Superheroes
Mainstream critics often disparage superhero stories as escape literature, superficial entertainment versus literature that tells us about the human condition.
Are these stories superficial? Maybe. Maybe not.
They are often exciting adventure stories. On the surface, they appear to be pure escapism, having little to do with reality. After all, humans can’t fly or turn into big green, angry monsters or kill vampires (there aren’t vampires, right?). In these stories, we are sure the bad buys are going to lose, and the good guys are going to win, which is part of the fun, but to be fair, superhero stories are not realistic or literary fiction.
So Why Are They So Popular?
If you are an elitist, you might say that the general public doesn’t have sophisticated tastes and would rather be entertained with mindless stories rather than stories that challenge the intellect. However, while superhero stories do entertain and engage us on primal levels, they also meet some of our most basic human and psychological needs. Which might be one reason they have been around since recorded history.
Symbols of Our Humanity
Like myths and archetypes, superheroes represent more than the story they tell. As a matter of fact, many protagonists in ancient myths are superheroes: Hercules and Achilles are two examples. Superheroes have strength, insight, understanding, and most of all the strong moral and ethical values that guide them in a dangerous and difficult world.
At first glance, superheroes don’t seem to be ordinary people because they have at least one extraordinary power, but most start out as ordinary humans: During WWII, Captain America is a weakling, who is rejected again and again from the military service; Hulk, a nice guy, is exposed to gamma and changes from ordinary to a massive bundle of strength; Buffy is a valley girl cheerleader until her watcher reveals that she is the chosen one; when she is trained, she finds her hidden strength and power.
Buffy demonstrates how superheroes are symbols: she is a normal teenager who doesn’t know her power; when she recognizes what makes her unique, she taps into her natural talent and becomes what she was destined to be.
Most people don’t recognize and develop their strengths and gifts, but a few do, and they stand out. Consider the talent show contests whose video clips go viral; more often than not, these folks are so ordinary or so eccentric that the audience and the judges are bored, smiling, rolling their eyes and waiting for disaster, but when the contestants sing, the judges’ and the audience’s faces document their sea change from unconcealed ridicule to genuine surprise to delight and appreciation. These performers are examples of people who have discovered their “superpower.”
Bad Things Happen
Another way we identify with superheroes is through their suffering. Usually, something bad happens to them and changes them forever. Like a hero’s journey, the reluctant hero-in-waiting is shoved forward by fate, accident, or life changing experience: Superman comes to earth with a destiny–he’s a helpless baby saved, nurtured, and protected by a human family; as a child, Bruce Wayne watches as his parents are murdered–he is traumatized, and Batman is born; Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider and becomes Spiderman; Bruce Banner is exposed to gamma and is genetically altered into the Hulk.
To varying degrees, bad things happen to all of us. It’s true we don’t get superhero powers from our difficult experiences, but superhero stories give us something better than extraordinary power; they give us a road map for surviving bad things. Maybe it’s a geeky way of saying, “Make lemonade.”
A superhero may be down for the count, but she always gets up again!
Consider Buffy. Yeah, Joss Whedon writes fun stories, has a sense of humor, and throws in a good dose of smart, witty dialogue, but think about high school. For many people, it’s hellish. Whedon says, “High school is a horror movie,” and “Buffy is a metaphor for how frightening and horrible high school is.” Yet she and her friends slay the monsters and survive.
Even if you had or are having a positive high school experience, you can relate to being rejected by that boy or girl who turns out to be a real jerk, or in Buffy’s world a vampire, evil dude. Most high school kids have felt invisible, unseen by peers and adults, consistently overlooked.
In “Out of Mind, Out of Sight” episode in the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Marcie Ross is literally invisible and extracts revenge on those who bullied her. Sometimes real life bullies push people too hard and too far. We’ve all heard stories about people traumatize by bullies who take action, sometimes hurting themselves or others. The end of this Buffy episode is more than a little disturbing: government men take invisible Marcie to a school for assassins, using her rather than helping her.
Buffy isn’t as far from reality as critics might expect.
Inner Suffering
On the outside, heroes seem to have had it easy, but on the inside, they suffer just as we do. Batman is scared by his parents, death; Buffy can’t lead an ordinary life because being the slayer comes first; the Hulk is a slave to his emotions. Each superhero carries a burden and some kind of inner suffering, and yet, they rise above their suffering to do the right thing.
Just like the superheroes, every ordinary person carries inner sufferings. Many of us ask the question, “How do I carry on?” Superheroes press forward and do the right thing. Yeah, they may wallow is self-pity from time to time, but in the end, they figure things out.
They Meet Our Need For Justice
Letâ’s face it, most of us live in a world where injustice surrounds us, and we are helpless to do anything about it, but superheroes fight for justice, take action and defeat the bad guys. These stories are satisfying because we are able to watch a powerful person bring justice into the world.
In real life, vigilantes aren’t heroes and do horrific things. They take the law into their hands and have a one-sided view of justice. Often they are disturbed people with skewed vision and a personal slight or perceived injustice.
In the fantasy world of Superheroes, our protagonists may act like vigilantes, but they have a clear understanding of right and wrong, and their justice fits into the general sense of society’s view of justice; there are clear lines between the good and the bad guys. We know our hero is doing the right thing.
When superheroes have a one-sided, skewed vision or are motivate by petty revenge or self-interest, they become the antagonist. In X-men First Class, we see this first hand as Magneto turns from superhero to super-villain. There is a not so subtle warning about power, its ability to twist the mind, and how easy it is to cross the line that separates good from evil. These are the moments in superhero stories when we see shades of gray.
There is a psychological satisfaction in watching the bad guys get caught or stopped or defeated. We know in life bad guys get away with murder, literally and figuratively, but in these stories, we can count on good winning over evil. They give us what real life cannot: honest, clear-cut justice.
Our protagonists are just and the morally righteous. Wonder Woman, Storm, Superman, Ironman, Captain America, all fight for and protect ordinary humans; they don’t allow evil to succeed; they may not always kill the villain, but we are assured that if evil rises again, our hero will be there to save the day. The song at the beginning of Mighty Mouse could be the theme song for all superheroes:
“Here I come to save the day. That means that Mighty Mouse is on the way. When there is a wrong to right Mighty Mouse will join the fight.”
Altruistic Role Models
In a time when most role models don’t stand above the crowd and some are downright despicable, superheroes are altruistic role models; when injustice abounds, our heroes are on the side of right. They demonstrate humans at their best and let us know that living morally and doing the right thing is possible.
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Why Are YA Stories, Dystopias, and Superheroes Popular? Part 1
Why Are YA Stories, Dystopias, and Superheroes Popular? Part 2
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