My rant about the Punisher

  

 

My rant about the Punisher 

 

For those of you who don't read comic books Frank Castle/ The Punisher is a Marvel anti-hero who's a soldier with a family after he's done with the Army, he tries civilian life. That was short-lived when his family was murdered by a mobster, so Frank goes on a killing spree to avenge their death and he has been killing criminals ever since.  

The Punisher is a character that I don't find applying! What turns me off about this character when I was a kid is him killing criminals. I mean the way he kills and tortures them I'm surprised that Hollywood didn't turn him into a serial killer. To be fair we kind of got a serial killer version of the Punisher with Jigsaw. 

If you're going to create an anti-hero, he or she got to have some humanity to them or an ethical code to live by.

 

   

 

The red rood is would make a better Punisher because he manipulates crime and knows that some criminals need to be put down. Well, the Punisher doesn't kill the innocent but that's not reassuring. As I got older, I still have issues with it but not for the same reason, we all have a shadow self. A lot of people can't look me in the eyes and say that they wouldn't want to get revenge on anyone who hurt them or their loved ones. I'm not saying that's a good reason to kill anyone however it's understandable. Also, if you shoot me with the intent to kill and you think I'm going to pull my punches you're a fool.    

You don't get the sense that he's doing this for noble reasons or because of his family he's doing this because he's looking for a reason to do it. I'm no expert in Psychology but I'm sure that someone who enjoys killing people regardless of whether they deserve it or not needs to be in the nuthouse. Also, if you miss your dead relatives and friends would you honor their memory by doing something that you know they wouldn't be proud of? What about minors would he kill them for breaking the law? If he doesn't, I'm going to have problems with that, not because I want to see teenagers get killed it's because this will make him look like a hypocrite. 

If your argument is that minors don't know better adults don't know better either so what's your point? Since we're on the subject of hypocrisy Frank works with Deadpool and Venom in the comics even though they have blood on their hands. What's up with that? He also dated Elektra in the comics, that's another reason why I don't feel sorry for this character if he can manage to have a social life then he should be able to move on with his life. Also, do you think Frank would be this way if he got professional help?

Another thing how does he know that people are committing crimes because they were strong-armed into doing them? Some people don't think certain things should be illegal. For example, I don't think selling drugs should be illegal because the drug dealers are not forcing people to buy them, if you don't want drugs in your neighborhood or community don't buy them. If Alcohol is not illegal despite the DUI's and bar fights how is this any different? Now if they sell drugs to kids that's a different story.       

The only explanation to why he's doing this is because he doesn't trust the system. OK two things wrong with that, first of all, he didn't even try to get justice for his family with the legal system! So where is the mistrust coming from? Even if he did use the justice system and it didn't work out that's no excuse for him to kill people like he's playing Rainbow Six. Doing that makes Frank look like a spoiled brat. I'm not trying to be insensitive to people who were screwed over by the justice system however no one said life is fair. If your car breaks down, would you buy a new one instead of fixing it? You gain sympathy by how you move on from tragedy. Second if frank was a Black man, I might buy this excuse. Why can't Frank admit that he's an extremist? I remember the Punisher was in one episode of Spider-Man the animated series and he was portrayed as a bounty hunter. 

Out of the three Punisher movies I've seen the 2004 film and I didn't like it. This movie has the same effect on me as the 2003 Hulk movie that is it's depressing and slow to the point where you don't notice anything else in the movie. I appreciate that this movie didn't take the death of Frank's family lightly however if you're expecting an action movie and the film doesn't deliver that's an issue. Another gripe I have with this movie is Micro is not in it. For those of you who don't know who he is Micro is Frank's ally, he helps provide weapons and tech support. 

The Netflix series is OK. I was let down that this show didn't embrace this character, I mean he barely wears his signature skull, Micro is a means to an end and he doesn't go on an ongoing killing spree. That's sad considering that I like how the character was handled in season two of Daredevil. Frank in this series feels like Wolverine, he tries to live a normal life, but he gets involved in a crusade and moves on. 

The bottom line is the Punisher is one of those characters that I'm surprised lasted this long. We can understand his pain however we can't relate to him. He killed people who did him wrong and in his own way made the world safer by replacing evil with death. How many people do you know got back at everyone who wronged him or her? 

Despite not being crazy about him that doesn't mean writers can't come up with interesting stories with him. That's another thing that hurts this character different writers, I mean they don't seem to know what to do with him. For example, there is a comic book where he killed all the Marvel characters including himself because his family was caught in the crossfire between the heroes and villains, I'm not kidding about that. This character works better as a baddie and he can be used to create a social commentary on keeping yourself honest and society using severe punishments to keep people in line.