This week in Reflections Class, we took a closer look at some very important aspects about superheroes. Such aspects were the superheroes’ secret identity versus a “real” identity, the morality superheroes have, and the rise of superheroes in a specific historical context. All of these are very crucial to understanding the superhero and how they carry through with their magnificent existence. Throughout looking at these concepts, we took a look at how these things can connect to our own lives. There seems to be a lot to learn about superheroes.
To begin, I would like to talk about a couple of the concepts we covered during class. The first one I would like to mention is about the superheroes’ identity. The aspect of the secret identity versus a real life identity is such an interesting characteristic of superheroes to me. The contrast shown between their dual lives is sometimes mind-blowing. However, I have learned how important this is when you take into account for all of the people that could be harmed if the enemy knew of the superheroes’ personal life. An example that reminds me of this point is from the first Spiderman movie. The Green Goblin gets a hint that Peter Parker is behind the mask. This leads to the attack on Aunt May. Peter Parker then understood the importance of remaining anonymous, as did I.
The next aspect of the superhero that I found fascinating was the apparent system of morals that each superhero operated by. This struck me as a very “human” characteristic because we humans usually run off of a set of morals as well. Superheroes just seem to be much more steadfast at holding themselves accountable to a near perfect state. An example of this that came to me instantly is of Batman. The way he clings to his no killing policy stands out more to me than that of other superheroes in many cases. There are so many instances where he has the opportunity to end them forever, but he chooses instead to have them face the law. Despite their nearly inevitable escape, he continually follows this way of dealing with his enemies. I have a lot of respect for this kind of loyalty to one’s ideals.
Many of these aspects have some relation to my life. As mentioned in class, I do not have a secret identity. However, I do have different “identities” for the various groups of people in my life. I act a lot differently around my family members than I do my friends. In example, I watch my language more at home whereas I let some four letter words slip out when I am with friends. And while that may not be the best comparison to secret identities, it definitely illustrates the point of sometimes having to hide parts of who you are from others.
As I mentioned above, it is very easy to connect to the superheroes when looking at morals. My morals aren’t quite as vigilant as those of Superman or Batman, but the basic similarities do exist. I can always empathize with Batman though. I don’t think I would be able to kill anyone, but boy would I enjoying kicking the crap out of some corrupt politicians, among other villains, before shipping them off to the dog house. To be Batman, what a life that would be! There is still a lot to learn before I can commit to a life like that. It is clear now that there is a lot more than meets the eye with superheroes.
I love that you brought up Batman as one of the heroes to face moral issues. I totally thought of the Dark Knight movie when he tells the Joker that he could end his life right then and there in the interviewing room and the Joker says right back to him "You would have to break one of your own rules to do that".
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