Why superheroes? Why have fictional characters who cannot possibly exist in real life?
It always amazes me that some people seem to think that good works can somehow magically appear in a corrupt world without idealism and dreams of courage and daring.
In fact, superheroes are metaphors about the soaring human spirit, born of necessity in times of powerlessness and despair like the Great Depression. Their function is the same as the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers movies from that era — to enable the downtrodden to fantasize about defying gravity in fancy duds.
Our “heroes” now slaughter lots of people, because an evil society tells itself evil stories.
Superheroes represent enduring moral values required by the human condition, among them courage, honesty, decency, wisdom and compassion. Those don’t “evolve.” They merely become clarified or confused, depending on whether our society advances or erodes.
Superheroes are those who, when something horrible is about to happen, step in to stop it. They transform themselves, sacrificing their ordinariness. They are the people Mr. Rogers called “the helpers,” writ large.
“If one takes away the violence of superheroes and strips them of the modern perception of their obsessive vigilantism and unwavering punishment of evildoers, what’s left?” asked wrote Alex S. Romagnoli and Gian S. Pagnucci in Enter the Superheroes: American Values, Culture and the Canon of Superhero Literature. “What’s left is a character that represents the best qualities of humanity: altruism, self-sacrifice, perseverance and responsibility. Superheroes fight because they have to, but their messages still resound without the violence and without the hard-edged personas.”
Superheroes are mysterious figures who suddenly appear to inspire humanity, then vanish until they are needed again.
What are you waiting for? Shine the signal.
Paul Zuckerman:
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, Dan. Which is why the rise of heroes who kill or characters that are not even heroes becoming the character I am supposed to be rooting for has been a disturbing trend, not only in comics but across much of American media.
I replied:
It's no accident that we've recently seen a bunch of articles about how terrible it is to have empathy.
Bruce Wechtenhiser:
ReplyDeleteThese are the very ideals that The Graf Dairy Hero Foundation focuses upon for young people in their efforts and their Heroes museum in Michigan City, Indiana!
Jose Luis Medina:
ReplyDeleteThat’s why the Punisher and Wolverine aren’t heroes to me!
I replied:
I tend to agree.
Shahrul Hafeez:
ReplyDeleteEndless joy you fiend!!!
Johnny Williams:
ReplyDeleteThere’s just as much horror in the real world (if not more) as in the world of comics. The ‘real world’ kind is Worse. You can always close a comic book and put it down.
Joshua Fleurant:
ReplyDeleteThank you. Sincerely.
Mitchell Brown:
ReplyDeleteAltruism? Self-sacrifice? Sounds like commie talk to me! Now step aside, I’ve got some gold phones and fake money to sell to the patsie — er, ots!
Carl Thiel:
ReplyDeleteAs Michael Sansonia reminds us elsewhere in these comments, fictional heroes have always been larger than life. In addition to having powers beyond those of normal men, our heroes should be damn close to physical perfection, too. It's been that way going all the way back to Gilgamesh who was described as having a "perfect body" and endowed with surpassing "beauty" (N.K. Sandars version, Penguin 1960). I can understand the heroes being drawn so. What bemuses me is how most of the comic book villains are rendered with muscular physiques as well. (They sort of have to be if they're going to wear skin-tight costumes!)
Nariman Dubash:
ReplyDeleteI feel you are spot-on in your assessment of the true theme of superheroes. Like others, I lament the move away from altruistic, heroic characters to those driven by self-interest, revenge or greed. Whilst the comics of the sixties may now seem naive, they did reflect a much greater pro-social ideal.