Episode 28: How A Superhero Learns To Fly

"When you've been fighting for it all your life/you've been struggling to make things right/that's how a superhero learns to fly."

                                             -The Script, "Superheroes"

    I love superheroes. I'm obsessed with them. There are few things I'm more passionate about. I cried when Iron Man died in Avengers: Endgame (that's not a spoiler anymore. It's been three years. If you haven't seen it yet that's your fault.). One of my favorite things about superheroes is their flaws. It sounds strange to say, but I love that they're damaged. Every superhero worth their salt has major character flaws and often tragic backstories. What makes these superheroes so alluring is that they constantly rise above these flaws and tragedies for the greater good. They put their own faults behind them, bury the garbage, and put their lives on the line to save others.

     People seem to have this notion that superheroes are these flawless beings. Time after time, people think the superhero archetype should be a muscular god-human who descends from the heavens and exacts justice with a smile on their face, while all of society cheers them on. But that is not the case. You only need to read a comic book or watch a superhero movie or show to know that.

     Superheroes aren't all physically perfect. Some are disabled (Daredevil, Professor X), some aren't in perfect shape and rely on equipment or their powers to accommodate for them.

    Not all superheroes have the same definition of what justice is. Superheroes don't always beat up criminals, tie them up, and let the police come and arrest them. Some will beat them to a pulp, and some think the only way to fight criminals is to straight up murder them. There's an iconic scene in the Daredevil show where he and The Punisher are arguing on a rooftop. Daredevil insists on letting criminals live, on giving people another chance to be better. Punisher insists that these people do not deserve a second chance, and that he is doing the world a favor by "putting them down". He makes the point "when you hit them, they get back up. When I hit them, they stay down." Daredevil is one of the best superhero shows ever in part because of the duality of man represented in Matt Murdock vs. Frank Castle.

      Not all superheroes have a bright, cheery, disposition. And no, I won't stop talking about Daredevil. He's my favorite superhero, and he has severe clinical depression. Moon Knight has DID. Legion is schizophrenic. Batman is clearly not all mentally well and neither is The Punisher. Eddie Brock has to deal with the fact that he has a space demon living inside of him at all times that can take over his body and use it to kill and even eat people.

      Finally (for this section), society doesn't always love the superheroes. Spider-Man: No Way Home shows this very well, as well as every X-Men thing. The X-Men were created as a symbol for racial prejudice and the civil rights movement. Society sees mutants as freaks, and the X-Men find themselves ostracized and bullied by the very people they daily put their lives on the line to save.

Mr. Hardy on the Street

   The other day, I asked my Facebook friends to comment a superhero. Only three people did (one of them commented two), and one of them commented a joke superhero. Oh well, what are you gonna do? I was hoping to get a lot and center this entire blog about that one post, but clearly I'm making this work. So let's just jump into it, Squad Fam.

   Daredevil- I've already talked about him a lot in this blog so if you don't already get what his situation is that's on you. He's severely depressed. Plus, he's "blind". He's also devoutly Catholic, which often makes him struggle to balance his faith with his need to enact vengeance on the criminal element. The television series shows his deep bond with his priest, who he often goes to for confessions as well as for personal advice.

   Doctor Strange- This one poses more of a challenge. Genius man with frighteningly high levels of power? What could be wrong with him? Well, his ego, for one. Doctor Strange's pride and ego has gotten him in dirt many times. And couple this with the fact that his literally multiverse-bending powers often leave the lives of millions in his hands. Imagine that weight on your shoulders.

   Iron Man- Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. He has all the money and smarts he could ever need, but what else does he have? Alcoholism. There was even a major storyarc dedicated to Tony Stark's alcoholism called Demon in a Bottle. Stark's addiction gets to such a boiling point that for a while he has to stop being Iron Man and his best friend Jim "Rhodey" Rhodes, who's usually War Machine, becomes Iron Man in his stead until Stark can get back on his feet.

    Arm-Fall-Off-Boy- Thanks, dad. But honestly, I can work with this. Arm-Fall-Off-Boy's whole gimmick is how ridiculous he is. Imagine having a superpower and wanting to use it for good, but everyone just laughs at you because all you can do is detach your own limbs. He's constantly bullied and rejected by other superheroes. He's a walking joke. It's hard to not feel at least a little bad for him.

In Conclusion

  Guys, I really love superheroes.

See you next week!