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paul_pci
09-28-2006, 08:56 AM
For anyone who is interested, Atlantic Monthly published an article on superhero worship in recent movies:

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200610/postrel-superhero?ca=p%2B3kkpx7COFZQcaize8iyNXpbm%2FE51Y5G s%2FoEP7X7mI%3D

Woochifer
09-28-2006, 03:39 PM
Interesting article, but it took a somewhat different angle than the title implied. The article made some interesting points about the glamour and romanticism associated with these heroic figures. But, I thought that with recent movies, Superman Returns in particular, that have incorporated messianic imagery into the narrative, that might have been the subject of the article. Might simply be a sign of the times where audiences want to attribute a spirituality or higher calling to our movie heroes.

Worf101
09-29-2006, 04:00 AM
I don't think it's glamour we desire so much from movie Superheros so much a "power". In our real lives most of us are completely powerless. We're chained to our jobs, mortgages, familial responsibilities, car notes.... the list goes on. We're frustrated and tired from being whip sawed from point to point, from mundane drudgery to mundane drudgery. What helps us identify with Spiderman so much is not his superpowers but his geeky, nebbish helplessness... as stated in "Revenge of the Nerds" "There are a lot more of us than there are of you." Peter Parker is us. Small, powerless and beset on all sides by the wickedness of evil doers...

When he dons that mask though, he's free. Fighting villians is cathartic a release a chance to be more than some schlub enduring "durance vile". In his costume he gets to be the "man" he and we all dream of being... powerful, decisive and most of all "ABLE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!!"

I believe it's this impotence which galls us the most, this powerlessness which leads us to admire the super powerfull....

Da Worfster

Groundbeef
09-29-2006, 06:04 AM
I don't think it's glamour we desire so much from movie Superheros so much a "power". In our real lives most of us are completely powerless. We're chained to our jobs, mortgages, familial responsibilities, car notes.... the list goes on. We're frustrated and tired from being whip sawed from point to point, from mundane drudgery to mundane drudgery. What helps us identify with Spiderman so much is not his superpowers but his geeky, nebbish helplessness... as stated in "Revenge of the Nerds" "There are a lot more of us than there are of you." Peter Parker is us. Small, powerless and beset on all sides by the wickedness of evil doers...

When he dons that mask though, he's free. Fighting villians is cathartic a release a chance to be more than some schlub enduring "durance vile". In his costume he gets to be the "man" he and we all dream of being... powerful, decisive and most of all "ABLE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!!"

I believe it's this impotence which galls us the most, this powerlessness which leads us to admire the super powerfull....

Da Worfster

Actually, I think differently about Spiderman, the others non-withstanding. Peter Parker is the everyman (actually every-teen). The challenges that he faces are not unlike every problem we suffer with every day. When he becomes Spiderman, his problems do not decrease, they exponentially INCREASE. No longer is he responsible for his own sorrowful life, but now he is burdened with people he has never met, but is now in some way responsible for. In this way I feel that Spiderman captures the power/curse of being a super hero.

We see how he struggles to save everyone, and yet be unable to allow his identity to be known. By keeping his identity secret he is unable to maintain friendships, (Green Goblin's son), and many others in the comic book. Now he is a young man with the whole worlds problems on his shoulder. This is where the allure (at least for me) of SpiderMan is. Not every problem can be solved, every person saved. Everyone is fallible.

I never really got into Superman because of this problem. With the exeception of Kryptonite, he WAS invunerable. There was nothing he could not fix or person he couldn't save. This made him more 1 dimensional at least in my eyes. Every comic was almost an "exercise", because in the end, Superman ALWAYS came out on top. There never was a question as to if he would save the day.

With Spiderman, there always is the nagging doubt that maybe Parker/Spiderman wouldn't be able to fix the problem or save the person in danger.

Anyway that is my 2 cents.

superpanavision70mm
09-29-2006, 11:58 PM
Everyone has brought up some very interesting points in relation to the article. I certainly saw some immediate connections in Superman (1978) and the recent 2006 version with some lifted text that certain eluded to a Christ-like comparison. Often we project certain attributes to super heroes not necessarily because we 'want to be like them' or because we have some pent up dillusions about being a hero ourselves, but rather it takes us out of the normal realities of day-to-day life and gives us dreams that maybe in some way life could be like that...and then everything returns to normal again for us. Movies are an escape, comics are an escape...any type of material that involves super heroes are ways to highlight those escapes into mythological creatures, no different than our own imagination or inner dreams (the ones during sleep).