December 3, 2005
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Super-Heroic Icons
Here in the western world we have a wholly unique love affair with super-heroes. Gifted with amazing abilities and unique talents, they fight against crime and evil simply for the sake of doing good. How many of us, if we had similar powers, would actually go out and save people's lives for free, let it eat up almost all of your free time, risk your personal relationship with the love of your life, all because you feel you have some kind of lofty obligation to use your powers for the good of all mankind? Probably most of us wouldn't even consider it unless we were paid to do it, and even then, we'd want to restrict it to certain days and hours. Let's be real for a second. Super-heroes, even if they're drawn to look real, simply aren't realistic. So why do we adore them so much?
More than being just people in silly looking tights (and they do look silly if you think about it), they are icons. As human beings, we naturally seek out icons to adore, be it actors, singers, historical figures, or any number of other famous and known people we can choose to look up to. But the unfortunate reality is that they are all human, and as such are fallible. One of our favorite pastimes is to watch in morbid fascination as we topple our very own icons from their pedestals. In our modern age, icons are often short lived unless they die before they have a chance to fall from grace.
Our super-heroes, though, are immortal, unchanging, and completely infallible. They risk their lives for others and use their amazing abilities for the good of all mankind without pay, without reward, without any expectation of a thank you or you're welcome, simply because it's the right thing to do. They are our unchanging icons because they represent all of the things we strive to achieve. Despite the fact that they have great power, they resist the desire to use it for their own ends in a feat of willpower that often stretches the limits of believability, and that is the precise reason they fascinate us. It's magical to believe that if you had these amazing abilities, they you would use it in the same way. It's a very innocent kind of thinking, and some may say it's naive, but imagine how much better a world this would be if we all lived by that kind of selfless philosophy.
In a society that increasingly seems to lack real myths and heroes we have created this fictional pantheon of legends to look up to. Superman alone is one of the single most well known characters ever created, dwarfing nearly all others in global name recognition. There are more people who know who Superman is than some of our most popular American Presidents, heroes, and historical figures. He is an extraordinary being, gifted with near godly powers who always strives to be a symbolic beacon of light to all of humanity, to inspire others to follow his example and do good, not for any reward we might reap, but simply for its own sake.
Sometimes people ask, why doesn't Superman simply stay Superman all the time? Well, as the saying goes, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Superman continues his human life because it keeps him grounded, and because it is a constant reminder to him of what it's like to be human. Despite all of his abilities and powers, it would be much easier for him to lose perspective if he didn't live the life of Clark Kent. Just look at any of our more eccentric actors and entertainers in the media today. Separated from a normal existence and living the unique life of a star, it's hard to stay grounded. Some of them become quite strange because of their isolation. Life in the world, mingling with society, absorbing culture, simply talking to other people, these things help keep us grounded and remind us of what it's really like to live.
Perhaps that is why they are more than just the sum of their powers and abilities, because they aren't devoid of personality and have character and ideals that mirror what some of us believe in. Different heroes that represent different beliefs, personality qualities, and political views, but who all manage to work together for the greater good of all. Isn't that, ultimately, what we all strive for? To find camaraderie, companionship, friendship, and most of all have some kind of real purpose to our lives? Perhaps it's not immediately obvious just by staring at them, but these super-heroes are the fictional representations of our subconscious human desires, the embodiment of those traits and qualities we seek in those real life entertainers and stars we look up to, but so frequently seem to disappoint us. They are our icons.
Comments (3)
do you remember Carradines Superman monologue in Kill Bill 2? "An essential characteristic of the superhero mythology is, there's the superhero, and there's the alter ego. Batman is actually Bruce Wayne, Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker. When he wakes up in the morning, he's Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to become Spider-Man. And it is in that characteristic that Superman stands alone. Superman did not become Superman, Superman was born Superman. When Superman wakes up in the morning, he's Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red "S", that's the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. What Kent wears, the glasses, the business suit, that's the costume. That's the costume Superman wears to blend in with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent? He's weak, he's unsure of himself... he's a coward. Clark Kent is Superman's critique on the whole human race."
postlogic: I do remember that and it remains one of my favorite Superman related quotes of all time.
yeah it was called "the pony project"
there were a bunch of different ones
all done by famous designers, illustrators, yadda
it was pretty cool
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