I feel a need to say this because I have a lot of friends who are both geeks and Marxists:

Analysis of "material conditions" requires actually engaging with the conditions, and only making minimal assumptions where necessary.

We can't treat fiction like our reality. 1/3

So if you're analyzing a fictional universe, the underlying physics AND metaphysics of a universe are part of the conditions.

We don't charge Bugs Bunny for attempted murder when he puts an exploding cigar in someone's mouth, as in that reality that's not expected to kill. 2/3

Of course we can and should separately discuss how it affects viewers, like saying "hey kids Superman can smoke as much as he wants because he can't get cancer" is obviously still bad.

But if you're just judging characters and not the work itself, do it on their own terms. 3/3