Idealized and Idolized

Superman is a morally superior being from an advanced civilization who understands the nature of reality more clearly than ordinary human beings do. That is the point of him, and of superheroes. They are idealized visions of humanity, and worthy of being idolized. The power they wield is justified because their values are bravery and fundamental compassion.

And that’s what’s being lost in 21^st century America. Some of the contemporary superhero comics are wonderfully well written by people like Mark Waid and maybe a half-dozen others. But I really do think the very concept of heroism is being corrupted in society as a whole, and not just in comics.