2.9 Reading response No.3

Retired US Marine Wade Watts is diagnosed with 4 different types of cancer. With no hope of survival, he turns to an experimental program that will supposedly cure him.  The program cures his cancer and gives him the ability to heal anything, however it left him hideously deformed. Wade adopts the superhero persona “Deadpool” as a way to hide who he really is. Hellbent on exacting revenge, Wade tracks down the man (Ajax) who left him covered in scar tissue and kills him. Deadpool is a dark, action-comedy movie that explores the ideas of revenge, grief and personality over appearance.

One thing that is relevant to pretty much anyone who has watched the film is the feeling of being judge by someone on how we look. Wade is too scared to talk to his girlfriend, Vanessa, or even let her know that he is alive because of the way he looks. At one point he even follows her home in the rain and stand outside wondering whether he should go in. However people on the street start staring at him and his scars so instead of speaking to Vanessa he puts his hood up and leaves.  “I should have come and found you sooner. But baby, the guy under this mask, he ain’t the same one you remember.” This quote is from the final scene of the movie where Wade finally confronts Vanessa, facing what he feared the entire way through the movie.  After all the time of avoiding Vanessa, scared of what she might think, in the end she doesn’t even care. I feel this scene was trying to show us that people can look past how we look and judge us based on our personality. Wade’s personality is still exactly same as it was at the beginning which is why Vanessa doesn’t care about the scarring.  This is exactly like “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, people need to make judgments about people not by their appearance but the quality of their personality.

Colossus is all about taking the peaceful approach and instead of exacting revenge on someone he feels it is best to move on. To me the Character of Colossus seems to represent Wade’s conscience. Wade is filled with anger and spends the whole movie killing people while trying to find the person that turned him into a monster. “Four or five moments – that’s all it takes to become a hero”, This quote is from a scene at the end of the movie where Colossus is trying to convince Wade not kill Ajax and instead “spare an enemy” to become a hero. Colossus tries again, and again to convince Wade that what he is doing is wrong. Wade never listens. The character of Colossus taught me to view things from multiple angles to see if what I was doing was actually the right thing. Wade is obsessed with revenge and killing whereas Colossus, as Wade’s conscience, tries to show and teach how to deal with problems without violence. Everyone needs to have a voice like Colossus to control them in times where intense emotion takes control and we make bad decisions.

Deadpool, although a graphic action-comedy, is a extremely enjoyable movie for people over the age of 16.  The fact that is classified a superhero movie needs to be overlooked as Deadpool can be enjoyed by pretty much anyone with a sense of humour. To many Deadpool may appear to be a pointless action movie but through clever characters and humour, Director Tim Miller and Actor Ryan Reynolds were able to create quite possibly one of the best comedy movies of the century.

One Reply to “2.9 Reading response No.3”

  1. Tom, the opening summary of this text (first paragraph) is effective: succinct, clear and helpful as a summary of the text.

    Consider giving some additional information about characters’ experiences or pivotal events for your individual points. It is important to consider what background details will assist to validate these points that you are making.

    Also, do not be too brief with your final judgements about the text. These “conclusions” about what your examples show, are important and may need developing in places.

    * Please speak with me or send a comment through your blog if you have any questions.

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