Young Justice Rewatch 14 : Independence Day Super Serious Meta
Right so, I wanted to organize this rewatch, and it got a bunch of notes compared to what I was expecting. However, there's been no word on it in the #yjrewatch14 tag, and I feel like that's my fault. If you're going to start something, you have to lead it - I guess. I apologize for not being more on top of this, but I also happened to start a new job on October 1, the day I was supposed to start this. If you are seeing this for the first time, you can see a tentative and flexible rewatch schedule here, and I encourage everyone to participate.
What I'm going to do here is try to seriously (to the point that it's appropriate/possible) create a discussion of things I think are interesting in each episode. You can reblog it and append discussion or, better yet, create your own talking points. I just really want us to engage as a fandom again, so here I'm trying to do something about it.
So without further ado...
Look at them. Look at the babies untarnished and uninjured by life. Look. at. them. But in all seriousness, I said this was super serious meta, and what I mean by that is that I want to take an opportunity to really examine Young Justice textually with itself. Basically, I miss college, and I don't want to overwork myself, but I want to talk about this surprisingly nuanced show. I'm going to try to keep my discussions centered around the episodes that they cover, though, despite my temptation to ramble and cross-reference everything. That's not to say that cross-referencing won't happen.
One theme I'd like to talk about with this episode that has ramifications throughout the rest of the series, phrased succinctly, might be called: Appearance vs. Reality.
One example of this theme that comes to light very quickly is the notion of transparency and what it means to the younger, primary characters and their adult counterparts. 'Independence Day' opens with the four active 'sidekicks' out in literal broad daylight backing up their Justice Leaguer counterparts. They are defending Gotham, Star City, Central City, and Pearl Harbor (? one of these things is not like the others) for all the world to see against the four 'ice villains' who have chosen a particular and Ameircanly famous day to attack these locations.
Despite his fast disillusionment, Roy is the very first person to see what operating in the light of day means. He points out what becomes a constant theme that plagues the rest of the series. Regardless of a character's alignment (on the morality, good guy/bad guy scale) on Young Justice, the compelling reasons to put on a dog and pony show or to create a smokescreen, if you will, are strong. On the Totally Not the Golden Gate I Guess (tm) Bridge, Roy seems both surprised and annoyed that Icicle Jr. is "doing this for attention." Then, when they finally arrive at the Hall of Justice, they are completely surrounded by interested media and fans who are all speculating and commenting about the meaning of their presence and them in general. The line is very fine and only seems to become moreso when they have entered into the Hall's antechambers. Pictured above, Roy points out the League's obvious hypocrisy - "Who cares which side of the glass we're on?"
Watching the ensuing argument, I can only imagine the reality show-like tabloid magazines in this universe.
There's a good question and an aside: how do Dick, Kaldur, and Wally get by with their later plan if it is made in front of people with tourist cameras and the like? I suppose it might well be soundproof, but I wonder if one could assume that at some point this portal of view is somehow inconspicuously cut off with a cover or something. Then if that's true, one might wonder why it seems their fans and onlookers were allowed to see Roy's tantrum and storming out.
It is made very clear from the start of the episode that the Justice League has an internally enforced hypocrisy about what the public need them to do. I have considered this a lot in watching this show and in being vaguely exposed to other material in which the Justice League is present. I'd be interested to know what, if any, laws exist pertaining to vigilantism in the DC universe(s) in general, but specifically on Earth-16. Do they have something similar to a superhuman registration act that is just a normal part of life? Is it simply an accepted part of the job? But it would seem that while the Justice League has a very visible, shiny headquarters in Washington D.C., they are an independently (and presumably, in theory, internationally(/a-nationally?)) governed body. They seem perfectly free to open and close their doors both literally and in terms of policy at will, and because they include the most powerful persons on Earth, they can act with basic impunity. And yet, despite this ridiculous amount of power, they are also apparently freely accepted as so necessary to the functioning of the United States (and this show does include a fair amount of international stuff for an average kids' show, so we'll say the world, also) that they have their fancy HQ amid all the other government monuments and buildings in D.C.
One detail I like about the interior of the Hall of Justice is how dated it looks. I'm not quite sure which decade it looks, right off, but it looks dated in a way that one might expect from something produced before the turn of this century. Particularly over on the right side of the frame long the wall, there appear to be instruments which use very large spools of magnetic tape for something, and I can almost smell the way the wood (or particle board) and even those chairs might still hold the faint must of a time when smoking in public buildings might not have been taboo even for those in the Justice League. I mean, I'm not saying they smoked - I'm just talking about this strangely specific vibe I get from this space. Then there's the color scheme, and the large monitor which we see in action at one point with Superman and Zatara communicating with the other Leaguers who are present.
I dwell on this discussion of interior decorating because of how much I think it may, intentionally or unintentionally, convey about the infrastructure of society itself (as it relates to heroes and the Justice League in particular). Public buildings generally are built to last and have a very long life ahead of them when they are opened. I can imagine that perhaps this structure was build mid-century and that it has remained much the same for quite some time, though I cannot say for sure. I also note that the accessible interior looks cheap as compared to the outward facade of the structure. This might just be me, but the actual image of the pictured room does not match what I imagine might be on the inside of this building. And developing metaphors early and grasping for them everywhere, I think that this is a tonal but probably (largely) unintentional foreshadowing of the way that at the heart of everything that things on this show are rarely what they outwardly seem.
The motivations behind keeping the boys in the dark about the reality of the Justice League's primary base of operations... in space...
... probably genuinely are motivated by a sense of knowing what is in the best interests of the League, the sidekicks, and people in general. When a person has been praised for doing something well (such as protecting the world) for a very long time, it's easy to buy your own press so to speak. But back to my theme of appearance versus reality, I think that this outward and very real rejection of the idea that the boys are ready for anything but the outward appearance of having made it past the gatekeepers sets up the more obviously named theme of this first episode - independence. It's a silly, nail on the head coincidence that Independence Day is the point in time wen the precipitating event to the formation of the Team occurs, but I think it's certainly worth noting that the Leaguers chose this day for Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Speedy to make their debuts of going through the Hall of Justice's doors and past where the the general public are allowed. This justification for this silly coincidence actually had never occurred to me before until watching it this time for something to seriously consider and discuss, but symbolism can be really important in Young Justice. Sometimes, it is meta symbolism that only the viewer is likely to benefit from, but other times it is built into the fabric of the world in really obvious ways like this. Batman, Green Arrow, the Flash, and Aquaman all told their sidekicks that Independence Day 'was the day' that they would take their first steps into a greater world.
And they were right. Just not in the way that they had hoped.
Roy walks out on them, but in being denied access through Justice League-sanctioned means, they are faced with some really existential questions: Why are we here? What can we do? And most poignantly, Robin asks, "Why didn't we leave with Speedy?"
Aqualad's response to this - to question the nature of Project Cadmus - seems to be a subtle response along the lines (in my opinion) that if for no other reason that Kaldur would like to stay because of the difference in resources available to him. This is expanded upon later, but if he were to go back to the life he led before, he would no longer have a chance at living on the surface world or learning more about the things he knows are happening now that he's become even this involved.
Another thing I think that scene is charged with is a tension and contrast between independence and rebellion. Is Roy rebelling or becoming independent? Are the rest of the boys exercising independence or becoming rebellious?
Compare and contrast: the dumbest smiles and one of the best smiles. Can I just say that Kaldur should make this face more often? It's really attractive. What is wrong with me they are colored in drawn lines. Anyway, the decision to go after the Project Cadmus mystery is at least partially motivated by a desire to deliver 'poetic justice' to the League for icing them out of their own saving the sun mission. Which, I mean, actually if someone's job is to save the sun from being put out then to be honest if they're competent I'd rather stay away from that no matter what my superhero ambitions are, but that's just me. The point is, I think that the tension between rebellion and independence at play here is an interesting one. Here we see these three (inexperienced) boys working without training to work together and without orders or supervision. This is something that we don't really see again, but I think that it establishes a precedent for discussion of whether or not the Justice League only capitulates to change that is completely forced upon them by an oversight which allows for the exploitation or undermining of their power and importance...
There's something really charming about how ineffectual local officials and the like are in these universes when it is called for.
Another thing I think we see at play in this first episode about the sort of appearance/reality of the boys' independence is how it relates to each other. Acting alone or on one's own as a group for the first time has its complications. The chain of realizing this fact seems to go Kaldur->Wally->Dick. Kaldur realizes from the start that they need to coordinate and have a plan before they run inside and do whatever they think is the smartest move without consulting the others. This is addressed later as to the specific reasons Robin is so apt to behave this way, but I think that it holds true for most of the characters except those who are most in conscious need of finding a niche and acceptance (generally Kaldur, M'gann, and at times Artemis). Otherwise, this action-packed free-for-all tends to occur when there is stress on a plan. Robin remains pretty oblivious for the duration of this episode, but by the point pictured above I think that Wally had pretty much realized the need for interdependence between them if they are to survive.
And a final tidbit of this discussion on the real meaning of the Team's independence from the Justice League not stemming from whole independence from each other comes with their discussion of the ethical treatment of Superboy when they find him. They realize that he is being made into a puppet or 'slave' for those in charge of Project Cadmus, and they realize that they need to save him. Trying to save people is what they do, but I think that in coming together to fight against him and losing that they are in some ways more unified as a front as a result of the aftermath than they would have been had they been successful.
Despite the title of the episode and the clever placement, this episode dos not end in independence. It ends with our characters so far more vulnerable and in need of support, regardless of what safe and measured experience of symbolism their mentors had planned for them.