Defendor

1. Defendor is a Canadian superhero/comedy-drama film written and directed by Peter Stebbings, and starring Woody Harrelson, Kat Dennings, Elias Koteas and Sandra Oh. • The story is about a regular man who adopts the persona of a superhero named Defendor on a quest to find his arch enemy. Defendor was filmed in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario.

2. Defendor • Defendor features no super powers, and the vigilantism is more Home Alone than Death Wish or Dirty Harry. • It’s a character piece with both dramatic and comic elements (comedic drama).

3. Arthur Poppington (aka DEFENDOR) is an unlikely superhero. He has no superpowers and uses marbles, wasps and lime juice as weapons in his quest to capture Captain Industry. • He is a crime-fighter who tries to make the streets safe at night, like any other masked hero. • But unlike Batman or Spiderman, he’s battling villains on a shoestring budget.

4. The shoe-polish applied around his eyes, which makes him look like Bruce Lee playing Kato on the old Green Hornet TV series. 1966, only ran for 2 seasons Started as a radio program in the 1930s

5. Defendor- Pop Culture References

6. Defendor- Pop Culture References Stick Combat was first widely seen in North America in Bruce Lee Martial Arts films from the late 1970s

7. Pop Culture References • In a gravelly, Clint Eastwood/ Batman-style voice, Defendor spews out hoary lines like “Trouble has a way of following me.” Naturally, he has a tough time being taken seriously.

8. Clint Eastwood- Dirty Harry“Do you feel lucky punk?”

9. Other 1970s-1980s Pop Culture- CopReferences Arthur bases his superhero persona on what he has learned from mass media (television, movies, and books). At one point, Arthur offers money for information and makes a comment about “Rockford”. TheRockford Files (a 1970s show about a private investigator) provides another character that informs the Defendor persona.

10. Other 1970s-1980s Pop Culture- CopReferences “Just one more thing…” Columbo stared Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department.

11. “The film’s Canadian-ness is expressed more subtly, in its razor-sharp subversion of America’s super-hero culture.” - Greig Dymond, CBC The police chief does not work with Defendor unlike the police commissioner Batman.

12. Subversion- to subvert • 1. the state of being subverted; destruction. • 2. to overthrow something established or existing.

13. Subvert- to overthrow (something established or existing). An act of destruction for a set of standards. Negate- to deny or contradict. Cliché- a stereotyped expression; a popular or common thought or idea, that has lost originality and impact by long overuse. Kitsch- something of poor design, appearance, or content created to appeal to popular or undiscriminating taste. By subverting the superhero culture and negating the stereotypical superhero narrative Defendorredefinesthe superhero genre.

14. Weapons- “Guns are for cowards”

15. Weapons- “Guns are for cowards”

16. Like his protagonist, writer-director Peter Stebbings uses his limited resources wisely. This Canadian film teems with originality, even though its entire budget probably wouldn’t cover the catering costs of Batman Begins. Peter Stebbings in his kitchen posing for early poster concepts

17. Official Synopsis • When night falls and danger emerges from the shadows of Hammer Town’s alleyways, Defendor is the only man who stands between us and the drug-ravaged streets. He is the last bastion of decency, the last honourable man: he is Defendor! But he is also Arthur Poppington (Woody Harrelson), a simple man who lives in the workshop of the construction company that employs him to hold traffic signs. Arthur is a self-made superhero who runs afoul of the law when he lays a beating on an undercover cop, Chuck Dooney (Elias Koteas), who was abusing a young prostitute named Kat (Kat Dennings). Always the hero, Arthur takes Kat to his secret hideout hoping she can help him find his arch-nemesis, the diabolical Captain Industry. Mistakenly convinced that Captain Industry killed his mother, Arthur has made it his mission to track down this enemy at all costs. But in order to do so, he must first overcome his most difficult challenge ever: convincing the court-appointed psychiatrist Dr. Park (Sandra Oh) that he’s sane enough to be on the streets.

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19. Director Peter Stebbings and actor Woody Harrelson attend the "Defendor" premiere after party during the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2009 in Toronto, Canada.

20. Woody Harrelson’s breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd.

21. Defendor- Discussion Questions • Do you think the writing and direction of the film properly portrays a realistic version of somebody wanting to be a superhero rather than a glamorized Hollywood version? Explain why or why not. • What message does the movie send about the meaning of being a hero? Provide plot, character, and dialogue examples from the movie. • In what way do you think a larger Hollywood movie would change the ending. • Make a discussion question that you would ask the class based on the movie. Consider mood, acting style, comedic moments, and over all meaning.

22. Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver By Martin Scorsese

23. Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver Travis talking to a mirror “Are you talk’n to me?”