Reflective Essay # 1

Will Deuerling

INTG-323

M. Harrison

30 January 2012

Who’s your favorite superhero?

            This first week of class has been a great experience. I am really excited to see the direction of the class as I progress through the semester. This week we went over the general history of superheroes, a “superheroes 101” of sorts. That brings me to this reflection, which asked who my favorite superhero is. I would have to say that my favorite superhero is Wolverine from the X-Men. There are many things that I enjoy about this character, and I have some vivid memories from my past pertaining to him.

            To begin, I will talk about what I find in Wolverine that I like. In general, I have loved the X-Men my whole life. The idea of younger people finding out that they had super powers that make them “different” was so cool to me. What I specifically enjoyed about Wolverine was his overall attitude. He was definitely an Anti-Hero because he was very violent and vengeful; however these traits play into what I like about him.  Throughout the movies and the old shows that I have seen Wolverine in, he was always passionate about what he was doing. While he may have acted reckless many times, he was always backed by this amazing drive to keep fighting for what he thought was right. This commitment to himself and his ideals was very inspiring. The other X-Men were in no way NOT passionate, but many times they seemed to just go with the flow to do what was right. Wolverine stuck out because of his personal feelings that seemed to fuel his rage as well as his drive to bring wrongdoers to justice.

            As a child, it is easy to understand that I didn’t have quite the same understanding of Wolverine as I do today, but I enjoyed him as a part of the TV show all the same. I always laugh at how nostalgic I feel when I see the old images of him in his bright yellow costume. I vividly remember dressing up as Wolverine one year for Halloween and finally getting a stab at taking on the bad guys in a bright yellow jumpsuit. Of course, having some fake claws strapped to my hands was exciting and empowering as a kid too. Having this costume at my disposal, I also remember countless hours of playing around the neighborhood with my friends. We would run around attacking imaginary bad guys with our amazing and fantastic (yet also imaginary) super powers. I always loved fighting my imaginative evil as a kid because I was passionately invested in making the experience as real as possible for myself. Looking back at it now, I could say with a fair amount of certainty that my passion in playing was a parallel connection with the passion seen in Wolverine that I mentioned earlier.

            Though cartoons and comics featuring superheroes are commonly associated with entertaining kids, I think they can be the “ideal model” to look up to in some real life situations. When looking at the question, “How might imagining ‘What would Wolverine do?’ help you solve a problem or deal with an issue in your adult life?” I thought of a very personal, but appropriate example of this happening in my life. My first thought was about what Wolverine might do in any given situation. I came to the conclusion that he would do whatever it takes to be himself and never back down to those that didn’t accept that he was “different.” I can’t compare his acts of violence and the fear he generated to my life, but his pride in being different and his commitment to stand up for himself fits the bill. His pride and confidence in being different connects with my feelings relating to my sexuality and my discovery of who I am. Fortunately, I have never experienced any personal oppression for being gay, unlike Wolverine who faced many problems due to his being a mutant. However, I feel that I deeply understand his acceptance of being different and the desire for others to do the same. Looking at this connection to my life today, embracing an attitude similar to Wolverine’s would help me to sustain a sense of confidence in who I am. I guess I owe him some thanks for setting an example to follow whenever I am faced with negativity for being different.