons.6

The start of Diana’s journey is depicted with the crash-landing arrival of American ,

Captain . And with his arrival, the Amazons learned of the world’s troubles against the evil of wars, sickness, and poverty. With this knowledge of the world in peril, Diana joins the charming outsider by leaving behind her hidden home of Paradise Island and ventures into the land of Man. This pilgrimage to the outside world is described in the opening pages of the comic, with the Amazons telling Diana to leave with Steve for America: “You must send with him the strongest of your wonder women!—For America, the last citadel of democracy, and equal rights for women, needs your help!”7 It is on the mainland, protecting citizens in the criminal-filled

3 Ibid. 4 Ibid. 5 Marston, William Moulton and Harry Peter, Sensation Comics #1, 1942; and William Moulton Marston and Harry Peter, Wonder Woman Vol. 1 #1, 1942. 6 Cocca, Carolyn. “Gender and the Political Economy of Superheroes in Wonder Woman and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Heroines of Film and Television: Portrayals in Popular Culture. Jones, Norma, Maja Bajac-Carter, and Bob Batchelor, eds. Lanham: Rowan & Littlefield, 2014, p. 265. 7 Morrison, Grant. Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us about Being Human. Spiegel & Grau, 2012, p. 42; from Wonder Woman #1, “Introducing Wonder Woman”. 132 streets of America and fighting the Axis powers – and later the Nazis – across Europe, where

Princess Diana donned her armor, tiara, and magic bracelets to become Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman quickly stood out from her competitors with Marston’s innovative concept of a heroine with the traditional beauty standards of a pinup model, but all the strength and intelligence of one of her male counterparts.8 Her character provided her readers with a refreshing outlook on a male dominated genre, where Wonder Woman became a symbol for feminism and a woman’s agency in a time of war.9 This is seen in one of the earliest runs of

Wonder Woman in the comics when Diana announces her views on gender norms and women’s strength through activism: “Earth girls can stop men’s power for evil when they refuse to be dominated by evil men.”10 But she was also laden with the burden of the male gaze within the power structure of male power fantasy, and sexual fetishes tied to her body imagery and exoticism, which will be further examined in this chapter.11

However, despite the animosity tied to her character surrounding the politics of her identity (e.g. gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.), Wonder Woman – and the many other fictional heroines she would inspire – became a symbol of “girl power” for audiences young and old. The famed Princess would continue to inspire many others with her many appearances over the last eighty years in comic books, television shows, and feature films.12 A feminist icon and character closely associated with the queer community, Wonder Woman is a superheroine that exudes polysemy in that she represents multiple cultural ideals at once.13 As

Jeffrey A. Brown, in his book Dangerous Curves: Action Heroines, Gender, Fetishism, and

8 Ibid, 41. 9 Brown, Jeffrey A. Dangerous Curves: Action Heroines, Gender, Fetishism, and Popular Culture. University Press of Mississippi, 2016, p. 235. 10 Cocca, Carolyn. “Gender and the Political Economy of Superheroes in Wonder Woman and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Heroines of Film and Television: Portrayals in Popular Culture. Jones, Norma, Maja Bajac-Carter, and Bob Batchelor, eds. Lanham: Rowan & Littlefield, 2014, p. 264; Wonder Woman Vol. 1 #5, by creator William Moulton Marston, 1943. 11 Brown, Jeffrey A. Dangerous Curves: Action Heroines, Gender, Fetishism, and Popular Culture. University Press of Mississippi, 2016, p. 235. 12 Ibid. 13 Ibid. 133

Popular Culture, explains Wonder Woman is a “contestable figure” in that she, like other action heroines, is “a symbol of many things at once. And while many of the fantasies that surround

Wonder Woman are conflicting and contradictory, they may also help explain at a broad cultural level why the action heroine is one of the most intriguing, progressive, and disputed signs of changing gender norms in popular culture.”14

It is Wonder Woman’s cultural importance as a character both refuting and strengthening the norms of hegemony that has survived her long running history in the comic, as well as in the realm of film and television shows. But her fame has not been without sacrifice, often to the point of undergoing significant changes to her character, origin, costuming, superpowered abilities, and plot lines.15 But even with all these variations of her foundation, Wonder Woman is a character who best demonstrates the values our culture strives to uphold, even in the face of great strife as a nation, that at her core is never changed: peace, love, equality, justice, truth, and compassion.16 , the actress who played the first rendition of Wonder Woman on television, explains how through Wonder Woman, we recognize our potential for heroism, compassion, healing and address our values of gender roles and social equality as a society pre- and post-911:

Wonder Woman was created as a feminist ideal. She has survived for decades when other

characters - men and women - have burst onto the scene and disappeared. Wonder

Woman has not only survived, she has thrived. Seeing the impact she’s had – and has –

on so many women and girls around the world, has been awe-inspiring. So today, I

14 Ibid. 15 Bergstrom, Signe. Ambassador of Truth, HarperCollinsPublishers, DC Comics, 2017, p. 10. 16 Ibid. 134

couldn’t be more thrilled that Wonder Woman has become a world-wide phenomenon

again. How fantastic!17

Wonder Woman serves as a reminder to fight for our values and strive as a community to maintain our collective and innate sense of goodness.18 Almost eighty years later, she serves as a reminder to her fans and audience that everyone in the world is capable of good, and that it is only by coming together as a society, fighting for our sense of justice, equality, and what is right, that we can move forward into a better tomorrow.

From Comics and Carter to Gal Gadot: Wonder Woman Through the Years

While Wonder Woman quickly caught the hearts and attention of comic book fans across the country, she was not the first superheroine in existence.19 Rather, the woman to claim that title belonged to Olga Mesmer, who went by the name of the Girl with X- Eyes, appeared in one issue of Spicy Mystery Stories in October 1938 and is arguably the oldest superhero – pre- dating Superman’s debut by one year.20 O’Neil, an invisible ghost-like maiden who saved children from fires and other disasters had her run before the famous Amazon, but was not well known in the genre.21 These first superheroines were joined by a middle-aged housewife called

Ma Hunkel, who made her debut appearance in All-American no. 20 in 1940 as the Red

Tornado.22 Wearing a handmade outfit with a blanket cape and signature cooking pan on her head, she protected her citizens, even without the help of superpowers.23 Many others would come in her wake to defend their streets from crime of all sorts, but none as fiercely or with so

17 Ibid, 7. 18 Ibid, 10. 19 Morrison, Grant. Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us about Being Human. Spiegel & Grau, 2012, pp. 40-41. 20 Tate, Chuck. “The Stereotypical (Wonder) Woman,” in The Psychology of Superheroes: An Unauthorized Exploration, ed. Robin S. Rosenberg and Jennifer Canzoneri, (Dallas, TX: BenBella Books, Inc., 2008), p. 147. 21 Ibid. 22 Morrison, Grant. Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us about Being Human. Spiegel & Grau, 2012, pp. 40-41. 23 Ibid. 135 much of a fan following as the Amazonian princess. While Wonder Woman may not have been the first in her genre to take the title of superheroine, she was certainly the first to make it so that her fame and status as a superheroine could compete with her male counterparts in the comic book world. Wonder Woman’s popularity and prominence in the genre is due in part that she was created as a character separate from the male superheroes. While Superman is accompanied by his cousin Supergirl, and Batman is teamed up with to help him patrol the streets,

Wonder Woman has always been one of a kind – a new type of heroine.24

While her origin story has been retold countless times in the various forms of media, her core values have always stayed the same in every rendition: bravery, courage, compassion, hope, and a warrior of incredible skill.25 As the chosen champion of the Amazons, Princess Diana leaves Paradise Island to share her beliefs and fight against injustice faced by mankind. Since her first adventure into the world of man, Wonder Woman’s stories have been filled with her messages of hope and compassion as she fights for women’s rights and equality – a feminist message that was well before its time, and one that is still being utilized by the Amazonian princess today.

From her very , Wonder Woman has unapologetically stood for her ideologies in a male dominated genre. Knowing that his creation would have to compete with her male counterparts, in 1944 Marston wrote that his intention when writing Wonder Woman’s characterization was to create a superheroine who was, “tender, submissive, peaceloving as good women are,” endowed by beauty and powers such as, “all the strength of a Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman”.26 By introducing Wonder Woman’s story in the comics, and later on television and feature films, Marston took this unique character to balance out the

24 Brown, Jeffrey A. Dangerous Curves: Action Heroines, Gender, Fetishism, and Popular Culture. University Press of Mississippi, 2016, p. 235. 25 Ibid. 26 Ibid, 236. 136 more masculine tone of the genre of superheroes.27But as Wonder Woman underwent editing and changes to her looks and characterization with the addition of new writers and editors, Marston feared that the ideals so beloved by Wonder Woman would be erased with time. In February

1941, Marston reached out to his editor, Sheldon Mayer, and wrote to him stating, “A great movement [is] now underway – the growth in the power of women.”28 He was able to withstand other editorial or art-related changes to his beloved superheroine, but Marston implored Mayer to

“let that theme alone” and allow for the character of Wonder Woman to continue to stand for women's rights. Marston’s fear was that Diana would be reduced to a “sidekick” status, or that her ideology would be changed so drastically away from her original core values of gender equality and female empowerment.29 Throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s, his concerns would remain unfounded and Wonder Woman became the feminist icon he so desired to see in comic books.

Wonder Woman continued to be an important popular culture icon of heroism and female emancipation throughout the 1940s and into the early 1950s. However, with the publishing of

Dr. Fredric Wertham’s The Seduction of the Innocent in 1954, the character of Wonder Woman came under heavy scrutiny for Marston’s depiction of her more sadomasochistic plot lines, the

Amazonian’s weakness of rope bondage, and the possible lesbian undertones found within her comics.30 Thus in the next two decades, Wonder Woman’s adventures became far tamer, no longer able to showcase taboo subjects such as homosexuality and other sexual themes in comics.31 As a result, the Amazon warrior’s popularity steadily declined through the 1960s, only claiming a small following of loyal readers and a minor resurgence of fame due to second-wave

27 Ibid, 235. 28 Bergstrom, Signe. Ambassador of Truth, HarperCollinsPublishers, DC Comics, 2017, p. 48. 29 Ibid. 30 Brown, Jeffrey A. Dangerous Curves: Action Heroines, Gender, Fetishism, and Popular Culture. University Press of Mississippi, 2016, p. 237. 31 Ibid. 137 feminists discovering her comics in the 1970s.32 During this time, Wonder Woman would give up her powers to be with her love interest, Captain Steve Trevor, as her secret identity Diana

Prince. One such comic panel in 1968 showed the former superheroine lamenting, “I’ll lose him forever if I don’t do something to keep him interested in me!”, in a move that the creative team for Wonder Woman believed to be a feminist stance in which she would have to rely on her intellect and charms, and not her superpowers to save the day – while also operating a fashion boutique in her spare time.33

Hoping to restore some agency back to the character, the feminist magazine Ms., featured an image of Wonder Woman on their first cover in 1972.34 Social political activist and journalist,

Gloria Steinem, spoke of this choice of Wonder Woman as the face of Ms. magazine recalling,

“We were looking for a cover story for its first regular issue,” and as Steinem describes that she, along with many of the other editors at Ms., “had been rescued by Wonder Woman in their childhoods, we decided to rescue Wonder Woman in return . . . [she] appeared in all her original glory, striding through city streets like a , stopping planes and bombs with one hand and rescuing buildings with the other”.35 Ms. magazine caused quite the stir among superhero fans and critics alike as Ms. proudly proclaimed, “Wonder Woman for President!”36 Ms. magazine’s feminist forward Wonder Woman comments were not the first time that such a political message involving the presidency would be made with her character, as Wonder Woman would “run” for

32 Ibid. 33 Cocca, Carolyn. “Gender and the Political Economy of Superheroes in Wonder Woman and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Heroines of Film and Television: Portrayals in Popular Culture. Jones, Norma, Maja Bajac-Carter, and Bob Batchelor, eds. Lanham: Rowan & Littlefield, 2014, p. 266. 34 Brown, Jeffrey A. Dangerous Curves: Action Heroines, Gender, Fetishism, and Popular Culture. University Press of Mississippi, 2016, p. 143. 35 Ibid; Steinem, 1995, p. 15. 36 Brown, Jeffrey A. Dangerous Curves: Action Heroines, Gender, Fetishism, and Popular Culture. University Press of Mississippi, 2016, p. 237. 138 president in the comics in 1943 under Marston’s run.37 And after lobbying for Wonder Woman to regain her status as a true superheroine, Diana’s powers were restored in the comics in 1973.38

But her victory was short-lived as the new editor, Julius Schwartz, who claimed that he

“never cared for Wonder Woman,”39 in the late 1970s and early 1980s changed Wonder

Woman’s comic book portrayal so that she wore a smaller, and more revealing costume while drawn in suggestive poses as she fought equally sexualized women.40 Wonder Woman’s status as a feminist icon was swiftly depleting, with her characterization and storyline becoming increasingly Campy. Likewise, a “battle of the sexes” theme became extremely prominent in her comics as Diana’s views became negatively stereotyped feminism and radically anti-male41, rather than the equality that she originally stood for under Marston’s vision.42

But Wonder Woman’s fortunes would soon change with the introduction of the television series Wonder Woman (1975-1979) starring Lynda Carter. For many die-hard fans of the character Wonder Woman, there is no better actress to embody all the strength and heart of the character than Lynda Carter.43 Previously crowned as 1972’s Miss World USA, representing her home state of , Carter’s classic look of long dark hair, lightly-tanned skin, and piercing blue eyes made Carter look every bit the part of America’s favorite superheroine.44 Exuding charm, a natural beauty, dry wit, and daring heroism Carter brought Wonder Woman to life for three seasons on television for Wonder Woman, with seasons two and three adopting the new

37 Bergstrom, Signe. Ambassador of Truth, HarperCollinsPublishers, DC Comics, 2017, p. 55. 38 Cocca, Carolyn. “Gender and the Political Economy of Superheroes in Wonder Woman and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Heroines of Film and Television: Portrayals in Popular Culture. Jones, Norma, Maja Bajac-Carter, and Bob Batchelor, eds. Lanham: Rowan & Littlefield, 2014, p. 266. 39 Ibid, quoted in Daniels, Wonder Woman, p. 134. 40 Ibid. 41 Comic examples of this drastic change in views include Wonder Woman #219, 1975; #230, 1977; #250–253, 1978–1979; #263–264, 1980; #275, 1981; #288–290, 1982; and #318, 1984; for more information see Robinson, Lillian. Wonder Women: Feminisms and Superheroes, Routledge, 2004. 42 Ibid. 43 Bergstrom, Signe. Ambassador of Truth, HarperCollinsPublishers, DC Comics, 2017, p. 51. 44 Ibid. 139 name The New Adventures of Wonder Woman.45 Dressed in a red, blue, and gold star-spangled costume, as a nod to H. G. Peter’s original illustrations, Carter’s Wonder Woman was dressed for success – a superheroine with the looks to match the strength of her powers.46 She was both sexy, and strong – a character design for the famed Amazonian that Carter herself was proud of, with the actress commenting, “She was a nonpredatory female. This was about sisterhood, about intellect and attitude, and fair play and inclusion and not might makes right.”47 But as ideal as

Carter was for Diana’s television debut, not everyone saw her one-piece leotard as empowering, with fans and critics claiming that her uniform was more fit for a pinup girl, than a superhero - the costume making Wonder Woman appear highly fetishized on television.48

For as much as Carter received criticism and praise for her looks as the Amazonian

Princess, there was no denying that Lynda Carter brought Wonder Woman to life. While playing a superhero in a television series littered with Camp49 – although not nearly as bad as the 1960s

Batman television show, Carter did not just play the role of an action hero, she was one. As a natural athlete, Carter performed many of her own stunts while filming all three seasons of

Wonder Woman.50 One of her famous action scenes involved the episode “Anschluss ‘77” in season two where she hangs on to the bottom of a helicopter and is flown out of a cliffside valley. During the filming, the Carter’s stunt double was unavailable for that day, and wanting to complete the shot before nightfall, Carter performed the stunt herself without any hesitation - a stunt that not only made CBS executives nervous for the actress’ life and gain the respect of the show’s stunt people, but also made Carter an honorary member of the Stuntwomen’s

45 Ibid. 46 Ibid. 47 Ibid. 48 Brown, Jeffrey A. Dangerous Curves: Action Heroines, Gender, Fetishism, and Popular Culture. University Press of Mississippi, 2016, p. 237. 49 Ibid. 50 Bergstrom, Signe. Ambassador of Truth, HarperCollinsPublishers, DC Comics, 2017, p. 52. 140

Association.51 Wonder Woman’s action packed show and adventurous spirit can be heard in Mp3

Track #1152 at the (0:00-0:35) minute mark. This can be found below in the concert band transcription for verse one of the Wonder Woman television show (1975) introduction theme song, as seen in Figure 4.1.1-4.1.4 (See Appendix A)53. Lynda Carter’s run as Wonder Woman lasted for only three years, but her portrayal of the Amazonian Princess and alter ego, Diana

Prince, would be beloved by fans for decades to come.

Entering the 1980s, the character of Wonder Woman would once again endure a reboot in the comics during a time when DC Comics hoped that by relaunching its superhero titles, their profits would increase dramatically.54 Because of this reset to her character, under the writing and artwork of George Pérez, the lore of the Amazons changed dramatically, as well as Diana’s look. Pérez’s Amazons were souls of women who had been murdered by their male partners and later given life from Greek Goddesses.55 These Amazons were drawn to be more racially diverse while implying they had intimate relationships with each other – friendship or romantic, something that had not been seen in the Wonder Woman comics since Marston’s run in the

1940s.56 Diana herself was changed so that she looked more “ethnic”, with Pérez claiming at the

Supernova Pop Culture Expo in 2010, “I picture her with a deep tan and a foreign accent.”57 His depiction of Wonder Woman included a strong, fit body with a more modest costume and flat boots.58 Just as in the 1940s, Diana was accompanied on her adventures with a group of female

51 Ibid, 53. 52 Fox, Charles. “Wonder Woman Season 1 Theme.” Lyrics by Norman Gimbel, 1975. YouTube upload: Don Jack, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgnQiFNOK0M. 53 Fox Charles. “Wonder Woman TV Theme.” Lyrics by Norman Gimbel, 1975, Musescore.com. Accessed July 17, 2019. Credited transcriber: Monsieur Ragoût, https://musescore.com/user/15059356/scores/5613954, pp. 1-4. 54 Cocca, Carolyn. “Gender and the Political Economy of Superheroes in Wonder Woman and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Heroines of Film and Television: Portrayals in Popular Culture. Jones, Norma, Maja Bajac-Carter, and Bob Batchelor, eds. Lanham: Rowan & Littlefield, 2014, p. 264. 55 Ibid. 56 Ibid. 57 Ibid, 265. 58 Ibid, 266. 141 friends who helped her on various quests, such as fighting Greek mythological foes, a recurring theme in Pérez’s comic run from 1987-1992 in Wonder Woman Vol. 2 issues #1-62 .59

George Pérez’s take on the Amazon Princess for Wonder Woman stood out from her female compatriots within the superhero genre in that, although he did make her noticeably darker skinned and muscular, she was not hypersexualized, nor exceedingly violent.60 At this time, fans believed that Wonder Woman had not yet joined the ranks of her sexualized sisters, in that Pérez’s version of the heroine was heavily and publicly supported by three female DC

Comics editors, including the Wonder Woman comics’ first female editor, Karen Berger.61 Upon

Pérez’s run, Berger spoke about the heroine's influence in this particular portrayal: “The overwhelming majority of comics [are] geared to and read by males. . . . [This] new Wonder

Woman comic . . . serves as a great role model to young women, but also contains many elements that appeal to males as well. Wonder Woman crosses the gender line.”62 Fans of the comics wrote to the editors at DC Comics about their approval of this new take on Wonder

Woman, with one saying “You can’t keep a good feminist down! WW63 is back and looking better than ever!”.64 While another outspoken fan wrote to the publishers saying, “I fully agree with your perception of Wonder Woman as a positive and strong model for girls/women. It also, hopefully, will take some of the chauvinism out of the male readers brought up on macho men and weak women.”65 And finally, one fan by the name of Tonya Falls, commenting that this

Wonder Woman was “... a tribute to her sex, a genuine wonder of a woman”.66 Pérez’s run was

59 Ibid. 60 Ibid, 264. 61 Ibid, 267. 62 Ibid; Karen Berger, in George Pérez, Wonder Woman Vol. 2 #2, 1987. 63 WW is a common shorthand for Wonder Woman used by fans of her character. 64 Ibid; Neil Roberts, in Wonder Woman Vol. 2 #4. 65 Ibid; Malcolm Bourne, in Wonder Woman Vol. 2 #5. 66 Ibid; Tonya Falls, in Wonder Woman Vol. 2 #8. 142 rather successful and his feminist forward portray of the superheroine set a precedent for the character that fans and critics alike would want in future depictions of Wonder Woman.

Legendary writer, , would later be in control of Wonder Woman within the comics in the late , as the first female writer to take up Wonder Woman’s series writing for

Wonder Woman Vol. 3, issues #14–44. When writing for Wonder Woman, Simone stated that she was, “... letting the tiger loose. Wonder Woman’s slightly untamed, and she’s the greatest warrior the Earth has ever known, period. She fights for right, she wants peace. But woe betide despots and those who harm innocents in her presence.” Also known for her work on the comics for the all-female superhero team, , Gail Simone’s Wonder Woman was awe- inspiring.67 Her Diana retained her feminist ideals whose stories related well with feminist issues of the real world at the time. But she remained enough of an outside character within the comic to comment on our hegemonic norms, often as critiques laced with humor.68 One prime example of this issue is in Vol. 3, issue #34 entitled “Birds of Paradise, Part 1: A Malignant Isolation”, in which Wonder Woman and the (Dinah Lance) team up to go undercover for a mission and discuss wardrobe options with Dinah claiming, “the sexier the outfit, the fewer questions asked.”69 Once dressed, the Black Canary comments on their purposefully alluring attire saying, “Ah, we look like high-end trashy hookers in a Tarantino nightmare. Perfect!”70 At

Dinah’s remarks, Diana awkwardly looks down at her uncharacteristically shy self and uncomfortably asks her partner, “Do we need to expose quite so much of . . . [my breasts]? And these [high-heeled] boots seem completely impractical in a combat situation! I can’t believe

67 Bergstrom, Signe. Ambassador of Truth, HarperCollinsPublishers, DC Comics, 2017, p. 31. 68 Cocca, Carolyn. “Gender and the Political Economy of Superheroes in Wonder Woman and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Heroines of Film and Television: Portrayals in Popular Culture. Jones, Norma, Maja Bajac-Carter, and Bob Batchelor, eds. Lanham: Rowan & Littlefield, 2014, p. 273. 69 Simone, Gail. “Birds of Paradise, Part 1: A Malignant Isolation”; editor Dan DiDio and cover artist Aaron Lopresti, Wonder Woman Vol. 3 #34, 2009. 70 Ibid. 143 women are expected to wear these every day.”71 This playful banter between the two superheroines is a both a display and parody of their characterizations and usual costumes, which helps to address the ongoing issue of objectification of women in the real world in a comedic scenario involving the scantily clad heroines.72

Likewise, Simone uses Wonder Woman to break gender stereotypes in her comic run with a story arc where two young children are saved by Diana after being threatened by a giant snake.73 The girl sees Wonder Woman and says, “You’re so pretty. I got your lunchbox,” and the young boy next to her exclaims, “Who cares about that? She’s tough!”74 It is through examples like these and countless others in her comic run that Wonder Woman is seen as a feminist icon who disavowed gendered expectations and norms regularly.75 Gail Simone’s Wonder Woman was both a lover and a fighter; a warrior in every sense – mental, physical, and emotional.76

While spreading messages of peace and kindness to her viewers, Wonder Woman would also enter her battles wielding her weapons with renewed vigor, so that even the famed lasso of truth becomes something to fear in the hands of the superheroine. As Signe Bergstrom, author of

Ambassador of Truth, declared about Simone’s take on Wonder Woman, “Marston would have been proud.”77

71 Ibid; discussed in Cocca, Carolyn. “Gender and the Political Economy of Superheroes in Wonder Woman and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Heroines of Film and Television: Portrayals in Popular Culture. Jones, Norma, Maja Bajac-Carter, and Bob Batchelor, eds. Lanham: Rowan & Littlefield, 2014, p. 274. 72 Cocca, Carolyn. “Gender and the Political Economy of Superheroes in Wonder Woman and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Heroines of Film and Television: Portrayals in Popular Culture. Jones, Norma, Maja Bajac-Carter, and Bob Batchelor, eds. Lanham: Rowan & Littlefield, 2014, p. 274. 73 Ibid. 74 Simone, Gail. “A Murder of Crows, Part One” editor Dan DiDio and cover artist Aaron Lopresti, Wonder Woman Vol. 3 #40, 2010. 75 Cocca, Carolyn. “Gender and the Political Economy of Superheroes in Wonder Woman and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Heroines of Film and Television: Portrayals in Popular Culture. Jones, Norma, Maja Bajac-Carter, and Bob Batchelor, eds. Lanham: Rowan & Littlefield, 2014, p. 274. 76 Bergstrom, Signe. Ambassador of Truth, HarperCollinsPublishers, DC Comics, 2017, p. 31. 77 Ibid. 144

But Wonder Woman’s role as a feminist icon would once again fall into question with

DC Comics’ addition of the “New 52”, a storyline in which after the Flashpoint78 event, all the superheroes were once again rebooted – a consequence of the Flash’s meddling with time in the comics. As a result, the Wonder Woman, along with her fellow Amazons, were rewritten under

Brian Azzarello, who described his works as “a horror story”.79 And rightly so, with Diana’s and the Amazons’ origin story changing dramatically so that Diana is no longer a baby formed from clay and given life by goddesses, but rather she is now the product of a secret affair between her mother and .80 The Amazons were changed from their immortal and peaceful renditions, and instead are made mortal whereby they repopulate by seducing and killing sailors, only keeping the female babies and selling the males into slavery for weapons.81 The final change in origin story was that the God of war, , is no longer Diana’s nemesis, but rather he becomes her mentor, and as a result, she in turn becomes violent and merciless to her foes. With Azzarello’s grim depiction of the Amazons and Wonder Woman herself, fans of the heroine felt violated with this dark version of Diana – one that drifted so far morally away from Marston and

Simone’s Wonder Woman, that this heroine was a different kind of hero altogether.82 But his dark rendition of the beloved character matched the grim tone that was found in the “New 52”, a thematic style of comic writing that became very popular post-9/11, as American consumers of the comics connected with the morose and violent tones found in these superhero stories.

78 is a story arc in which the Flash creates an alternate reality where he saves his mother from being murdered, but as a consequence several prominent superhero lives are negatively affected resulting in all-out war in Europe between the Amazons and the Atlanteans, the deaths of several heroes, among other issues. Flash eventually tries to correct the timeline by allowing his mother to die, but the present day is slightly altered again from the original creating the comic line of the “New 52” referring to the new reboots of superheroes. 79 Cocca, Carolyn. “Gender and the Political Economy of Superheroes in Wonder Woman and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Heroines of Film and Television: Portrayals in Popular Culture. Jones, Norma, Maja Bajac-Carter, and Bob Batchelor, eds. Lanham: Rowan & Littlefield, 2014, p. 275. 80 Ibid. 81 Ibid. 82 Ibid. 145

However, this dark tonal shift that was gripping the superhero genre would not last long for the Amazon princess, as after spending so much time depicted in comics, the fans believed it was time for Wonder Woman to come back on screen – this time as a standalone feature film. In

2006, Warner Brothers wanted to introduce Wonder Woman on the silver screen, promoting the revamp of the hero in an advertisement simply as “Experience the Wonder” next to an illustration of the superheroine by artist .83 The poster itself only showed her hair, chest, and clenched fist adorned with her signature bracelets as the lack of visible details only added to the fans hype about the impending film. But even with the draw of Buffy the Vampire

Slayer director to write and direct the film, it was not enough to get production off the ground.84 Fearing that a superhero film starring a female action heroine would fail in theaters, the studio delayed production until they eventually canceled the movie altogether – and with it, the hopes of Wonder Woman ever being featured in a film died with it.85 Several years later

NBC would film an unaired pilot episode of Wonder Woman in 2011, starring Adrianne Palicki as the famed Amazonian princess.86 Written by Ally McBeal and creator David E. Kelly, the vigilante-style heroine never saw the light of day – to the relief of Wonder Woman fans everywhere. Once again, due to poor narrative writing and a tone-deafness that bordered on

Camp, the 2011 Wonder Woman failure only seemed to prove to fans of the superheroine that they would never see her story brought to life on screen.87

But Wonder Woman’s luck would change with the release of Zack Snyder’s Batman v

Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016. Originally introduced in Batman v Superman as Diana

Prince, acting as a foil to Bruce Wayne in their attempt to discover Lex Luthor’s plans, actress

83 Brown, Jeffrey A. Dangerous Curves: Action Heroines, Gender, Fetishism, and Popular Culture. University Press of Mississippi, 2016, p. 233. 84 Ibid. 85 Ibid, 234. 86 Stuller, Jennifer K. “Choosing Her “Fae”te: Subversive Sexuality and Lost Girl’s Re/evolutionary Female Hero.” Heroines of Film and Television: Portrayals in Popular Culture. Jones, Norma, Maja Bajac-Carter, and Bob Batchelor, eds. Lanham: Rowan & Littlefield, 2014, p. 45. 87 Brown, Jeffrey A. Dangerous Curves: Action Heroines, Gender, Fetishism, and Popular Culture. University Press of Mississippi, 2016, p. 234. 146

Gal Gadot literally leaps on screen as Wonder Woman in a pivotal moment during a fight to protect Batman from certain death. Armed with a sword, shield, bullet-blocking bracelets, and her lasso of truth, Wonder Woman fights alongside both titular heroes, Batman and Superman, to defeat Luthor’s monstrosity of an experiment, Doomsday, before it destroys the city. For the first time in the new millennium, audiences watched an awe-inspiring performance by the new heroine, but her origin story had yet to be told within the film.88 With Wonder Woman’s cinematic introduction in Batman v Superman came her own energetic leitmotif entitled “Is She

With You?”, named after a funny interaction of identity confusion between her male counterparts on screen that is transcribed below:

Superman: “This thing is from another world. My world.”

Wonder Woman: “I've killed things from other worlds before.”

Superman: “...Is she with you?”

Batman: “I thought she was with you.”89

Written by Hans Zimmer, Wonder Woman’s leitmotif, “Is She With You?”, can be heard in Mp3 Track #1290 at the (0:00-0:27) minute mark, and found in Figure 4.2 below, featuring a piano transcription of her leitmotif.

88 Bergstrom, Signe. Ambassador of Truth, HarperCollinsPublishers, DC Comics, 2017, p. 10. 89 Snyder, Zack, director. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. 2016; RatPac Entertainment, Atlas Entertainment, Cruel and Unusual Films, Warner Bros. Pictures. DVD. 90 Zimmer, Hans and Junkie XL. “Is She With You?” YouTube upload: WaterTower Music, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S176AKQhcCk. 147

Figure 4.2: Piano transcription for the Wonder Woman theme, “Is She With You?”.91

While transcribed for piano in Figure 4.2, the original motif features an electric cello theme that is played over a percussion and a percussive low strings ostinato. Looking at the score, Wonder Woman’s “Is She With You” leitmotif consists of the notes: E - G - B - Bb, found in the running eighth-note line in the cello.92 Together these notes, E - G - Bb, create a diminished chord with the added dissonance by being resolved to a B – turning into a minor chord.93 Not depicted above in Figure 4.2, the electric cello melody ends on a C# with a glissando to an octave jump to C# again, before bending down a half-step lower to a C. The following sequence looks like the following: C♯4 - C♯5 - C5 - C♯5.94 This strained-sounding bend in the electric cello creates a tone of added dissonance and tension once more, while also creating an almost shrieking sound similar to a screaming . This serves as a tone painting

91 Zimmer, Hans and Junkie XL. “Wonder Woman Theme: Is She With You?” Musescore.com. Accessed April 25, 2019. Credited arranger: Rodger Clutter (RodgerC26) and Samuel Fu. https://musescore.com/rodgerc26/wonder-woman. 92 Ibid. 93 ThePiano.SG. “Wonder Woman Theme - Why It Is So Intense And Powerful.” ThePiano.SG, March 7, 2019. http://www.thepiano.sg/piano/read/wonder-woman-theme-why-it-so-intense-and-powerful. 94 Ibid. 148 effect as Wonder Woman’s metaphorical war cry upon entering the scene in Batman v

Superman: Dawn of Justice.95

After her debut in Batman v Superman, Diana would have her first feature film in

Wonder Woman (2017). Directed by , and with Gal Gadot reprising her role as the titular heroine, audiences were treated to an epic tale describing Princess Diana’s early life on

Themyscira (i.e., Paradise Island) before she rescues American pilot/spy, Captain Steve Trevor, from a plane crash and later an invasion of German soldiers who attack the Amazons.96 After mourning the death of her aunt, general, and mentor , Diana subsequently joins Steve and his band of compatriots on a journey to fight Ares, the God of War; and the Axis powers in

World War I, where she embraces her superheroine identity of Wonder Woman.97

As the first female director for a superhero feature film, Jenkins could not be ignored because Wonder Woman reached the “big-budget threshold”. On opening weekend, the film made over $100 million, making it a rousing success.98 Before the film’s release, Jenkins spoke at length about her experience with directing Wonder Woman and the feminist message the film brought to audiences around the world.

It’s been incredible to make something about a super hero that stands for a message of

fighting for a loving, thoughtful government, especially in this current climate… There’s

going to be a lot of conversation about her being a woman in these times, but I think the

greatest part about the character is that she’s so much bigger than all that.99

With the release of Wonder Woman, fans and critics alike have been active in a circular dialogue about the hero being a woman, and the controversy that has surrounded the character

95 Ibid. 96 Jenkins, Patty, director. Wonder Woman. 2017; DC Films, RatPac Entertainment, , Mondadori, Warner Bros. Pictures. DVD. 97 “Wonder Woman (Rupert Gregson-Williams/Various).” Filmtracks, 4 July 2017, www.filmtracks.com/titles/wonder_woman.html. 98 Bergstrom, Signe. Ambassador of Truth, HarperCollinsPublishers, DC Comics, 2017, p. 10. 99 Ibid. 149 since her conception.100 With Wonder Woman’s introduction to Hollywood, the question of her role as a symbol of feminist ideals and gender have only increased with time - something that is common in the modern age involving films with action heroines.101

Not afraid of the conversation and subsequent controversy surrounding the Amazonian

Princess, actress Gal Gadot portrayed the role of Wonder Woman in Jenkins’ Wonder Woman and Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League. Playing the part of a warrior was familiar to Gadot as she had served as an enlisted soldier of the Israel Defense

Forces for two years – becoming a combat trainer herself.102 Gadot commented on her time as a soldier and how it helped her step into the role of Wonder Woman saying, “The things I’ve been through as a soldier prepared me to deal with [my] career as well.”103 But Gadot had won the hearts of her people long before she captured the attention of audiences everywhere with her performance as the Amazon, by being crowned Miss Israel in 2004 – her beauty pageant history a connection Gadot shared with her predecessor, Lynda Carter.104 As a former law student,

Gadot had the brains, the beauty, and the brawn to expertly portray Wonder Woman.105

But choosing the right woman for the job was no easy feat for Zack Snyder and his team for Batman v Superman. Snyder discusses how he felt the pressure to find the perfect woman to play the famed Amazon warrior, claiming “We went through an extensive testing process with

Gal. And the scenes that we shot with her, we felt like what she brought was fresh, courageous, and strong. Gal is strong and cool. Just all the things you would want in a Wonder Woman.”106

Due to the strict secrecy involved in preparations of the filming of Batman v Superman, Gadot

100 Ibid. 101 Brown, Jeffrey A. Dangerous Curves: Action Heroines, Gender, Fetishism, and Popular Culture. University Press of Mississippi, 2016. 102 Bergstrom, Signe. Ambassador of Truth, HarperCollinsPublishers, DC Comics, 2017, p. 105. 103 Ibid. 104 Ibid. 105 Ibid. 106 Ibid, 106. 150 was not even aware that she was auditioning for the role of Wonder Woman until she was doing a screen test with Ben Affleck, Snyder’s Batman.107

Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman was brought to life by the actress’ exuberant performance of the character, supported with the costuming, weapons, and music that made the Amazonian come to life. While the electric cello leitmotif for Wonder Woman was composed by Hans

Zimmer, the rest of the soundtrack for Jenkins’ Wonder Woman was composed by Rupert

Gregson-Williams – a composer also known for writing the music for The Maiden Heist (Hewitt,

2009), (Gibson, 2016), and Aquaman (Wan, 2018). Gregson-Williams, along with the Remote Control (RC) team of composers, wrote a rich soundtrack that is beautifully constructed and narratively compelling.108 But perhaps the hardest part of their scoring for

Wonder Woman was incorporating Hans Zimmer’s electric cello motif for the Amazon Princess, which clashed so harshly against their other compositional styles found throughout the film’s score. While the “Is She With You?” motif is so drastically different in terms of instrumentation and themes compared to the rest of the score, Gregson-Williams and his RC team were able to incorporate the bombastic leitmotif throughout the soundtrack, found in the following songs:

“No Man’s Land”, “Trafalgar Celebration”, “Amazons of Themyscira”, “History Lesson”, and

“Angel on the Wing”.109 The first time the cello leitmotif is heard in the soundtrack is starting at the 3:08 minute mark of “No Man’s Land” found the Mp3 Track #13110. The 3:08 minute mark is the percussion heavy opening found in “Wonder Woman’s Wrath”, that only lasts until the electric cello motif is heard in full at the 3:22 minute mark.111 Again the cello motif is heard in

107 Ibid. 108 “Wonder Woman (Rupert Gregson-Williams/Various).” Filmtracks, 4 July 2017, www.filmtracks.com/titles/wonder_woman.html. 109 Ibid. 110 Gregson-Williams, Rupert. “No Man’s Land.” YouTube upload: WaterTower Music, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsDibxZlRhg&list=PLBKadB95sF46NHnrQyDN0kIbvk6dbiDhI&index=6. 111 “Wonder Woman (Rupert Gregson-Williams/Various).” Filmtracks, 4 July 2017, www.filmtracks.com/titles/wonder_woman.html. 151

“Amazons of Themyscira” in Mp3 Track #14112 at the 0:09 minute mark in the opening four note phrase – also played by an electric cello, and at (0:23-0:39) minute mark, in the strings via a rhythmic ostinato, that is heard under the low brass motif.113

It is “Amazons of Themyscira” that acts as Wonder Woman’s second leitmotif throughout the film which is split into two distinct themes, Theme A and Theme B. Theme A has been provided as a piano arrangement in Figure 4.3 (See Appendix A)114 at measures 1-23, and can be heard in Mp3 Track #14115 at the (1:49-2:19) minute mark.116 The melody line for Theme

A is played in the strings and is supported in the low brass section. This leitmotif for Wonder

Woman is used in a scene of reflection and often bittersweet as the first time Theme A is found in the film is in the opening scene where Diana looks at the picture of Wonder Woman, Captain

Rodger, and his team after liberating the village of Veld, Belgium; the motif returns briefly when a young Diana is shown the Godkiller sword by her mother, Queen Hippolyta117. This theme is then repeated throughout the soundtrack, but often in deconstructed or as a variation, as found in the last few moments of “No Man’s Land” in the Mp3 Track #13 at the (8:15-8:50) minute mark.

Theme B of “Amazons of Themyscira” can be found in the piano transcription as depicted in Figures 4.4.1-4.4.2118 below from measures 9-32 and heard in Mp3 Track #14 at

(2:20-3:42) in the strings, low brass, and tin whistle, and (5:05-5:38) in the electric cello, strings and low brass. Theme B of “Amazons of Themyscira” is more rhythmically driven with strings

112 Gregson-Williams, Rupert. “Amazons of Themyscira.” YouTube upload: WaterTower Music, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puEi1ZFPwFo&list=PLBKadB95sF46NHnrQyDN0kIbvk6dbiDhI&index=1. 113 “Wonder Woman (Rupert Gregson-Williams/Various).” Filmtracks, 4 July 2017, www.filmtracks.com/titles/wonder_woman.html. 114 Gregson-Williams, Rupert. “Amazons of Themyscira (Main Theme from Wonder Woman).” Accessed July 2, 2020. Sheet Music Now. https://www.sheetmusicnow.com/products/amazons-of-themyscira-main-theme-from-wonder-woman-p465629, p. 1. 115 Gregson-Williams, Rupert. “Amazons of Themyscira.” YouTube upload: WaterTower Music, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puEi1ZFPwFo&list=PLBKadB95sF46NHnrQyDN0kIbvk6dbiDhI&index=1. 116 It is important to note that the piano transcription is written at a different tempo marking than the original, and starting at measure 16 the ascending chordal progression has been elongated into whole notes, instead of a stepwise quarter note pattern as found in the original score. Thus, Figure 4.3 should be used more as a reference for the melodic line, rather than a true transcription rhythmically. 117 Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, is also known as Hippolyte in some versions of the comics; Jenkins, Patty, director. Wonder Woman. 2017; DC Films, RatPac Entertainment, Tencent Pictures, Mondadori, Warner Bros. Pictures. DVD. 118 Gregson-Williams, Rupert. “Amazons of Themyscira” Musescore.com. Accessed July 2, 2020. Arranger: Patrik Pietchmann, Credited transcriber: Rodger Clutter (RodgerC26), https://musescore.com/rodgerc26/amazons-of-themyscira, pp.1–4. 152 and percussion acting as the musical momentum under the melody at (2:20-3:29) in the strings, low brass, and tin whistle, by which the transcription above in Figures 4.4.1-4.4.2 ends. Theme B is first heard in the opening scene where young Diana spies on the Amazon warriors training, and again when an adult Diana trains against her fellow Amazons before Steve crash lands in their waters.119 This motif is heard throughout the film in times of action and adventure as Diana slowly transforms from an Amazon warrior to Wonder Woman the superhero, and also in emotional scenes of loss and love, as heard in a variation on the theme at (2:55-3:22) of “Pain,

Loss & Love” using Mp3 Track #15120.

With the solid plot, iconography, cinematography, and film score, the Wonder Woman film was ready to introduce the Amazon Princess’ story to the world. At the premiere, Lynda

Carter talked about her thoughts on the film and the new take on her beloved character played by a different actress.

The crowd at the premiere of the Wonder Woman film directed by the , gifted

Patty Jenkins was electric. At the time, I said that I was thrilled to pass the torch to a new

Wonder Woman, the beautiful actress Gal Gadot. The lasso of truth is in good hands. But

in a larger sense, I wasn't really passing anything on to anyone. I was sharing a legacy

with Gal, in the way she and I share Wonder Woman with all women and girls in the

world. And as we share her with the men who stand with her and with us.121

Carter was not alone in her hope for the future for young women and Gadot’s expert performance of the famed Amazonian. Director Patty Jenkins herself, at the film’s release, explained her hopes for the character and doing Wonder Woman justice as a feminist icon and

119 Jenkins, Patty, director. Wonder Woman. 2017; DC Films, RatPac Entertainment, Tencent Pictures, Mondadori, Warner Bros. Pictures. DVD. 120 Gregson-Williams, Rupert. “Pain, Loss & Love.” YouTube upload: WaterTower Music, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOqwMvwAKvg&list=PLBKadB95sF46NHnrQyDN0kIbvk6dbiDhI&index=5&frags=pl%2Cwn. 121 Bergstrom, Signe. Ambassador of Truth, HarperCollinsPublishers, DC Comics, 2017, p. 7. 153 inspiration to all, saying “Our film really draws from the original Wonder Woman comic book by William Moulton Marston. The goal was to tap into what always spoke to me about her – to honor who she was, her legacy, and to make her as universal as she was to all us little girls who ran around pretending to be Lynda Carter when we were kids.”122

Carter and Jenkins' hope and concern for the character, and her cinematic debut’s reception, were not unfounded, knowing that historically there have been very few active, and centralized heroines shown in cinema – and one as a superheroine even more of a rarity.123 Up until this point, the role of the heroine in a film was almost always the female love interest, the

“Honey Trap,” or an under-powered – and often underappreciated – sidekick. Never were they given the agency to be their own hero – to tell their own story of their triumphs and failure to a larger audience than those of niche films and the rare television show. And under the male directors Zack Snyder, and later Joss Whedon, Wonder Woman would slip into these roles – much to the fans’ chagrin. During Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, served as the Honey Trap character during the film. Keeping in mind that the term, “Honey Trap,” was the title given to a lone woman in a film whose role, often as part of male dominated team, was to use her beauty and sexuality to distract or seduce the male target, while her male counterparts engage in the action sequences of or plot124 ; Diana used her feminine charm – something Bruce Wayne calls her out for - to try to distract Bruce and other people at a party to steal information from Bruce and ultimately, Lex Luthor.125

With the introduction of Justice League, Wonder Woman’s role continued to slip into the gendered stereotypes for an action heroine. While on a team of superpowered heroes, Wonder

122 Ibid, 57. 123 Ibid, 108. 124 Brown, Jeffrey A. Beyond Bombshells: The New Action Heroine in Popular Culture. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2015, p. 59. 125 Snyder, Zack, director. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. 2016; RatPac Entertainment, Atlas Entertainment, Cruel and Unusual Films, Warner Bros. Pictures. DVD. 154

Woman is the only female – adding her abilities to the group, but not challenging the status quo of masculine-defining heroism.126 Her importance on the team is diminished based solely on her gender127, as evident in Wonder Woman where she single-handedly takes down Ares, the God of war; but in Justice League, she is unable to pose as a significant threat to Doomsday, nor

Superman while he has amnesia.128 This change from a front runner with her own title, to a side character of a team is so dramatic that while Superman and Batman both have very clear moments in the film where their musical motifs can be heard – Superman with William’s

“Superman Fanfare” and Danny Elfman’s own 1989 Batman theme – Wonder Woman’s Hans

Zimmer leitmotif is only incorporated in the soundtrack as a deconstructed rhythmic motif that alludes to her theme, rather than a distinct motif as found in Justice League’s opening phrase for the song, “Hero’s Theme”.129 This lack of musical representation only further supports that under a male director, as often with a male writer for her comics, Wonder Woman is reduced to her gender so that she is more woman, than wonder.

But under Patty Jenkins’ direction for both Wonder Woman and the much-anticipated , , that is planned on being released in August of 2020, there is hope for the Amazon Princess. Jenkins spoke at length about the troubling gender stereotypes found in action films, specifically within the superhero genre, and how she wanted to address these issues, saying, “We’ve spent years treating male heroes in certain ways. I just applied those same tropes to her, and all these incredible radical moments suddenly appear to an audience.”130 Gadot also acknowledges the difficulties in portraying a female heroine in a typical “boys’ club'' genre both in Wonder Woman and its sequel, commenting “We know it was tricky. We wanted to find a

126 Brown, Jeffrey A. Beyond Bombshells: The New Action Heroine in Popular Culture. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2015, p. 54. 127 Ibid. 128 Snyder, Zack, director. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. 2016; RatPac Entertainment, Atlas Entertainment, Cruel and Unusual Films, Warner Bros. Pictures. DVD. 129 “Justice League (Danny Elfman).” Filmtracks, 29 Dec. 2017, www.filmtracks.com/titles/justice_league.html. 130 Bergstrom, Signe. Ambassador of Truth, HarperCollinsPublishers, DC Comics, 2017, p. 108. 155 balance between portraying her as confident and strong and feminine and warm.”131 Fans of the

Amazonian warrior are filled with anticipation at Wonder Woman 1984’s impending debut, hoping that the beloved heroine will gain some of the agency and respect she lost in her previous films.

Almost eighty years since her inception, Wonder Woman has inspired countless young girls, women, and male allies as a feminist icon of beauty and strength. Pre-9/11, the character stood for the hope for the future and compassion to our fellow people in the world. Now, almost two decades since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Wonder Woman still captures our hearts with her words of love, healing, and hope for a better – brighter, future for the nation.

This call for compassion and understanding is a core moral trait of Wonder Woman that has stood the test of time, as evident in the comic panel from Wonder Woman #600 (2006) under

Gail Simone seen in Figure 4.5 (See Appendix B)132. It is Wonder Woman’s values of love and compassion, coupled with her protective strength and sense of justice that has made her a beloved character and a heroine that the American people could continue to see as symbol of hope. Gal Gadot has discussed Wonder Woman’s continued importance as a cultural icon for people over the better part of a century after she was created by Marston.

I truly believe that it’s all because of what she stands for – her values, what she

symbolizes, and who she is. She’s really a pure, beautiful character, so there’s nothing

not to love. I think this character is very universal. Everyone can relate to Diana because

everyone wants to have a better world. Everyone is seeking the good and beautiful and

pure things that we have in this world. And Diana really fights for it. She wants mankind

to be happy. She wants mankind to have a good, beautiful life.133

131 Ibid. 132 Simone, Gail. “Wonder Woman #600”; DC Comics, cover artist George Pérez, #600, 2006. 133 Bergstrom, Signe. Ambassador of Truth, HarperCollinsPublishers, DC Comics, 2017, p. 110. 156

To Gadot, and to the millions of fans around the world, Wonder Woman is a relatable superheroine who has long served as a beacon of all the good that is in the world, the strength of fighting for what is right, and the moral obligation of our generation to leave the world in a better place for the children of the future.

Wonder Woman as a War Film: Gender and Feminism as an Action Heroine

As an action heroine, Wonder Woman is important as a superheroine in that she – like her other female counterparts in cinematic history – acts as a symbol, a representation of the cultural values of the day. And with Wonder Woman, nothing is more prominent in the superhero genre than gender representation and hegemonic social norms concerning gender and sexuality.134 As Princess Diana, Diana Prince, or Wonder Woman, all of the characters’ personas have become intertwined with the cultural ideals of the day – going so far as having Diana change physical appearance in terms of costuming; as fashion trends, standards of beauty, and fetishism associated with the character have dictated her appearance through the years.

As an action heroine, Wonder Woman’s very existence goes outside the status quo, with her character acting as a symbol of both societal change and feminism, because she challenges hegemony about gender roles and gender performance (i.e. costuming) in a fictional medium that has real-life consequences in her portrayal.135 Often the trouble with heroines, super or otherwise, is that the more empowered they are physically, the more they are naturally read as masculine.136 But in the superhero genre, female characters are not granted as much agency as their male counterparts in that, if they are not already less powerful than the men, they are dressed in such a way that overtly exudes their sexuality – forcing their gender to be on display along with their body. Wonder Woman is one of the lucky few superheroines who is as equally,

134 Brown, Jeffrey A. Dangerous Curves: Action Heroines, Gender, Fetishism, and Popular Culture. University Press of Mississippi, 2016, p. 6. 135 Ibid, p. 7. 136 Ibid, 33. 157 if not more, powerful and intelligent as most of the male superheroes at the time of her creation – something that Marston wished for his character; to hold her own in the world of men.137

But the more powerful Wonder Woman became, the more sexualization and fetishization the character endured. While examining the close history between superheroines and feminism,

Roberts and McDaniels describe this occurrence with the loss of female agency with increased superpowers, stating, “In short, in spite of her superhuman strength and power, female superheroes often appear hopelessly caught in a hegemonic gaze.”138 Likewise, Phillips and

Stroble explain that often with superheroines, their power and usefulness as a hero is defined by their looks, not their strength. “If female crime fighters manage to keep up the crime fight, they still must be eye candy for male readers via the gendered constructions of the comic.”139 For the majority of her history, she was dressed in a costume of a metal breastplate, tight fitting corset, with a short skirt. Likewise, Wonder Woman’s curves became conspicuously on display within the comics and on screen. The close association between clothing, and in this case, costuming, is considered by many gender and fashion theorists, as a social construction of the body and a performance of their gender identity.140 Jane Gaines, author of the essay “Costume and

Narrative: How Dress Tells the Woman’s Story.” in the book Fabrications: Costume and the

Female Body, describes how the “rules of the costume and typage” are that “the dress should place a character quickly and efficiently, identifying her in one symbolic sweep.”141 With

Wonder Woman, this is no easy feat as she has undergone multiple changes in her costuming,

137 Bergstrom, Signe. Ambassador of Truth, HarperCollinsPublishers, DC Comics, 2017. 138 Roberts, C., & McDaniel, A. It started with a kiss: Reframing superheroines visual narratives. International Journal of Comic Art, 18(1), 2016, p. 439. 139 Philips, N., & Stroble, S. Comic book crimes: Truth, justice, and the American way. New York: New York University Press, 2013, p. 161. 140 Brown, Jeffrey A. Dangerous Curves: Action Heroines, Gender, Fetishism, and Popular Culture. University Press of Mississippi, 2016, p. 35. 141 Gaines, Jane. “Costume and Narrative: How Dress Tells the Woman’s Story.” In Fabrications: Costume and the Female Body, edited by Jane Gaines and Charlotte Herzog. New York: Routledge, 1990, p. 188. 158 both as Wonder Woman and Diana Prince, over the last eighty years of comic, television, and film history.

The most recent example of this is Diana’s costuming in Wonder Woman (Jenkins, 2017).

When Diana leaves her home of Themyscira with Steve and ends up in London, , she is wearing her iconic red and blue Wonder Woman armor – but the famous costume has not yet been revealed to the audience.142 Steve, noticing that her appearance does not match that of a refined lady, but rather a female escort due to her revealing look, asks his secretary, , to help Diana pick out a new outfit. After a funny montage of Diana not understanding the restrictive and modest fashion of the day, she decides on a grey British tweed women’s suit worn over a blouse and cotton petticoat.143 This is a deliberate attempt by both Steve and Etta to hide her femininity and sexuality, with a more modest wardrobe in the hope that Diana would not stick out in a crowd, as she assumes the identity of Diana Prince. Steve goes so far as to place a pair of glasses on Diana’s face to further hide her natural beauty, with Etta commenting sarcastically, “Really, specs? Suddenly she's not the most beautiful woman you've ever seen?”144

Diana wears this concealing outfit for the entirety they stay in London. It is only later when

Diana is taken to the Western Front of the war in Europe, in the famous No Man’s Land scene, that she strips away her fur cloak and modern outfit, revealing her iconic armor and tiara as she climbs over the wall of and into the battlefield.145 It is at this moment, where Diana literally strips away her concealing clothing, that her femininity is embraced with the red and blue, spartan-inspired costume, symbolizing Diana’s acceptance of her superheroine role in the war: a true Wonder Woman.

142 Jenkins, Patty, director. Wonder Woman. 2017; DC Films, RatPac Entertainment, Tencent Pictures, Mondadori, Warner Bros. Pictures. DVD. 143 Ibid. 144 Ibid. 145 Ibid. 159

But the ties of Wonder Woman’s identity to her costuming would be an issue and concern that arose from her very conception. At the time of her creation, Marston knew that his

Wonder Woman would become psychological propaganda for a new type of feminist and forward-thinking woman who would excel in a patriarchal society.146 His only problem lay in what exactly did this woman of the future look like? Marston hired suffrage cartoonist for Judge magazine, H. G. Peter to design the classic Wonder Woman look.147 Peter was told the following instructions on drawing Wonder Woman: “Draw a woman who’s as powerful as Superman, as sexy as Miss Fury, as scantily clad as Sheena the jungle queen, and as patriotic as Captain

America.”148 Under Marston’s laissez-faire surveillance, Peter’s original sketches for the heroine went through multiple changes, but his very first attempt at Wonder Woman – consisting of a tiara; metal bracelets; a short, blue skirt with white stars; sandals which would be later changed to calf-high boots; and a red bustier-style corset, etched with a golden American eagle – would be closest in design to what would become the iconic look associated with the heroine.149 Given black hair and blue eyes, this character design was one that fit her title of heroine, but in a style that Jill Lepore had called “the suffragist as pinup.”150

But as time moved on, and as comic book artists drew their versions of the Amazon

Princess, her costume became decidedly more revealing and skintight. The hope that the heroine would be put in armor befitting a warrior seemed to be a wistful for some fans as Wonder

Woman became more , then superheroine. This stylistic change occurred because by the mid-1990s, hoping to improve their sales, DC Comics played to what they thought were the wishes of the fans for Wonder Woman, claiming they were, “emphasizing her sexuality and

146 Bergstrom, Signe. Ambassador of Truth, HarperCollinsPublishers, DC Comics, 2017, p. 87. 147 Ibid. 148 Ibid. 149 Ibid. 150 Ibid. 160 downplaying her feminism”.151 This was easily achieved under the artwork of Mike Deodato Jr. who drew for Wonder Woman under the writer, William Messner-Loebs. Deodato was not blind to his sexualized deception of Diana, rather he boasted about how his Wonder Woman helped to boost sales of his comics, claiming “I hate drawing women. I prefer drawing and stuff like that… In three months, the sales doubled and tripled or something like that… Every time the bikini was smaller, the sales got higher.”152 Deodato, along with the male fanbase that was buying out his comics, saw Wonder Woman become more sexualized and objectified with his version of the heroine. Thus, Diana became less of a feminist hero and more a masturbatory dream – essentially denying her character any agency in the patriarchy.153 It would soon be apparent that Deodato would not be the only artist to depict Wonder Woman in such a hypersexualized way. But more often than not, her character was highly fetishized for the

Amazon Princess’ association with bondage and submission – a thematic trait that had been implemented into her character from the start with Marston’s own Wonder Woman.

A quick glance from the early comics of Wonder Woman would show an almost hyper fixation on bondage and the sexually charged submissive/dominant roles that were acted out on the colored pages. In the wise words of Brown, “There is more than just a “healthy taste of the dominatrix” going on here…”154, not being the first scholar to have noticed the thinly veiled

BDSM messaging that was found in Marston’s Wonder Woman comics – often showing Diana and the other Amazons bound with rope and chains (their only known weakness) with Diana herself using her golden lasso of truth to bind her captives until they submitted to her rough

151 DiPaolo, Marc. War, Politics, and Superheroes: Ethics and Propaganda in Comics and Film, McFarland & Company Inc., Publishers, 2011, p. 83. 152 Cocca, Carolyn. “Gender and the Political Economy of Superheroes in Wonder Woman and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Heroines of Film and Television: Portrayals in Popular Culture. Jones, Norma, Maja Bajac-Carter, and Bob Batchelor, eds. Lanham: Rowan & Littlefield, 2014, p. 267. 153 Gamman, Lorraine, and Merja Makinen. Female Fetishism. New York: NYU Press, 1995, pp. 172–173. 154 Brown, Jeffrey A. Dangerous Curves: Action Heroines, Gender, Fetishism, and Popular Culture. University Press of Mississippi, 2016, p. 57. 161 questioning.155 So much were the Amazons shown in chains that future writers, and in the

Wonder Woman film, the Amazon’s origin story would change to show their enslavement to men

– sometimes Aries, other times it was Hercules. Thus her iconic metal bracelets, worn on the heroine and Amazons’ wrists, became a symbol of their enslavement.156 A more innocent approach to Wonder Woman’s history with bondage is her inspiration of suffragists, who were known to use chains to bind themselves to , poles, and buildings in their protests. But

Marston’s almost obsessive use of the Wonder Woman mythos of bondage and submission, only continued to grow in controversy until Fredric Wertham’s The Seduction of the Innocent in 1954 would put an end to the sexually suggestive throughout the comics.157

Since the beginning of Wonder Woman’s entrance into the superhero genre she has struggled with maintaining her agency as a superheroine, while also subjected to the demoralizing objectification as an eroticized character for fetishizing, rather than a symbol for female empowerment.158 Marston has been described as an early feminist for creating such a powerful female heroine, who he believed should always be portrayed as equal in strength to any male superheroes; whose adventures should be as exciting and in depth as any other hero’s story; and that Wonder Woman should be able to beat her foes based on her powers and wits, instead of playing the damsel in distress trope in her own comics.159 With Wonder Woman’s close history to a multitude of revealing outfits and designs, the fans were worried at the announcement of

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice that the Amazon would be placed in an equally revealing and cumbersome costume – one unbefitting of her warrior status. Costume designer for Man of

155 Ibid. 156 Bergstrom, Signe. Ambassador of Truth, HarperCollinsPublishers, DC Comics, 2017, p. 37. 157 Brown, Jeffrey A. Dangerous Curves: Action Heroines, Gender, Fetishism, and Popular Culture. University Press of Mississippi, 2016, p. 237. 158 Ibid, 236. 159 Ibid. 162

Steel and Batman v Superman, Michael Wilkinson, talked about the thought process behind the design for Diana’s iconic Wonder Woman costume.

Wonder Woman has been wearing this costume for her entire history, which is 3,000

years old. So, you can see this history with the character within the costume itself. It was

something that was developed in ancient Greek times, so you can see the influence of

Greek culture in the gladiator style metal armor, the split skirt, the leg armor that she

wears. We really wanted the character to have a perfect balance between power and a

sense of intimidation, but also balance that with a grace and a majesty that I think Gal

encapsulates.160

While Wilkinson was more concerned with creating the right aesthetic for Wonder

Woman’s costume for the film, he was less concerned with the need for wearing her costume as essentially armor for the character. Likewise, with the costume consisting of an entirely metal bustier and short skirt, his design had little regard for the practicality of wearing such a costume and more for the sex appeal her character brough to the testosterone-heavy film – a literal battle between two men for dominance. But the behind her costuming would change for

Wonder Woman, as costume designer for Jenkins’ directed film, , describes her ideas behind the design for Wonder Woman’s costume and the rest of the Amazon’s armor at

Themyscira.

The first thing was to not think of sexualizing. In the research I did, I looked at a lot of

modern sportswear and I tried to think, “Well, if young people are going to watch this,

they have to believe these people can fight in these clothes. They can’t look like

something which we’ve just made up in order for them to look beautiful.” So there had to

160 Bergstrom, Signe. Ambassador of Truth, HarperCollinsPublishers, DC Comics, 2017, p. 94. 163

be an element of rough, tough armor about it. But of course men’s armor is like wearing a

box. It doesn’t stick against your body. So we were battling with that and how they’d be

able to move if we made their armor body-hugging. Patty [Jenkins] definitely wanted

them to look as if they could move and as if they could do things. That was one of the

prime feelings. And then we approached each character.161

Hemming’s costume design for Wonder Woman and her fellow Amazons is what turned them from women, to warriors. No longer hindered by the sexualization of her costume, or at least not as planned by the designer, Wonder Woman was well on her way to become an action heroine and the feminist icon that she had always intended to be. In an article in 1943, Marston wrote about the social, as well as cultural, importance of Wonder Woman and the effect of having her character in the world would do for the next generation of women who would read her comics.

Not even girls want to be girls so long as our feminine archetype lacks force, strength,

and power. Not wanting to be girls, they don’t want to be tender, submissive, peace-

loving as good women are. Women’s strong qualities have become despised because of

their weakness. The obvious remedy is to create a feminine character with all the strength

of Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman.162

Marston’s Wonder Woman was so popular, unlike many of her female counterparts and those that came before her, in part because as much as she embodies feminism, the character herself is very gender atypical – often subverting hegemonic norms when it came to performing her gender roles. Wonder Woman is not submissive compared to men – only seeming weaker when she is physically tied up. Most surprisingly, Marston’s Diana subverts the typical female

161 Ibid, 95. 162 Tate, Chuck. “The Stereotypical (Wonder) Woman,” in The Psychology of Superheroes: An Unauthorized Exploration, ed. Robin S. Rosenberg and Jennifer Canzoneri, (Dallas, TX: BenBella Books, Inc., 2008), pp. 147-148. 164 love interest trope, in which instead of acting as second-best or a side character to Captain Steve

Trevor she is constantly saving him in her adventures, and although she loved him dearly, refusing his numerous marriage proposals, making the following claim: “If I married you, Steve,

I’d have to pretend that I’m weaker than you are to make you happy—and that, no woman should do.”163 Being gender atypical in practice, Wonder Woman’s purposeful disruption of hegemonic gender roles and norms as found above, was made possible for the Amazon to embody at her conception since she was created during World War II. It was during this time that the woman’s role in a wartime society changed to a more independent and gender atypical person. This allowed Wonder Woman’s character to be a subversion of her expected gender roles as a female protagonist with a male love interest and deny Steve’s offers of marriage – something that would have seemed unthinkable in society before the war.164

Her strong characterization, relentless courage, and messages of female empowerment is something that has captured the attention of her fans since the beginning. Steinem comments on

Wonder Woman’s progressive feminist themes, in a time when even suggesting that women should be seen as an equal to men, was a stance that was not commonly accepted socially, with

Steinem saying, “Looking back now at these Wonder Woman stories from the forties, I am amazed by the strength of their feminist message.”165

While always seen as a heroine to her fans, Diana was not always able to maintain her

Wonder Woman superhero persona as many character reboots have forced her to have several different careers: a nurse, a civilian employee of the military, a businesswoman, a translator, a clothing boutique owner, a romance novel editor, an astronaut trainee, an agent for the UN Crisis

163 Cocca, Carolyn. “Gender and the Political Economy of Superheroes in Wonder Woman and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Heroines of Film and Television: Portrayals in Popular Culture. Jones, Norma, Maja Bajac-Carter, and Bob Batchelor, eds. Lanham: Rowan & Littlefield, 2014, p. 265; William Moulton Marston and Harry Peter, Wonder Woman Vol. 1 #13, 1945. 164 Ibid. 165 Bergstrom, Signe. Ambassador of Truth, HarperCollinsPublishers, DC Comics, 2017, p. 46. 165

Bureau, a ambassador, President of the United States, and most importantly a superheroine.166 Her numerous jobs served the purpose of mirroring many of the social expectations placed on American women hoping to enter the workforce after World War II.167

After the war, American women were forced to leave their wartime factory position and return to the home, and Diana was no different – in the next few decades following the war, Wonder

Woman’s comic storyline was filled with the three major themes of family, love, and relationships.168 Starting in the 1970s, Wonder Woman would gain back some of her social and cultural agency as the political shift from second-wave to third-wave feminism, also known as the “girl power” movement, became a more prominent subject in popular culture.169 Because of

Marston’s Wonder Woman having such strong feminist messages in her comics, her most recent depiction in the feature film Wonder Woman reflects her progressive views on women’s rights, as can be found in the scene where Diana first meets Steve’s secretary, Etta Candy that goes as follows:

Etta Candy: “I’m introducing myself. It’s Etta Candy. I’m Steve Trevor’s secretary.

Diana Prince: “What is a secretary?”

Etta Candy: “Oh, well, I do everything. I go where he tells me to go, I do what he tells me

to do.”

Diana Prince: “Well, where I’m from that’s called slavery.”

Etta Candy: “I really like her.”170

Wonder Woman’s increased culture power and influence over the last eighty years is intrinsically tied to the genre in which she belongs, the superhero genre. And while the Amazon

166 Ibid, 83. 167 Ibid. 168 Ibid. 169 Brown, Jeffrey A. Dangerous Curves: Action Heroines, Gender, Fetishism, and Popular Culture. University Press of Mississippi, 2016, p. 147. 170 Jenkins, Patty, director. Wonder Woman. 2017; DC Films, RatPac Entertainment, Tencent Pictures, Mondadori, Warner Bros. Pictures. DVD. 166

Princess is best placed with said genre, her original comic run and recent film have placed the character into the subgenre of a war film, taking on the new label of a historical superheroine.171

Like several of her male counterparts, Wonder Woman is often written and shown as fighting in a war – in the case of Wonder Woman, she is a type of super-soldier for the Allies. But her character’s ties to the war themes as a subgenre came about long before Jenkins’ film was released and is instead directly correlated to her comic origins. As Grant Morrison, author of

Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can

Teach Us about Being Human, explains, during times of war, Wonder Woman’s connection to both the superhero and war genre as a historical superheroine is part of a greater history of female power figures who were shown as both beautiful pinups and as boisterous spirits of newfound feminism.

But, of course, the comic-book industry in the throes of the did churn out its

fair share of pinup bombshells and no-nonsense dames with names like Spitfire and Miss

Victory, or the strangely comforting Pat Parker, War Nurse. With no particular ax to

grind against the Axis forces, Pat Parker was driven only by her desire to dress up like a

showgirl and take to the battlefields of Western Europe on life-threatening missions of

mercy. She was prepared to take on entire tank divisions with a refugee quivering under

each arm. What made her tank-battling activities especially brave was the fact that this

war nurse had no special powers and wore a costume so insubstantial, there could be

nothing secret about her lunch, let alone her identity. But, absurd as she may seem, she

did her best to exemplify the can-do, Rosie the Riveter spirit of those women who were

171 Brown, Jeffrey A. The Modern Superhero in Film and Television: Popular Genre and American Culture. Routledge, 2017, p. 161. 167

“manning” the home front. And then there was the most famous superheroine of them all:

Wonder Woman.172

Then came Wonder Woman, a character who was beautiful, smart, and strong – a superheroine that embodied the spirit of the likes of Rosie the Riveter, so much so that Wonder

Woman’s character design in the DC Comics’ run, Bombshells, is directly influenced by the poster girl for female empowerment during the war. An example of the pinup girl, Rosie the

Riveter style Wonder Woman is shown in Figure 4.6 (See Appendix B)173.

Like Superman and Batman before her, Wonder Woman has been used as a cultural symbol of America’s political and militarized greatness.174 Throughout various forms of media, the Amazon Princess has been shown fighting against her enemies for the betterment of the world – an example of America’s overreach during and after times of war. It is hard to think of

Wonder Woman as a superheroine who is not thematically tied directly to war. While it is true that in her earliest conception Wonder Woman was shown in her comics preaching words of peace in a time of war, the superheroine was also regularly shown fighting her fair share of Nazis throughout her comic book history.175 Jenkins’ Wonder Woman is the latest in a long line of portrayals of the Amazon warrior – and a warrior she became. Set in World War I, Diana’s cinematic journey starts with her rescuing of an American spy, Steve, and is consequently thrown into the world of men, and with it, the War to End All Wars. And with this dramatic story of the superheroine on the war front, Jenkins needed an epic music score to match with the imagery that would take place on screen. Quentin Tarantino describes the necessity for combining the perfect soundtrack for the right scene in the following quote. “The whole

172 Morrison, Grant. Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us about Being Human. Spiegel & Grau, 2012, pp. 40-41. 173 Bennett, Marguerite. DC Comics Bombshells. “Enlisted”. Cover art by Ant Lucia, DC Comics, 2015. 174 Morrison, Grant. Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us about Being Human. Spiegel & Grau, 2012, p. 44. 175 Ibid. 168 combination of the right music with the right visual image, I think, is one of the most exciting things you can do in movies. There’s a reason why people remember it in my movies; when you do it right, it’s memorable.”176 Jenkins, like Tarantino, is a director that author Claudia Gorbman describes as a mélomane – a director who relies on music and sound to be a crucial and innovative aspect of their films.177 Jenkins’ reliance on music in Wonder Woman as a major tool to describe the emotional and narrative importance of a scene is extremely apparent in No Man’s

Land. And rightly so, as Jenkins describes this particular scene as her favorite throughout the film.178

With Diana and company trapped in the trenches in outside of Veld, Belgium with an expanse of seemingly impassible land between the opposing Allies and the Axis forces, Diana takes the charge to lead her friends and the Allied Forces over No Man’s Land and free the town of Veld from the Axis’ clutches. It is in this scene that Diana becomes a fully-fledged superheroine – embracing her identity as Wonder Woman for the first time on screen.179 Rupert

Gregson-Williams, also recognized the importance of this scene as Diana’s transformation into a superheroine, and purposefully scored the scene to be both melodic and feminine with points of high energy and rhythmic drive to suggest Wonder Woman’s pivotal moment of characterization.180 Listening to “No Man’s Land” at Mp3 Track #13, you can hear the theme slowly raising, chromatically, as well as dynamically until it reaches a crescendo, as Diana observes the horrors of the war and decides to take action by shedding her civilian clothing and

176 Gorbman, Claudia. “ Music”, in Beyond the Soundtrack, Daniel Goldmark, Lawrence Kramer and Richard Leppert eds., London: University of California Press, 2007, p. 152. 177 Gorbman, Claudia. “Auteur Music”, in Beyond the Soundtrack, Daniel Goldmark, Lawrence Kramer and Richard Leppert eds., London: University of California Press, 2007, p. 150. 178 Davis, Erik. “‘Wonder Woman’ Director Patty Jenkins on How The Film’s Most Memorable Scene Almost Didn’t Happen.” Fandango, May 31, 2017. https://www.fandango.com/movie-news/wonder-woman-director-patty-jenkins-on-how-the-films-most-memorable-scene-almost-didnt- happen-752330?cjid=cj_10369448_2617611_66960X1516588Xcd3c61981c9fd708178b13d65eb5795b. 179 Jenkins, Patty, director. Wonder Woman. 2017; DC Films, RatPac Entertainment, Tencent Pictures, Mondadori, Warner Bros. Pictures. DVD. 180 ThePiano.SG. “Wonder Woman Theme - Why It Is So Intense And Powerful.” ThePiano.SG, March 7, 2019. http://www.thepiano.sg/piano/read/wonder-woman-theme-why-it-so-intense-and-powerful. 169 runs across the desolate land.181 The melody swells with heavy high and low brass phrasing, emphasizing her heroics and superpowers, as Diana blocks all the heavy gun fire and leads the charge across the field to the other side. Once attacking Axis soldiers in Veld, the electric cello leitmotif returns at the 4:08 minute mark. After a rhythmically percussive motif leading to

Wonder Woman smashing into the clocktower to take out a sniper, the final moments of the famous scene are scored with a reprieve of Theme A of “Amazons of Themyscira” at the (8:15-

8:50) minute mark, looking back at Figure 4.3 as a visual reference and Mp3 Track #14 for the audio. Gregson-Williams comments on his writing for the No Man’s Scene in the following passage:

I loved the way that Patty directed this scene — this is where Diana learns what she has.

And it's done from a defensive point of view for the most part until the end of the scene.

Musically, I did write that scene three or four times before the version you heard. It was

the most difficult scene for me to write, only because there were so many different ways

of playing it. Patty was so patient with me, just persevered to make me understand the

scene better and better until I nailed it. When you hear the music, it's a building

crescendo of emotion. It's a journey of understanding, rather than running across No

Man's Land and going to beat it up.182

While Gregson-Williams was concerned with the musical scoring of such an important scene, it was Jenkins who had to bring the moment to life. Together with Jenkins’ cinematography and Gregson-Williams’ expert soundtrack, Wonder Woman’s grand entrance as a fully-fledged superheroine became the climax of the film, with arguably only the final fight

181 Ibid. 182 Couch, Aaron. “'Wonder Woman' Composer on the Scene He Rewrote Over and Over.” , 16 Oct. 2019, www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/wonder-woman-score-composer-rupert-gregson-williams-soundtrack-1010175. 170 against Ares as an equally important scene. Director Patty Jenkins talks about how she brought such a dramatic action sequence to life.

It’s my favorite scene in the movie and it's the most important scene in the movie. It’s

also the scene that made the least sense to other people going in, which is why it's a

wonderful victory for me… I think that in superhero movies, they fight other people, they

fight villains. So when I started to really hunker in on the significance of No Man's Land,

there were a couple people who were deeply confused, wondering, like, “Well, what is

she going to do? How many bullets can she fight?” And I kept saying, “It's not about that.

This is a different scene than that. This is a scene about her becoming Wonder

Woman…” It's about her. We're not angry at the Germans. We don't care about the

Germans and neither does she. This is what she needs to do to get across [No Man’s

Land], and so it's about her… I take deep gratification that, ultimately, together

were able to turn it into that scene. It was always the most important scene in the movie

to me in that it is the birth of Wonder Woman.183

By the time we are introduced to her character in Batman v Superman, Wonder Woman has already been established as a superheroine, but Wonder Woman is about Diana’s journey to become Wonder Woman. It is this journey from her time with the Amazons, to across the battlefield of Europe during World War I, that Diana’s status a just an action heroine – a tremendous feat in itself – transforms her into that of a superheroine. Here, she accepts her role as Wonder Woman in the world. Diana follows the typical pattern of a male hero in

Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey: it is her exploration of her identity and the extent of her powers, with the help of her friends, that allows her to complete the journey and become the hero – in this

183 Davis, Erik. “‘Wonder Woman’ Director Patty Jenkins on How The Film’s Most Memorable Scene Almost Didn’t Happen.” Fandango, May 31, 2017. https://www.fandango.com/movie-news/wonder-woman-director-patty-jenkins-on-how-the-films-most-memorable-scene-almost-didnt- happen-752330?cjid=cj_10369448_2617611_66960X1516588Xcd3c61981c9fd708178b13d65eb5795b. 171 case, heroine – she was always meant to be.184 Composer, Rupert Gregson-Williams, talks about how Jenkins stressed the importance of having the perfect score to match Diana’s journey on screen:

I worked with Patty very closely before writing a note. Just spending a lot of time with

Patty, getting to know the character from Patty's point of view, it was a trust thing, really.

She didn't want me writing anything until she really knew I knew Diana. Because she'd

been on this ride for a long time developing the movie and just wanted to make sure. She

had the idea of this journey that Diana takes and there were a number of ways I could

have gone about it. I could have made it more aggressive and more of this warrior

princess — and Patty was keen I avoided that.185

But the typical cycle of the hero’s journey is one that is only meant for a male to complete. This gendered disparity in the hero’s journey is so drastic, and against hegemonic norms, that when feminist mythologist Maureen Murdock asked Campbell about the possibility of a female hero’s journey, he replied that “all [a woman] has to do is realize that she’s the place that people are trying to get to. When a woman realizes what her wonderful character is, she’s not going to get messed up with the notion of being pseudo-male.”186 As Murdock translates for her readers, Campbell – like many other academic scholars over the years – does not support the idea of a female heroine, in that “women don’t need to make the journey.”187

It is Wonder Woman’s subversion of this gendered norm in storytelling that further establishes her status as a superheroine and action heroine in her own right, rather than that of the usual gendered trope of the damsel in distress. The No Man’s Land scene, as well as the

184 Kyle, Catherine Bailey. “Final Fantasy X, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and the Feminist Hero’s Journey.” Heroines of Film and Television: Portrayals in Popular Culture. Jones, Norma, Maja Bajac-Carter, and Bob Batchelor, eds. Lanham: Rowan & Littlefield, 2014, pp. 162-163. 185 Couch, Aaron. “'Wonder Woman' Composer on the Scene He Rewrote Over and Over.” The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Oct. 2019, www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/wonder-woman-score-composer-rupert-gregson-williams-soundtrack-1010175. 186 Murdock, Maureen. The Heroine’s Journey: Woman’s Quest for Wholeness, Boston: Shambhala, 1990, Kindle edition, loc, p. 259. 187 Ibid. 172

Trafalgar Celebration scene at the end of the film, refutes this damsel in distress trope for Diana with her acting as a heroine to the Allied soldiers and a savior figure to the oppressed civilians in the village of Veld. Diana’s status as an action heroine is only further established in the song

“Trafalgar Celebration,” as found in the Mp3 Track #16188. This song is played after Ares has been defeated and Diana’s return to London, before the scene fades back to the picture of her friends in Veld that sparked the whole flashback. The opening of the song is a verbose motif in the cellos with a violin section counter-melody. This theme is then repeated with harmonic support from the low brass and with the woodwinds acting as an underlying ostinato. There are also a few muted trumpet sustained notes at the 0:58 and the 1:11 minute marks, reminiscent of the song “Taps” often heard at military funerals. This seems most fitting for the final scene where the fighting has ended, and people are both celebrating their victory and mourning the loss of their loved ones – including the death of Steve. At the 1:56-2:15 minute mark, a deconstructed variation of part two of Theme B for the “Amazons of Themyscira” song, found at measure 17 on Figure 4.4.1, is heard in the strings.

Continuing on the “Trafalgar Celebration” analysis, at the (2:31-3:04) minute mark, in the violins is a stepwise downward motif of the notes (C - B - F - G), that is associated with

Diana and Steve as a love theme. The rest of the song is composed as the falling action of score, with subtle harmonies and legato-styled189 phrasing with soft dynamics until the return of part one of Theme B for the “Amazons of Themyscira”. Which in turn, builds up to the final refrain of the “Is She With You?” electric cello leitmotif at the (4:24-4:40) minute mark, as Diana leaps off a building to save the day once more. Just as the No Man’s land scene established her identity as a superheroine, the Trafalgar Celebration scene is also important to her character, marking her

188 Gregson-Williams, Rupert. “Trafalgar Celebration.” YouTube upload: WaterTower Music, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWShg1jBFUA&list=PLBKadB95sF46NHnrQyDN0kIbvk6dbiDhI&index=13. 189 Legato is a musical term used to describe the slurred, connected style of playing without distinct separation between notes. 173 as a true action heroine with the dramatic events of crossing of No Man’s Land, the rescuing of

Veld from the Germans, and the celebrating – and consequence losses, of their victory over the

Axis powers and Ares, the God of war.

In the opening sequence of Jenkins’ Wonder Woman film, Diana’s voice is heard in the opening and final moments of the film as a continuous monologue that describes the very essence of her character:

I used to want to save the world. To end war and bring peace to mankind; but then I

glimpsed the darkness that lives within their light. I learnt that inside every one of them

there will always be both. The choice each must make for themselves—something no

hero will ever defeat… And now I know... that only Love can truly save the world. So

now I stay, I fight, and I give—for the world I know can be. This is my mission now.

Forever.190

This monologue, along with her musical leitmotifs, give the audience a glimpse of the emotional and physical journey Diana goes through to become the superheroine that Marston would have been proud to see on the silver screen.191 But as a superheroine with an identity that would go against many hegemonic norms – something that is reflected in her motifs using various instruments and compositional methods – it was not always certain that the character would gain as much fame as her two male counterparts.

Exoticism and Identity Politics

Writer and artist for Wonder Woman, , commented on how Diana is an inherently political character – someone who is directly connected to humanist issues such as feminism; humanitarianism; sex, gender, and sexual orientation politics; the politics of war; and

190 Ibid. 191 Jenkins, Patty, director. Wonder Woman. 2017; DC Films, RatPac Entertainment, Tencent Pictures, Mondadori, Warner Bros. Pictures. DVD. 174 identity politics.192 Wonder Woman stands out from heroes such as Superman and Batman in that, while Clark is technically an alien, they both identify as white or white passing in the eyes of their readers/audiences. But in Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, Diana is not. Her skin is noticeably darker than her English counterpart, Captain Steve Trevor; her accent is thick and unfamiliar to a

Western audience; and her origins, both as an actress and as a character, are what some might deem to be “exotic” in nature.

Wonder Woman is seen as an “Other” figure, a term coined in 1978 by postcolonial theorist, Edward Said. In his pioneering work Orientalism, he defines the deep-rooted ethnocentric biases established by Western cultures that one culture is naturally superior over another culture.193 Said explained that the “exotic Other” is a social construct that originated in

Europe, saying, “The Orient was almost a European invention, and had been since antiquity a place of romance, exotic beings, haunting memories and landscapes, remarkable experiences”.194

According to Said, the term “Orientalism” does not refer to a true geographical location, but rather one of an “imaginative geography”.195 Thus the Orient, and by extension exoticism, is a socially constructed narrative that is crafted with Western ideologies of race and ethnicity. Over time, popular culture, literature, art, and personal reporting by academics and missionaries have affirmed the belief that all non-Western (i.e., “White”) cultures and people are mysterious, savage, beguiling, dangerous, and uncivilized.196

Film scholar Matthew Bernstein explains that, “the regime of knowledge that Orientalism encompasses – structured around a basic dichotomy between East and West, and Other and Self

192 DiPaolo, Marc. War, Politics, and Superheroes: Ethics and Propaganda in Comics and Film, McFarland & Company Inc., Publishers, 2011, p. 86. 193 Brown, Jeffrey A. Batman and the Multiplicity of Identity: the Contemporary Comic Book Superhero as Cultural Nexus. Routledge, 2018, p. 131. 194 Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York, NY: , reprinted in 1994. 195 Brown, Jeffrey A. Batman and the Multiplicity of Identity: the Contemporary Comic Book Superhero as Cultural Nexus. Routledge, 2018, p. 131. 196 Ibid. 175

– share[s] an ontological norm (white Western culture) with constructions of race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation in Western culture.”197 With this understanding of the “exotic Other” through an Orientalism mentality, Wonder Woman is a character who does not quite belong, but neither is she completely unfamiliar to an audience. Diana’s exoticism does not give her an increased sense of social or political empowerment. Rather, this factor of her identity is an added hinderance: Diana is a woman, she is arguably not “White”, she is not always portrayed as heterosexual, she is presented as both feminine and masculine, and she is an “exotic” Amazon.

All of these traits form her “otherness,” and it is this multitudinous identity that is very evident in

Wonder Woman’s leitmotifs.

But to understand how Wonder Woman’s musical themes are an example of her exoticism, it is important to understand how instrumentation, and the hegemonic social constructs behind , can help confirm or refute the presumed identity of a person or character associated with certain instrumentation and compositional methods. The cultural identification of instruments, or the topic of music, occurs by knowing the exact geographical location of the instrument’s origin, thereby correctly identifying the cultural significance of the instrument. Or by forming an opinion by the perceived idea of the instrument’s origin and the cultural assumptions made based on its differences from the typical Western instrumentation – which can lead to a misunderstanding of the instrument’s cultural origin, cultural erasure, or the labeling of an instrument as exotic based on Western hegemonic norms.198 This identification of instruments is helped, or hindered, by the concept of topics, types, and tokens.199 Coined by

Leonard Ratner, in his work Classic Music: Expression, Form, and Style, a type is the label

197 Bernstein, Matthew. “Introduction.” In M. Bernstein & G. Studlar (Eds.), Visions of the east: Orientalism in film. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1997, p. 3. 198 Miguel , Sadoff, and Winters. “Introduction”, Routledge Companion to Screen Music and Sound. First ed., London: Taylor and Francis, 2017, p. 62. 199 Ratner, Leonard. Classic Music: Expression, Form and Style. MacMillan Publishing Company, 1985. 176 given to music the listener identifies, based on a generalized mental concept, by the music’s stylistic characteristics.200 A token refers to the physical manifestation of a type; often an instrument or instrumental technique.201 Together, types and tokens allow a music listener to identify the topics that comprise a musical style.202

Kofi Agawu, author of Playing with Signs, further explores the use of topics as a means of looking at the referential potential of music, which he describes as extroversive semiosis.203

Continuing on the work of both Ratner and Saussure, Agawu states that each topic is formed using the signifier and signified, in which the signifier (i.e.. token) comprises all the surface phenomena such as rhythm, melody, texture, timbre, etc.; and the signified (i.e., type) makes a direct reference to the particular topic through socio-cultural associations to the real or perceived origin of the instrument.204 With this understanding of types, tokens, and topics, someone who listens to music can hope to identify the cultural context of an instrument by using this system of identifiers to find the perceived origin.

Keeping this methodology in mind for the instrumental identification for Wonder

Woman’s music themes, we find that there are two distinct examples of how Rupert Gregson-

Williams’ score for Wonder Woman is manufacturing an exotic identity via the soundtrack. First, the instrumentation is “exotic” in that it is not found in typical Western orchestration and is therefore seen as different and unusual to the Western listener.205 The second, is an instrumental technique is played on Western instruments, often using modern technology (such as the

200 Peirce, Charles S. The Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce, Vol. VII: Science and Philosophy. CP 7. Edited by A. W. Burks. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1958, p. 313. 201 Ibid. 202 Ibid. 203 Chattah, Juan Roque. “Semiotics, Pragmatics, and Metaphor in Film Music Analysis.” Academia.edu, Florida State University Libraries, 2006, diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:182108/datastream/PDF/view, p. 143. 204 Ibid. 205 Wallach, Jeremy and Esther Clinton. “Theories of the Post-Colonial and Globalization: Ethnomusicologists Grapple with Power, History, Media, and Mobility.” Theory for Ethnomusicology: Histories, Conversations, Insights; Second Edition (Harris M. Berger and Ruth Stone, eds.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2019, p. 127. 177 synthesizer), to create or a more “exotic” sound. Using the first of these methods of compositionally-based exoticism, the song “Amazons of Themyscira”, found in Mp3 Track #14, incorporates a tin whistle in the score at the (2:43-3:30) minute mark as a harmonic element and then a soli with a flute. The tin whistle is used again as ornamentation in “History Lesson”, heard in Mp3 Track #17206 at the (2:43-3:32) minute mark. The Irish-based tin whistle adds to Wonder

Woman’s exotic identity by creating an auditory cue that stands out compared to the other

Western orchestration heard in these songs. The metallic and sharp timbre of this instrument is different enough to a Western audience that its incorporation in the score is easily noticeable and distinctive compared to the surrounding orchestration of wind instruments.

Another instrument that adds a flair of exoticism through music is the Armenian .

This woodwind instrument is heard throughout the Wonder Woman soundtrack including

“History Lesson”, using Mp3 Track #17 again, with the distinctive phrasing played with a soprano duduk at the (1:19-1:45; 3:50-3:53; 4:11-4:32) minute markers. A tenor duduk is used as a harmonic element and for brief ornamentation in “Angel on the Wing”, heard in Mp3 Track

#18207 at the (0:27-0:52) minute mark, and again in “Pain, Loss & Love” at the (0:56-1:20; 2:00-

2:13) minute markers found in Mp3 Track #15. But the duduk is most prominent as a melodic instrument in Mp3 Track #19208 entitled “Lighting Strikes” at the (0:16-1:12; 1:37-2:30) minute markers. Just like the tin whistle, the duduk is heavily used throughout the soundtrack to provide ornamental flair to an otherwise typical orchestrated score. To a Western audience, the Armenian duduk acts as a piece of musical commentary on Diana’s identity as an Other figure by being an instrument with the timbre and instrumental techniques, such as a natural vibrato and a wooden

206 Gregson-Williams, Rupert. “History Lesson.” YouTube upload: WaterTower Music, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayRVdH9WyrI&list=PLBKadB95sF46NHnrQyDN0kIbvk6dbiDhI&index=2. 207 Gregson-Williams, Rupert. “Angel On The Wing.” YouTube upload: WaterTower Music, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjCmY2AaDfg&list=PLBKadB95sF46NHnrQyDN0kIbvk6dbiDhI&index=3. 208 Gregson-Williams, Rupert. “Lightning Strikes.” YouTube upload: WaterTower Music, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzWx9pHSOtA&list=PLBKadB95sF46NHnrQyDN0kIbvk6dbiDhI&index=12. 178 buzzing sound emitted from the double reed (similar to an oboe), that place the instrument outside the typical orchestration Westerners would find familiar.209

Rupert Gregson-Williams’ score for Wonder Woman is scored in such a way that by using unusual instrumental techniques played on Western instruments, it creates or mimics a more exotic sound for the Amazon Princess. This compositional technique is most prominently found in the “Is She With You?” leitmotif for Wonder Woman, as first heard in Batman v

Superman: Dawn of Justice, found in Mp3 Track #12 with the electric cello theme at the (0:00-

0:27) minute mark. This cello ostinato theme is laced with minor third intervals, which already sounds a bit jarring to a listener with its high pulsating energy and electronic timbre, making her leitmotif stand out from the other Wagnerian composition forays found throughout Gregson-

Williams’ score for Wonder Woman. But it is the slurred glissando played at the end of the phrase by the cello that mimics a sound that a Western audience would consider to be exotic.

This glissando effect bends the pitch from C to C#, effectively hitting all four of the quarter note pitches to create the exotic, or otherworldly, effect. The quarter tone scale is provided below in

Figure 4.9 as a visual aid.

Figure 4.9: The 24 equal notes found in a quarter tone scale with the note ‘C’ as tonic.210

The quarter tone scale is a theoretical construct in Arabic music consisting of 24 notes that make up a mode. Figure 4.9 provides musicians a "conceptual map" of the quarter tones

209 Wallach, Jeremy and Esther Clinton. “Theories of the Post-Colonial and Globalization: Ethnomusicologists Grapple with Power, History, Media, and Mobility.” Theory for Ethnomusicology: Histories, Conversations, Insights; Second Edition (Harris M. Berger and Ruth Stone, eds.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2019, p. 127. 210 “Quarter Tone.” In Wikipedia, June 22, 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Quarter_tone&oldid=963928288. 179 between intervals.211 The “Is She With You?” theme with the quarter tone sliding technique is found in the following songs: Mp3 Track #14 in “Amazons of Themyscira” at the (0:08-0:23) minute mark, Mp3 Track #13 in “No Man’s Land” with the theme recurring twice at the (3:08-

3:34; 4:10-4:20) minute markers, Mp3 Track #20 in “Wonder Woman’s Wrath” at the (1:19-

1:29; 2:05-2:26) minute markers, and finally the motif is found once more in Mp3 Track #16 with “Trafalgar Celebration” at the (4:24-4:40) minute mark. By having the electric cello bend its pitch with this slurring technique and distorting the sound, the cello motif stands out from the surrounding compositional styles heard in the soundtrack. In “History Lesson”, Mp3 Track #17, this song is a combination of both compositional techniques with both soprano duduk and the electric cello at the (1:11-1:45) minute mark, mimicking the duduk sound through slurs and a legato technique. A duduk then returns at the (4:11-4:32) minute mark. With this motif being directly tied to the character of Wonder Woman, acting as one of the leitmotifs, a Western audience will hear the unusual sounding motif and its implied exoticness and directly connect this with Wonder Woman’s ethnic identity on screen – thus, as an Amazon, Diana is seen as an

“Other” figure with her fellow Amazonians as “exotic” too.

The history of the superhero genre has been extremely lacking in diversity, a trait that stems from the genre’s comic book origins from the late 1930s and the 1940s.212 Divergence from the norm of a white, heterosexual, male superhero as the titular character for a comic run was something that the superhero genre still struggles with today, shown within all forms of media. But as previously mentioned in this chapter, the character of Wonder Woman has had a long history with disparity in terms of her race, ethnicity, and gender. One of the first comic book examples of the identity politics changing with the Amazon Princess, George Pérez’s

211 Marcus, Scott. "The Interface between Theory and Practice: Intonation in Arab Music", Asian Music, Vol. 24, No. 2. (Spring–Summer, 1993), 1993, pp. 39–58. 212 Brown, Jeffrey A. The Modern Superhero in Film and Television: Popular Genre and American Culture. Routledge, 2017, p. 112. 180 version of Wonder Woman had Diana standing out from her female compatriots within the superhero genre in that he made Wonder Woman noticeably darker skinned and muscular, changing her ethnicity to something other than White – thus, making her an “Other” character which her musical motifs suggest.213

The general idea that Wonder Woman and the Amazons are seen as ethnically different and exotic from the majority of the audiences and readers (i.e. white, male, and cisgender) for the character comes from the comic book renditions of Wonder Woman that varied her ethnicity and the location of her fantastical home island of Themyscira. Before the comics story arc of Crisis on Infinite Earths, spanning from April 1985 to March 1986, the home of the Amazons, Diana, and her mother Queen Hippolyte was known simply as Paradise Island.214 It is here that, as

Marston’s original story explained, the Amazons were enslaved to men after Hercules, in a fit of revenge for being beaten by the Queen of the Amazons, stole her magic girdle and with it her powers. The Amazons made a pact to live in a world apart from mankind and thus found their island to live a life of peace in uncharted waters.215 Wonder Woman herself, played by Lynda

Carter in The New Adventures of Wonder Woman, described Paradise Island as a utopia for the women who call its shores their home, claiming, “Oh, it’s beautiful. It's tranquil and peaceful.

It’s outside of time… We cherish the old ways. We are close to the ancient, natural order of things. We live together in harmony with our living Earth.”216

Over time, the location of Paradise Island changed to different unknown locations in the comics, television series, and in the film. In Marston’s comics, the island was thought to be somewhere in the Pacific , whereas it would change thirty years later to the Atlantic when

213 Cocca, Carolyn. “Gender and the Political Economy of Superheroes in Wonder Woman and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Heroines of Film and Television: Portrayals in Popular Culture. Jones, Norma, Maja Bajac-Carter, and Bob Batchelor, eds. Lanham: Rowan & Littlefield, 2014, p. 264. 214 Bergstrom, Signe. Ambassador of Truth, HarperCollinsPublishers, DC Comics, 2017, p. 37. 215 Ibid, 38. 216 The New Adventures of Wonder Woman. “Judgement From Outer Space, Part 1.” January 15, DVD, 1977. 181 in Carter’s show, the episode, “The Feminum , Part 2” shows on-screen Paradise

Island’s coordinates of 30° 22’N, 64° 47’W, implying that the famed home of the Amazons rest within the Bermuda Triangle.217 In the animated feature Wonder Woman (Montgomery, 2009), starring voice actor Keri Russell as Diana, her home’s origin shifted to the Aegean Sea.218 After

Crisis on Infinite Earths, in Wonder Woman Vol. 2 issue #1, Paradise Island was renamed

Themyscira after the mythological ancient Greek city of Themiscyra – that was said to be the legendary home of the Amazons.219 This name, and possible location, would remain the same in

Jenkins’ Wonder Woman in 2017 and has yet to change again in any form of media.

Since her debut on television, the character of Wonder Woman has not only stood as a feminist icon, but also one of racial and ethnic diversity. Lynda Carter, who portrayed Wonder

Woman in the 1970s television show, is racially mixed as both White and Latina. And although generally white-passing in appearance – even posing as the American cultural ideal for whiteness and femininity – her casting sparked a new wave for actresses to be seen with their race and ethnicity at the forefront of their identity.220 Such is the case with Gal Gadot, who further exemplifies Wonder Woman’s racial and ethnic diversity, in such that the actress herself is darker skinned, Israeli, and speaks with a heavy accent. Gadot’s Wonder Woman poses an interesting shift in the cinematic portrayal of superheroines as consciously acknowledging the exotic “Other” trope – an attribute that is further accentuated by Gregson-Williams’ compositional choices that reflect her Otherness.

Likewise, with Superman and Batman, Wonder Woman has always stood as a beacon of hope for the American people in a time of uncertainty and struggle. From World War II to 9/11,

217 Bergstrom, Signe. Ambassador of Truth, HarperCollinsPublishers, DC Comics, 2017, p. 38. 218 Ibid, 39. 219 Ibid, 40. 220 Brown, Jeffrey A. Beyond Bombshells: The New Action Heroine in Popular Culture. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2015, p. 80. 182

Wonder Woman exemplifies the best of American cultural ideals, while further pushing progress in terms of feminism and equality for all. Her musical themes reflect these cultural ideals throughout her multimedia history – with the upbeat titular theme in the 1970s television show that embodies Diana’s passion and strength. To the dramatic scoring of Jenkin’s film, in which the motivic score was reminiscent of the hope and compassion felt by American audiences today, almost two decades post- 9/11. Wonder Woman’s “Otherness” and gender makes her stand out from the male dominant superhero genre. Furthermore, her differences are supported by Wonder

Woman’s musical themes which have continued to exemplify her identity and core values of equality. 183

CONCLUSION

"The world has changed, and none of us can go back. All we can do is our best, and

sometimes, the best that we can do, is to start over."

to Steve Rogers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014).

The Limits of this Thesis

A quick glance at the contents of this thesis will show that it only examines the DC

Comics’ “big three”1 superheroes characters: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. This close pre- and post- 9/11 analysis of the cultural and musical impact, as well as the changes of these specific three heroes was chosen because, not only are they some of the most recognizable superheroes in the world, but their close connections to America – both in terms of historical origins of the characters and how they became known as an important American heroes – and their ever-changing musical scores, help to establish their increasing cultural importance. Due to the incredible number of superheroes found in all forms of media, as well as time constraints, this thesis is unable to examine other superheroes extensively enough to be featured in the previous chapters.

An additional constraint found early in the research process of this paper was that throughout this thesis there were very few musical scores that were sourced from original scores.

This is due to limitations of availability and copyright law restrictions on musical scores, with a similar issue of copyright constraints with the Mp3 sound files. While not ideal, transcriptions of the original scores and other smaller musical excerpts were used when needed to provide a visual example along with the added audio files that were under analysis.

1 Brown, Jeffrey A. Dangerous Curves: Action Heroines, Gender, Fetishism, and Popular Culture. University Press of Mississippi, 2016, pp. 233–234. 184

Furthermore, this paper is restricted in what multiplicities and renditions of the characters are shown in a media form that has a distinct soundtrack. As more depictions of these three heroes are found across television, films, and – a common occurrence found with the

Caped Crusader (e.g., Black Batman with Batwing, Japanese Batman in

[Mizusaki, 2018], Futuristic Batman in Batman Beyond, etc.) – original soundtracks and distinctive musical motifs have yet to be written. By examining the changes of the characters’ renditions over the years, also poses the question of not only how will these depictions of superheroes change to reflect the cultural ideals and issues faced during the time, but also will the television and film renditions of these heroes stand up to the test of time and still be relevant and capture our interest years later. A prime example of this is Richard Donner’s 1978 feature film of Superman: The Movie. Rich Juzwiak, author of the article “Time Has Not Been Kind to

Superman” explains this concern for these films and television portrayals of superheroes is something that is fraught with the transformation from serious to Camp, largely due to the fact of the technology used in the day made the superhero into a character that is no longer relevant or culturally significant.

[Superman: The Movie] is a relic of a time when obvious blue-screening represented a

sign that technology was bounding forward and when a little charisma, some pomade,

and a good amount of spandex were enough to distract rapt audiences from ozone-sized

plot holes… It feels like a fumble. It’s awkward, hokey, and cheap. It’s (mostly) unfair to

hold its outdated technology against it—while I can’t imagine savvy viewers in the

theater opening weekend not noticing that Donner and company bit off more than they

could chew when Superman’s flight looks like a cardboard cutout being dragged across

an out-of-focus background shot of the Statue of Liberty, it did win a Special 185

Achievement Academy Award for Visual Effects. It impressed people (or enough of the

right people, at any rate) who didn’t have the benefit of watching the last four decades’

worth of the perfecting of green screening and CGI…2

While it is very apparent that these film and television depictions of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are products of their time, often becoming Campy in terms of narrative (e.g. such is the case with the 1960s Batman television show) because of a lack of technology for special effects as well as restrictions of what was acceptable to show on television and in the comics, these seemingly silly depictions of superheroes provide a contrast to the more serious and darker themes found in the more recent portrayals of superheroes. This dramatic and seemingly differential dichotomy serves to create a tentative and delicate relationship with the

American people and their views of superheroes as revered and respected cultural heroes that is not only seen in the changing iconography of the media depictions of superheroes, but also heard in their musical themes within the soundtracks.

Further Research

It is important to note that while this thesis provides an extensive analysis of the pre- and post-9/11 lens on Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman and how these changes to the characters over the years are reflected in their musical themes, this paper is unable to thoroughly cover certain topics and questions where further research is needed. One such example of a question that came up during the research phase of this thesis, but could not be addressed at length, was as political and racial tensions within the country rise, are American ideals of extreme patriotism and military might being perpetuated further and gaining in popularity

2 Juzwiak, Rich. “Time Has Not Been Kind to Superman.” The Muse. Accessed April 21, 2020. https://themuse.jezebel.com/time-has-not-been- kind-to-superman-1842918587. 186 because of these superhero movies? With superheroes, such as Superman, having historical ties to military recruiting campaigns, and Marvel’s anti-hero, the Punisher, used as a combined symbol of both the character and the blue striped “blue lives” American flags, how will films and television depict these superheroes as ideal cultural heroes if the political and cultural focus within the country is shifting so dramatically under President Trump’s administration?

Another topic that needs to be addressed further outside of this thesis is that now, nearly two decades after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, is the era of 9/11 over? And if so, how will this change the portrayals and storylines of superheroes, since these characters are so intrinsically tied to the cinematic reimagining of scenes featuring death and destruction similar to the events from that horrific day? Ben Rhodes, author of the article “The 9/11 Era Is Over.”, certainly believes so, as is apparent in the following quote:

In a large windowless room in the bowels of the CIA, there is a sign that reads every day

is September 12th. When I first saw those words, during a tour of the agency’s

operations, I felt conflicted. As a New Yorker who witnessed the 9/11 attacks, I once felt

that way myself, but by the time I saw the sign, during the second term of the Obama

administration, it seemed to ignore all the things that our country had gotten wrong

because of that mindset. Now, as COVID-19 has transformed the way that Americans

live, and threatens to claim exponentially more lives than any terrorist has, it is time to

finally end the chapter of our history that began on September 11, 2001.3

As Rhodes describes at length in his article, America is facing a new threat – a relatively unknown menace (e.g., politically charged -attacks, pandemics, etc.) and will have a major

3 Rhodes, Ben. “The 9/11 Era Is Over.” The Atlantic, April 6, 2020. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/04/its-not-september-12- anymore/609502/. 187 effect on the political, economic, and cultural views of the nation. And with these new challenges, American cultural heroes will start to change and reflect what citizens want to see in these trying times. Therefore, the question remains how will this change in narrative modify the soundtracks and other musical themes that are associated with superheroes? And with the Nation, and the world, facing an unseen threat of a pandemic, will this mark the end of the superhero era on screen?

Focusing more on the musical aspect of this thesis, other topics that this paper was not able to cover in length is that as superheroes, previously only seen on television shows, are brought to life in feature films, how will their themes be scored to explore this transition to a cinematic superhero? Additionally, what can we expect in future superhero films in terms of their soundtracks? Will they feature more robust melodic scoring similar to John Williams’ compositional style, or fall into the stylistic deconstructed scoring of Hans Zimmer? Likewise, it must be acknowledged that the change of music found in these soundtracks are not only a matter of musical tastes changing throughout the decades, but are also a reflection of the American culture’s views of superheroes changing from one of flamboyant and Campy comedic relief, to that of a serious character worth admiring.

Lastly, this topic was one that was originally planned on being analyzed further in this thesis but was unable to due to time constraints: the use of contemporary artists and lyrical meaning in superhero films. A quick observation of the music used in the early television shows versus the feature films of today, shows a shift in using lyrical songs from the beginning of the show as an introduction, to the beginning of the end credits. When these songs were used in the beginning of the show, such as with the 1960s Batman and the 1970s Wonder Woman television shows, a superhero’s themes were played at the beginning credits to help the audience to know 188 that this theme was important as was any scene where this theme is used again. This editing concept is now lost on the new films where their themes might not be so apparent until much later in the movie.

There is also the question of, in discussing Wonder Woman and the identity politics involved with their character in terms of gender, Diana is the only superhero of the “big three” who has a fully fleshed out song as part of her introduction theme in the show starring Lynda

Carter. What should be addressed is if this lyrical song used by the superheroine is a fully lyrical song because she is a woman, unlike her male counterparts whose songs only have instrumental themes – with the exception of Adam West’s Batman whose theme’s only word is “Batman”.

This may in part be due to the idea that female heroines require a verbal explanation to support their status as a superhero.

These are just some of the many questions and concerns that need to be addressed via further research in the superhero genre, with a musical analysis focus on each of the superheroes.

While these issues addressed above remain unanswered, this thesis features an in-depth analysis of the cultural and musical changes found within three of DC Comics’ superheroes, pre- and post- 9/11.

Epilogue

For the over eighty years, superheroes have been an integral part of popular culture, and more recently, pivotal members of America’s cultural heroes. Superheroes have a close history with shifting in their presentation, morals, iconography, and musical themes to match the tone of media representations of the era. One of the most prominent of these changes occurred with the terrorist attacks on American soil on September 11, 2001. Almost two decades later, Americans 189

– as well as those all around the world – are still feeling the effects from that horrific day. 4

Superheroes, who have always embodied the best of the cultural ideals of the Nation, shifted to a darker, somber, and more serious tone to match the collective American experience of grief and mourning. These rampant emotions felt by Americans in the aftermath of 9/11, and other major historical and cultural events, are found in the unequivocally noticeable shift in the thematic tone for the characterization and perception of superheroes from comedic entertainment, to a serious

American cultural hero.

The superhero genre’s popularity is constantly fluctuating as their fame is tied to the cultural feelings of morality, individualism, and exceptionalism that is defined and embodied by the cultural heroes of the era. Grant Morrison, author of Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes,

Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us about Being Human, wrote extensively about the importance of superheroes as the personification of cultural ideals, saying,

“[Superhero stories] . . . contain at their hearts all the dreams and fears of generations in vivid miniature. . . . They tell us where we’ve been, what we feared, and what we desired, and today they are more popular, more all-pervasive than ever because they still speak to us about what we really want to be.”5 Likewise, Jeffrey A. Brown, in Beyond Bombshells: The New Action Heroine in Popular Culture, shares Morrison’s thoughts on the intrinsic and fundamental relationship between superheroes and the cultural values shared by the Nation during times of great trial, as in the following passage:

For the most part, superhero films depict icons who are unquestionably courageous,

valiant, noble, and self-sacrificing. They are altruistic gods with powers and abilities far

4 Maalouf, Amin. Disordered World: A Vision for the Post 9/11 World. Bloomsbury Publishing (PLC), 2012, p. xviii. 5 Morrison, Grant. Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us about Being Human. Spiegel & Grau, 2012, p. 417. 190

beyond us mere mortals, the stuff of fantasy and wish fulfillment come to life.

Superheroes on the screen are at once nostalgic and comforting in a world rocked by

terrorism and economic collapse, and hopeful about a future where anything is possible.

These movie superheroes also circulate within a culture, and across national boundaries,

as fantasy ideals for children and adults alike.6

Both Morrison and Brown discuss the complexity of the superhero genre’s ever-changing nature that reflects the cultural and political ideals of the day. By using musical semiotics as the methodology for analysis, this cultural shift in tone for superheroes is best heard in the musical themes and soundtracks of these heroes, specifically DC Comics’ Superman, Batman, and

Wonder Woman.

In conclusion, as American’s cultural association with and the importance of superheroes changes – both positively or negatively depending on the people’s challenges faced in the future

– it is difficult to accurately predict how the superheroes’ musical themes will evolve to reflect these cultural changes. Using the findings in this thesis as a predictive assessment, we can assume that the American people will continue to turn to superheroes, not only as a source of entertainment, but also as cultural heroes embodying the ideals of the Nation and its people, while also fighting new conflicts found in reality that will be faced in the future. Therefore, the superheroes’ musical themes, specifically that of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, will adapt to these changes – acting as a narrative tool that supports these heroic depictions in all forms of media in the many years to come.

6 Brown, Jeffrey A. Beyond Bombshells: The New Action Heroine in Popular Culture. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2015, p. 241. 191

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DISCOGRAPHY

(For sources where CDs were not available, links to YouTube that correspond with the Mp3 files

have been provided)

Elfman, Danny. “Main Title.” 1989. Batman 1989 Extended Soundtrack. YouTube upload:

BmSt32, 2010,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILsCZAi6sOc&list=PLlfEHtRqlVCot2RNgYOeRwi

BAlTIryUyL&index=1.

Elfman, Danny. “The Final Battle.” track #20 on Justice League: Original Motion Soundtrack,

WaterTower Music, DC Comics, CD, 2017.

Fox, Charles. “Wonder Woman Season 1 Theme.” Lyrics by Norman Gimbel, 1975. YouTube

upload: Don Jack, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgnQiFNOK0M.

Gregson-Williams, Rupert. “Amazons of Themyscira.” YouTube upload: WaterTower Music,

2017,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puEi1ZFPwFo&list=PLBKadB95sF46NHnrQyDN0

kIbvk6dbiDhI&index=1.

Gregson-Williams, Rupert. “Angel On The Wing.” YouTube upload: WaterTower Music, 2017,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjCmY2AaDfg&list=PLBKadB95sF46NHnrQyDN0

kIbvk6dbiDhI&index=3.

Gregson-Williams, Rupert. “History Lesson.” YouTube upload: WaterTower Music, 2017, 208

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayRVdH9WyrI&list=PLBKadB95sF46NHnrQyDN0

kIbvk6dbiDhI&index=2.

Gregson-Williams, Rupert. “Lightning Strikes.” YouTube upload: WaterTower Music, 2017,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzWx9pHSOtA&list=PLBKadB95sF46NHnrQyD

N0kIbvk6dbiDhI&index=12.

Gregson-Williams, Rupert. “No Man’s Land.” YouTube upload: WaterTower Music, 2017,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsDibxZlRhg&list=PLBKadB95sF46NHnrQyDN0kI

bvk6dbiDhI&index=6.

Gregson-Williams, Rupert. “Pain, Loss & Love.” YouTube upload: WaterTower Music, 2017,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOqwMvwAKvg&list=PLBKadB95sF46NHnrQyD

N0kIbvk6dbiDhI&index=5&frags=pl%2Cwn.

Gregson-Williams, Rupert. “Trafalgar Celebration.” YouTube upload: WaterTower Music, 2017,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWShg1jBFUA&list=PLBKadB95sF46NHnrQyDN0

kIbvk6dbiDhI&index=13.

Gregson-Williams, Rupert. “Wonder Woman’s Wrath.” YouTube upload: WaterTower Music,

2017,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSavwX4C240&list=PLBKadB95sF46NHnrQyDN

0kIbvk6dbiDhI&index=8.

Hefti, Neil. “Batman Theme,” track #7 on The Music of DC Comics: Volume 2, WaterTower

Music, DC Comics, 1966, CD, 2016.

Wagner, Richard. “Die Walküre: Ride of the Valkyries.” 1851. YouTube upload:

TheWickedNorth, 2008, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGU1P6lBW6Q.

Williams, John. “Love Theme From Superman,” track #5 on Superman The Movie/Original 209

Sound Track, Warner Bros, 1978, CD.

Williams, John. Theme from Superman (Main Title). 1978. YouTube upload: TehGr81, 2010,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGUyNy07ZYg.

Wagner, Richard. “Rainbow: Der Ring Des Niblungen.” YouTube upload: Wagner Leitmotifs,

2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX2OhueZ-3Y.

Zimmer, Hans. “Flight.” YouTube upload: JexMavik, 2013,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4OdIOGBW2Q.

Zimmer, Hans and Junkie XL. “Is She With You?” YouTube upload: WaterTower Music, 2016,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S176AKQhcCk.

Zimmer, Hans and James Newton Howard. “Molossus.” YouTube upload: Hans Zimmer - Topic,

2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtHO0P4bKrY.

Zimmer, Hans and James Newton Howard. “Rise.” YouTube upload: xman77c, 2012,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94TAFSMdkvk.

FILMOGRAPHY

Jenkins, Patty, director. Wonder Woman. 2017; DC Films, RatPac Entertainment, Tencent

Pictures, Mondadori, Warner Bros. Pictures. DVD.

Nolan, Christopher, director. Batman Begins. 2005; Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Comics,

Legendary Pictures, Syncopy, Patalex III Productions, Warner Bros. Pictures. DVD.

Nolan, Christopher, director. The Dark Knight. 2008; DC Comics, Legendary Pictures, Syncopy,

Warner Bros. Pictures. DVD.

Schumacher, Joel, director. Batman Forever. 1995; Warner Bros. Pictures. DVD.

Snyder, Zack, director. Justice League. 2017; DC Films, RatPac Entertainment, Atlas

Entertainment, Cruel and Unusual Films, Warner Bros. Pictures. DVD. 210

Snyder, Zack, director. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. 2016; RatPac Entertainment, Atlas

Entertainment, Cruel and Unusual Films, Warner Bros. Pictures. DVD.

Snyder, Zack, director. Man of Steel. 2013; DC Entertainment, Legendary Pictures, Syncopy,

Cruel and Unusual Films, Warner Bros. Pictures. DVD.

MUSIC SCORES

Elfman, Danny. Batman. Los Angeles, CA: Omni Music Publishing, 2016.

Fox Charles. “Wonder Woman TV Theme.” Lyrics by Norman Gimbel, 1975, Musescore.com.

Accessed July 17, 2019. Credited transcriber: Monsieur Ragoût,

https://musescore.com/user/15059356/scores/5613954.

Gregson-Williams, Rupert. “Amazons of Themyscira (Main Theme from Wonder Woman).”

Accessed July 2, 2020. Sheet Music Now.

https://www.sheetmusicnow.com/products/amazons-of-themyscira-main-theme-from-

wonder-woman-p465629.

Gregson-Williams, Rupert. “Amazons of Themyscira: Wonder Woman” Musescore.com.

Accessed July 2, 2020. Arranger: Patrik Pietchmann, Credited transcriber: Rodger

Clutter (RodgerC26), https://musescore.com/rodgerc26/amazons-of-themyscira.

Hefti, Neal. “1960’s Classic Batman Theme Song.” Musescore.com. Accessed April 18, 2019.

Credited transcriber: 004idiot.friends,

https://musescore.com/user/14531711/scores/2427606.

“Trombone: Wagner: Die Walküre, (Ride of the Valkyries 2 Excerpts).” Orchestra Excerpts,

2019, orchestraexcerpts.com/trombone-wagner-die-walkure-ride-valkyries-2-excerpts/.

Richards, Mark. “Hans Zimmer's Score for Man of Steel.” Film Music Notes: Analysis, Style,

Technique, and More, 11 Aug. 2013, 211

www.filmmusicnotes.com/hans-zimmers-score-for-man-of-steel/.

White Admiral. “Man of Steel (Flight) - Hans Zimmer | True Piano Transcriptions.” Accessed

April 5, 2019, http://www.truepianotranscriptions.com/man-steel-flight-hans-zimmer.

Williams, John. Love Theme From Superman. Warner-Barham Music LLC. Milwaukee, WI: Hal

Leonard, 1978.

Williams, John. Superman March. Warner-Barham Music LLC. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard,

1978.

Williams, John. Theme from “Jaws”. 1975. Musicnotes Now, 2019.

https://www.musicnotes.com/now/tips/musical-intervals-train-your-ear-with-these-easy-

songs/.

Zacharopoulos, Konstantios. “Musical Syntax in John Williams’s Film Music Themes.”

Contemporary Film Music: Investigating Cinema Narratives and Composition, by

Lindsay Coleman and Joakim Tillman, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017, p. 240.

Zimmer, Hans and James Newton Howard. “Rise.” Musescore.com. Accessed April 22, 2019.

Credited arranger: Christian Blöcher (christobal550).

https://musescore.com/user/184101/scores/174560.

Zimmer, Hans and Junkie XL. “Wonder Woman Theme: Is She With You?” Musescore.com.

Accessed April 25, 2019. Credited arranger: Rodger Clutter (RodgerC26) and Samuel Fu.

https://musescore.com/rodgerc26/wonder-woman. 212

APPENDIX A. MUSIC SCORES AND TRANSCRIPTIONS

Figure 2.1: Trombone (part 1) excerpt from Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” from his Ring

Cycle.1

1 “Trombone: Wagner: Die Walküre, (Ride of the Valkyries 2 Excerpts).” Orchestra Excerpts, 2019, orchestraexcerpts.com/trombone-wagner- die-walkure-ride-valkyries-2-excerpts/. 213

Figure 2.3: Piano reduction of the “Superman Fanfare” from Superman: The Movie (mm. 1–8),

published by Warner-Barham Music LLC, reduced from “Superman March”2, printed by Hal

Leonard.3

2 Williams, John. Superman March. Warner-Barham Music LLC. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard, 1978. 3 Richards, Mark. “The Use of Variation in John Williams's Film Music Themes.” John Williams: Music for Films, Television, and the Concert Stage, 2017, www.academia.edu/37265666/The_Use_of_Variation_in_John_Williamss_Film_Music_Themes, p. 126. 214

Figure 2.6: “Main Theme” from Superman: The Movie. Adapted from “Superman March”4 from

Superman (mm. 19–26), published by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp, reduced from

“Superman March”, printed by Hal Leonard Signature Edition.5

4 Williams, John. Superman March. Warner-Barham Music LLC. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard, 1978. 5 Zacharopoulos, Konstantios. “Musical Syntax in John Williams’s Film Music Themes.” Contemporary Film Music: Investigating Cinema Narratives and Composition, by Lindsay Coleman and Joakim Tillman, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017, p. 240. 215

Figure 2.7.1: Excerpt taken from "Love Theme From Superman" score (mm. 21-24).6

6 Williams, John. Love Theme From Superman. Warner-Barham Music LLC. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard, 1978, p. 7. 216

Figure 2.7.2: Excerpt taken from "Love Theme From Superman" score (mm. 25-31).7

7 Ibid, 8. 217

Figure 2.7.3: Excerpt taken from "Love Theme From Superman" score (mm. 32-36).8

8 Ibid, 9. 218

Figure 2.7.4: Excerpt taken from "Love Theme From Superman" score (mm. 37-42).9

9 Ibid, 10. 219

Figure 2.7.5: Excerpt taken from "Love Theme From Superman" score (mm. 43-48).10

10 Ibid, 11. 220

Figure 2.12: “Flight” from Man of Steel piano transcription reduction.11

Theme A

B

C

11 White Admiral. “Man of Steel (Flight) - Hans Zimmer | True Piano Transcriptions.” Accessed April 5, 2019, http://www.truepianotranscriptions.com/man-steel-flight-hans-zimmer, p. 1. 221

Figure 2.13: Williams’ “Superman March” and Zimmer’s “Superman Heroic” reductions

and thematic comparison.12

12 Richards, Mark. “Hans Zimmer's Score for Man of Steel.” Film Music Notes: Analysis, Style, Technique, and More, 11 Aug. 2013, www.filmmusicnotes.com/hans-zimmers-score-for-man-of-steel/. 222

Figure 2.14: Williams’ “Superman March” and Zimmer’s “Superman Heroic” reductions

and thematic comparison continued.13

13 Ibid. 223

Figure 3.2: Concert Band transcription for Batman 1966 television intro theme.14

14 Hefti, Neal. “1960’s Classic Batman Theme Song.” Musescore.com. Accessed April 18, 2019. Credited transcriber: 004idiot.friends. https://musescore.com/user/14531711/scores/2427606, p. 1. 224

Figure 3.3.1: “Main Title” from the Warner Bros. motion picture Batman (mm. 1-6).15

15 Elfman, Danny. Batman. Los Angeles, CA: Omni Music Publishing, 2016, pp. 1–7. 225

Figure 3.3.2: “Main Title” from Batman (mm. 7-11).16

16 Ibid, 2. 226

Figure 3.3.3: “Batman Title Theme” from Batman (mm 12-17).17

17 Ibid, 3. 227

Figure 3.3.4: “Batman Title Theme” from Batman (mm. 18-23).18

18 Ibid, 4. 228

Figure 3.3.5: “Batman Title Theme” from Batman (mm. 24-29).19

19 Ibid, 5. 229

Figure 3.3.6: “Batman Title Theme” from Batman (mm. 30-34).20

20 Ibid, 6. 230

Figure 3.3.7: “Batman Title Theme” from Batman (mm. 35-40).21

21 Ibid, 7. 231

Figure 3.4: “Molossus” from Batman Begins; Melodic Theme and Counter-Theme for

Batman’s batmobile chase scene.22

22 Lehman, Frank. “Manufacturing the Epic Score: Hans Zimmer and the Sounds of Significance.” Edited by Stephen C. Meyer, p. 45. 232

Figure 3.5.1: “Rise” theme derived from “A Dark Knight” in The Dark Knight’s original OST.23

23 Zimmer, Hans and James Newton Howard. “Rise.” Musescore.com. Accessed April 22, 2019. Credited arranger: Christian Blöcher (christobal550). https://musescore.com/user/184101/scores/174560. 233

Figure 3.5.2: “Rise” theme derived from “A Dark Knight” continued.24

24 Ibid. 234

Figure 3.5.3: “Rise” theme derived from “A Dark Knight” continued.25

25 Ibid. 235

Figure 4.1.1: Concert band transcription for Wonder Woman TV series season 1 intro theme.26

26 Fox Charles. “Wonder Woman TV Theme.” Lyrics by Norman Gimbel, 1975, Musescore.com. Accessed July 17, 2019. Credited transcriber: Monsieur Ragoût, https://musescore.com/user/15059356/scores/5613954, pp. 1-4. 236

Figure 4.1.2: Wonder Woman TV series season 1 intro theme continued.27

27 Ibid. 237

Figure 4.1.3: Wonder Woman TV series season 1 intro theme continued.28

28 Ibid. 238

Figure 4.1.4: Wonder Woman TV series season 1 intro theme continued.29

29 Ibid. 239

Figure 4.3: “Amazons of Themyscira” Theme A piano transcription.30

1

7

14

22

30 Gregson-Williams, Rupert. “Amazons of Themyscira (Main Theme from Wonder Woman).” Accessed July 2, 2020. Sheet Music Now. https://www.sheetmusicnow.com/products/amazons-of-themyscira-main-theme-from-wonder-woman-p465629, p. 1. 240

Figure 4.4.1: “Amazons of Themyscira” Theme B piano transcription.31

31 Gregson-Williams, Rupert. “Amazons of Themyscira” Musescore.com. Accessed July 2, 2020. Arranger: Patrik Pietchmann, Credited transcriber: Rodger Clutter (RodgerC26), https://musescore.com/rodgerc26/amazons-of-themyscira, pp.1–4. 241

Figure 4.4.2: “Amazons of Themyscira” Theme B piano transcription continued.32

32 Ibid. 242

APPENDIX B. OTHER IMAGES

Figure 2.8: DC Comics’ response to 9/11 with cover art by Alex Ross.33

33 Carey, Mike. Nine Eleven (9-11): The World's Finest Comic Book Writers and Artists Tell Stories to Remember. Cover Art by Alex Ross, vol. 2, DC Comics, 2002. 243

Figure 2.9: Marvel’s X-Force ink artist, Kevin Conrad’s tribute to 9/11 victims and first

responders.34

34 Conrad, Kevin. Superman 9-11. Color by Todd Broeker. Pencils and Ink, 2001. 244

Figure 2.10: Spider-Man panel depicting Marvel’s reactions to 9/11.35

35 Straczynski, Michael J. The Amazing Spider-Man 36. Vol. 2. New York: Marvel Comics, 2001. 245

Figure 2.11: “The Adventures of Superman”, Vol. 1, Issue #600.36

36 Didio, Dan. “Adventures of Superman Vol 1 600.” Cover Art by Daniel Adel, DC Database, 2002, dc.fandom.com/wiki/Adventures_of_Superman_Vol_1_600. 246

Figure 3.1: CD cover of Nelson Riddle’s score for Batman: The Movie (1966) with graphic

design by Joe Sikoryak.37

37 Spencer, Kristopher. Film and Television Scores, 1950-1979: A Critical Survey by Genre. McFarland & Co., 2008, p. 216. 247

Figure 3.6: Comic panel from “Batman & Robin Eternal”.38

38 Snyder, Scott and James T Tynion IV. Batman & Robin Eternal. Issue #22, Burbank, CA: DC Comics, 2016, p. 14. 248

Figure 4.5: Comic panel from “Wonder Woman #600”.39

39 Simone, Gail. “Wonder Woman #600”; DC Comics, cover artist George Pérez, #600, 2006. 249

Figure 4.6: Wonder Woman drawn in a pinup style for DC Comics’ Bombshells comics.40

40 Bennett, Marguerite. DC Comics Bombshells. “Enlisted”. Cover art by Ant Lucia, DC Comics, 2015.