OK, this is completely non-political, but screw it.
I just read over at Ain't It Cool News that Ron Howard's next film, 364, is a new spin on the (admittedly overdone of late) superhero genre.
The concept (which at first glance sounds a little bit like Bruce Almighty) is this: What if you could have superpowers--but ONLY for one day each year. What would you do to prepare for it the rest of the year, and what would you do with your powers?
There's a lengthy (and at times, disturbing) discussion in the comments over at AICN, but I wanted to bring it here to see what dKos folks thoughts are.
Here's a few questions I have, since I don't know anything else about the story yet:
--Does just the main character get superpowers one day per year, or does everyone get them?
--If everyone gets them, is it always on the same day each year, or does it vary for each person (on their birthday, for instance...which would be appropriate; what cooler birthday gift could you get?)
--Is it just one particular power, or is it a bunch of them?
--If it's just one power, do you get to pick it? Can you change which power you get each year?
--Do you inherently/instinctively know how to use your power(s), or are you clueless about it ala Ralph Hinkley in Greatest American Hero?
I admit it'd be kind of funny if they showed the downside of having a power (I never saw Hancock, so maybe they did this there). For instance, there was a great episode of The X-Files with a Genie in the Bottle where some idiot wishes to be invisible...and is then run over by a truck because he ran out in traffic, and of course the driver never saw him.
Plus, of course, you'd have to be buck naked for the invisibility to work, which means you're S.O.L. if you live in a really cold climate.
How about the ability to stop time? That is, you could stop time for everyone else, but not for yourself, so you could still only stop it for 24 hours of your own time.
It'd be fascinating (if gruesome and morally reprehensible) to be able to, say, cut off just the thumb of every person you hate.
Not kill them, mind you. Just, like, cut off their thumb, cauterize the wound and leave the area.
Do that to everyone you despise (either personally, politically, whatever) and can get to within that 24-hour period, then go back home, with no one knowing of your presence.
Start time up again and watch the news to see what happens.