What Do Superheroes Tell Us About Ourselves?

An abridged version of an article originally posted on NCRegister.com on the relationship between superheroes and the American culture (emphasis added by me).

"Why are superhero movies so popular? Are comic books simply another reliable source of familiar pop-culture franchise fodder, along with TV shows, cartoons and anything else we grew up with? Another source of escapist spectacle to divert us from the sorrows of a world of terrorism, war and economic woe?

Partly, yes. But superheroes also fill a cultural niche that belonged 60 years ago to Westerns and 25 years ago to Star Wars. Superheroes have become a major strand in today’s pop mythology — stylized, larger-than-life stories about heroes whose adventures give shape to ideas about the world we live in and how we live in it, about who we are and who we aspire to be.

What do today’s superhero movies tell us about ourselves? Among other things, we’re more skeptical these days about heroes and heroism. In contrast to the stoic confidence of the typical Western hero — or even of Christopher Reeve’s Superman, who as late as 1978 could unabashedly say, “I’m here to fight for truth, justice and the American way” — today’s heroes have feet of clay and have to grow into their heroic roles.

Bad-boy cockiness and womanizing are common weaknesses. Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark in the popular Iron Man movies created the template here, and Green Lantern’s Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds), an irresponsible, self-destructive skirt-chaser, comes off like Stark’s screw-up kid brother. The movie introduces Hal with a one-night-stand/morning-after bedroom scene overtly reminiscent of a similar incident early in Iron Man, though without the pointed moral critique of that film’s treatment.

The young Charles Xavier of X-Men: First Class, played by James McAvoy (The Conspirator), isn’t nearly as flawed a character. Altruistic and idealistic, he already exhibits some of the nobility of the older Xavier, played by Patrick Stewart in previous X-Men movies. Yet he’s also brash and somewhat lacking in self-awareness, as well as being a rather flagrant ladies’ man who isn’t above using his telepathic powers when hitting on women.

Arrogance and recklessness are major themes in Thor. From the outset, the son of Odin (Chris Hemsworth) revels in the acclaim of his fellow immortals and surreptitiously leads a foolhardy attack against Asgard’s enemies against his father’s explicit orders and desire for peace. This temerity leads Odin to exile Thor to Earth to learn humility.

On the other hand, not only is Thor refreshingly free from the womanizing weaknesses of other heroes, its hero treats the film’s love interest, Jane (Natalie Portman), with unfashionable courtesy and respect, going so far as to chivalrously kiss her hand twice — a mark, presumably, of Thor’s noble Asgardian upbringing. (Despite this, the film fails to establish an emotional bond between Thor and Jane, and the climactic smooch that she plants on his lips falls flat. But that kiss is as far as it goes between them, and he doesn’t initiate it.)

Captain America’s Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) benefits even more from his cultural milieu, embodying the ideals of the “Greatest Generation”: responsibility, modesty, respect, fortitude. Like Thor, he treats women with respect, though it’s true that prior to the “super-soldier serum” that transforms him into Captain America, the 98-pound weakling Steve hadn’t had much opportunity to be a ladies’ man.

Judging from Thor and Captain America, we can appreciate heroes who are gentlemen, not playboys. Perhaps audiences just find them easier to accept when they aren’t products of our own time and place. Gallantry is a virtue we as a culture can admire from afar but can’t relate to; with great power comes great temptation, and many people more or less assume that men like Hal Jordan, Tony Stark, and to an extent the young Charles Xavier probably won’t fare much better than Bill Clinton, Tiger Woods or Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Xavier’s story is set during the Kennedy presidency.) Yet we can imagine, and appreciate, gallantry in a historical or mythic context. Perhaps this indicates some awareness that our cultural standards or expectations are too low.

Perhaps Captain America offers the best depiction of what makes for a good hero: being a good person in the first place. (Cap’s old-fashioned virtue hasn’t hurt him at the box office, either: Captain America has already outgrossed Green Lantern as well as X-Men: First Class, though it may not be able to catch Thor.) In this summer of raunchy comedies, it’s gratifying that audiences are still interested in a hero who is (along with Superman) one of the genre’s biggest Boy Scouts.

Like others of his generation, Steve’s character was tempered in the forge of the Great Depression as well as the shadow of world war. Next year’s Avengers movie will throw this Greatest Generation warrior into the mix with the Tony Stark generation. What will that show us about ourselves and the world we live in?

I’m almost afraid to find out."

For more cultural commentary, visit NCRegister.com.

Phoenix Jones: Superhero in Seattle?

Extraordinary? Or just plain ridiculous?

As reported by The Blaze (emphasis added):

“I symbolize that the average person doesn’t have to walk around and see bad things and do nothing,” Phoenix told the news station. He explained that he started fighting crime about nine months ago and that it’s dangerous work: he’s been stabbed and had a gun pulled on him a few times.

But he doesn’t recommend this life for everyone: “I don’t condone people walking around on the street with masks. Everyone on my team either has a military background or a mixed martial arts background, and we’re well aware of what it costs to do what we do.”

Local Police department spokesman Jeff Kappel wasn’t as opposed to the vigilantly idea as one might think. “There’s nothing wrong with citizens getting involved with the criminal justice process – as long as they follow it all the way through,” the Daily Mail reports.

Learning From 'Kick-Ass'

“Hey… How come nobody’s ever tried to be a superhero?”

Such is the inquiry which lies at the heart of one of the strangest, most irreverent, and blissfully entertaining comic-book films of the decade.

Directed by British director Matthew Vaughn (‘Layer Cake’), and featuring performances by Nicholas Cage (‘National Treasure’, ‘Con Air’) and Chloe Grace Moretz (of the upcoming ‘Let Me In’), the 2009 superhero action/comedy ‘Kick-Ass’ is full to the brim with profanity, violence, and a fair measure of sexual innuendo, each applying at one point or another to shockingly underage characters. As a result, the film experienced a less-than-spectacular opening weekend, earning about $20 million at the box office. Though it narrowly overtook the Dreamworks animated film ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ for that weekend, ticket sales dropped rapidly in the following two weeks of its release, ultimately earning about $48 million domestically.

That said, the movie is likely on track to achieving well-deserved status as a true cult classic.

Based on Mark Millar’s graphic novel of the same name, ‘Kick-Ass’ tells the story of an average nerd, Dave Lizewski, living in an average New York suburb doing average stuff while hanging out with his average friends, all the while pining after the not-so-average girl of his dreams.

Needless to say, viewers expect this barrage of mediocre high-school drama to give way to something weird or extraordinary sooner or later- an expectation that is satisfied when, one day, after being robbed by a pair of alley-dwelling delinquents for the umpteenth time, Dave decides that enough is enough. Purchasing a perfectly ordinary, if not somewhat gaudy, green diver’s wetsuit, equipping himself with two fighting batons, and slipping on a pair of good old-fashioned Timberland boots for good measure, he assumes the identity of a masked vigilante, taking the titular name, “Kick-Ass.”

His initial exploits, however, are less than heroic. Without spoiling anything, Dave quickly gets in way over his head, and is literally on the verge of being castrated by a group of drug dealers when his salvation comes crashing down in the form of… an eleven-year-old girl.

No, the word “girl” doesn’t quite fit… More like a WMD wearing a skirt.

It is at this point that the film begins its gradual transition from outright slapstick to much darker comedy. Utilizing an array of edged weapons to deadly effect, the masked heroine “Hit Girl” (Moretz) quite literally decimates every foe that comes her way, leaving them broken, bloody, and invariably dead- except for the near-survivor sniped in the cranium by her father, the Batman-like “Big Daddy” (Cage, imitating Adam West’s Batman to hysterical effect). It is in light of this over-the-top, father/daughter version of Batman and Robin that the most morally valuable lessons from the film become clear.

If Big Daddy and Hit Girl have a motto, it’s this: Stand up against evil- as an individual, as a team, as a family- and don’t give an inch.

The city in which the main characters find themselves is one lacking any kind of moral center. As was Dave’s experience early in the film, muggings occur on a daily basis, and the citizens make no serious attempt to put a stop to such injustice. The people have lapsed into a state of complacency, leaving even the most petty crooks to do as they please. On top of this, the police themselves have been bought out by Frank D’Amico, the city’s leading drug kingpin, who also has an important role in Big Daddy and Hit Girl’s history.

So how do Kick-Ass and his fellow masked avengers respond in light of this seemingly insurmountable task? They strike, and strike hard.

Hit Girl, as many have already noted, is the film’s only true home run. While critics like Roger Ebert heavily criticized the use of a child actor in such a violent role, the fact is that Chloe Moretz’s brutal character is far and away a morally superior alternative to the inappropriately sexualized, self-concerned teen idols of Disney Channel fame.

To quote Big Hollywood’s John Nolte, Hit Girl is “heroic, selfless, completely self-reliant, and lives by a simple code that says evil loses. No angst, no handwringing, and no moral equivalency.”

Sounds like the ideal female role model to me!

Sure, this is an absolutely unacceptable film for those not mature enough for the ‘Restricted’ rating. But while nowadays such a rating usually indicates the level of a film’s moral decrepitude, the big bold "R" on the back of the 'Kick-Ass' DVD case is like a badge of honor.

After all, what fun is watching superheroes clobber criminals if the result isn’t the untimely amputation of a prosthetic limb or two? Or three, or four, or fifty…