So, we had some talk about superheroes lately and some disagreement on what makes a superhero.
Is it superpowers? Can't be -- everyone knows that Batman is a superhero, but he doesn't have any superpowers.
How about a cool costume? Nope, because then the Pope and Bootsy Collins (see left) would qualify.
Maybe a secret identity? Nah. See, then Tony Stark (everyone knows he's Iron Man) and Sen. Larry "Wide Stance" Craig would qualify.
What Makes a Superhero from the Escapist has a pretty good definition:
A superhero is a symbol that represents the ideal. He is our hopes and aspirations, those qualities we admire in ourselves and in others all writ large, given a face to stare down evil and hands to shape the world for the better. The enemies he stands against, too, are symbols: They are the daily fears which weigh on us ...I can live with that.
The superhero is not perfect; he is burdened with greater troubles than ours, and is time and again defeated by the evil he sets himself against. Yet it is because of this, not in spite of it, that he is truly a hero; not because he is strong, but because he does not surrender.
So now we have a definition. A superhero is a character that exists to remind us of our potential, to show us what we should be. Superheroes are ourselves, courageous.
3 comments:
I am sorry, but I think Dwight Schrute defined it better:
"A hero kills people, people that wish him harm. ... A hero is part-human and part-supernatural. A hero is born out of a childhood trauma, or out of a disaster that must be avenged."
That really sums it up!
Dwight Schrute is a superhero.
Dwight Schrute: Security in this office park is a joke. Last year I came to work with my spud-gun in a duffle bag. I sat at my desk all day with a rifle that shoots potatoes at 60 pounds per square inch. Can you imagine if I was deranged?
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