Can superhero style save the world?
NEW YORK — With the economy faltering, swaths of the Midwest underwater and a few climate-change scientists predicting the end of the world as we know it before 2100, now seems like a good time for a muscle man in spandex and a cape to swoop in and rescue the planet.
More than at any other time since they hit the comic book stands during the Great Depression, superheroes are capturing the American imagination. Two of the biggest movies of the summer are “Iron Man” and “The Incredible Hulk,” with the latest Batman adventure, “The Dark Knight,” due out in July.
There’s an escapist thrill that comes with watching the exploits of these brave men and women saving the world while wearing their underwear on the outside. Now, in New York — the theoretical setting of a lot of comic-book dramas — superhero fans can get a little closer to that Marvel magic.
Just so long as they don’t touch it. At “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy,”
an exhibition showing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through Sept. 1, spectators can ogle, at less than arm’s length, the original outfits of most of the superheroes who have graced the silver screen.
A fashion exhibition put on by the Met’s Costume Institute might not seem like a likely place for comic- book addicts to get their fix. The institute has been known to assemble tributes to such designers as Paul Poiret — titillating for a select few, perplexing for most.
But there’s a method behind the mixing of fashion and heroics. Just as a red cape transformed Clark Kent into Superman, a tool belt allowed Bruce Wayne to become Batman and a metal suit made Tony Stark Iron Man, most of us like to think Chanel, Manolo Blahnik or even Banana Republic can transform us from mere mortals into movie stars, if not superheroes.
Depending on your mood, the exhibition can be about as profound as you want it to be. You could mull over the simple beauty of the human form, as showcased in a unitard, or ponder the sexualization of violence in the Armored Body section of the exhibition, where women’s armor fails to cover the vulnerable breast and belly areas. You also might spend time contemplating the ubiquity of branding, from the logos on Superman’s chest to those on Ralph Lauren’s polos.
That, or you could just gape at the lifelike Rebecca Romijn- Stamos mannequin, dressed as Mystique from the 2000 film “X-Men”— it’s not naked, but it might as well be.
The exhibition’s curator is Andrew Bolton at the Costume Institute, and its sponsor is Giorgio Armani. Much of the collection is couture runway fare, selected by Bolton for its comic-book parallels. There are also plenty of costumes, including the original Wonder Woman outfit and the Superman ensemble once worn by Christopher Reeve. If you’re looking for something more down to earth, so to speak, you can find real-life athletic gear — including a hooded tracksuit and a swimsuit fashioned from sharkskin that will be worn by Olympic swimmers in Beijing this year. There’s also a working jet pack that looks like some kind of cross between a bird and a plane.
Admission is $20, which might seem like a lot until you realize you’ve also just paid for access not only to “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy” but also to some of America’s most hallowed artworks in one of its most grandiose museums.
“Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy” will be at the Metropolitan Museum of Art until Sept. 1. For more, go to www.met.org .
