Whatever Happened to the Superhero?

[shadowmimiiru]

Maybe it springs from the darkness of the 80s, the backlash of a materialistic culture bent on self satisfaction. Maybe it springs from the current mind of humanity, a mind that sees nothing but dirt and darkness, but as Watchmen (based on the 80's maxi-series by Alan Moore) opens today I find myself wondering what happened to the superhero.

As a kid up and into my time in the Army, I viewed superheroes as the pinnacle of human ability. Superman, was man transcendent, he was not man as he currently was but what man can be and should try to be. Batman, was man as he is now, but better, faster, pushed to the limits of endurance, and trauma, but still surviving and fighting the good fight. Batman showed us that any one, any normal human can bring change. Over in Marvel heroes like Spider-man showed us that, yes we have your flaws, our doubts and fears, but we can and need to over come them. Hal Jordon (back to DC) shows us that man can fall and fall easily but can be redeemed, Speedy/Arsonal/Red Arrow shows us that we can overcome our demons and make ourselves better ...

What happened to the superhero? I know longer can see these people, these creations meant to play as modern myth and folklore, as role models, as people we should strive to be like. Instead I see characters who are dark, who have walked through hell and cannot be happy that they made it out. I see characters who no longer uphold the law, but twist it and distort its meaning.

Where am I going with this? Honestly, I don't know.

 

[tofurkey]

Well I don't know if this belongs in RM Discussion, but I'll go ahead and post a reply.

The "superhero" as you describe it has faded out of existence. Why, exactly? It's because they're not realistic. There is no such thing as a perfect person, and though we see these things when we're little, as we grow older we come to realize that it's impossible for these kinds of people to exist. We can have people who are "perfect" be role models, maybe, but to truly identify with these kinds of people is something you can't do because it's not possible for you to not have any flaws. That's why the marketability of "anti-hero" types is so good: they're full of flaws and yet still feel morally obligated to come out on the right side of the law, and thus it's easy for people to relate to them.

But more objectively speaking, you say you don't see morally good people in comics anymore, when this isn't really true. If you read any modern comics or stories, there are still people who are thrust forward as just and righteous. Take Batman, for example. Yes, he has walked through hell and is generally angsty. But does this change his sense of justice? No, it doesn't. Though he cannot be this vindicator of people without being gritty himself, he still adheres to a strict code--he doesn't kill his enemies, but rather tries to instill in them a sense of guilt, shame, regret, etc.

All these values still exist in modern day heroes, but it's ridiculous to present them in a godly fashion like the comics of the 60s and 70s. Go back and read some old issues of Detective Comics or early X-Men. It's cheesy. Although this is a fine medium for children, you can't as a teenager or adult be expected to relate to these kinds of stereotypes, which would be the point of writing them as a certain persona, wouldn't it?

 

[Feldschlacht IV]

Am I the only one who doesn't get what the first two posters are talking about? I still see the superhero culture all of the time.

 

[Petros]

I'd have to say I disagree. It's not unrealistic to have "Superhero culture" and it's not dead but it's heading that way. I know it has nothing to do with Superheroes but let's take a look at the Star Trek franchise for a moment, as it follows this brand of storytelling.

Star Trek from 1966-1969 was set in this ideal future for humanity of optimism where anything was possible, that was the appeal of it. Then came The Next Generation 1987-1994, this series was great because it updated the same ideals of the original series with a more modern sensibility and more developed storytelling techniques that has entered Hollywood since the 60s.

Next came what was probably by modern standards the most realistic of the franchise, Deep Space Nine, 1992-1999, it focused on a world where technology wasn't our friend, where heroes could be corrupted in order to save lives, it had war, death, famine, recurring storylines that showed a huge continuity that actions have repercussions, even the good actions you take, all of those things that the previous two shows didn't. They tried to carry this on into Voyager 1994-2001 to an extent but to be honest, it didn't work and Voyager was disastrous.

Again they tried to do this in Enterprise 2001-2005 but it didn't work and in the end they tried to switch back to the more optimistic setting of The Next Generation and the Original Series but it was too little too late. Anyway, skip forward to this May 2009, we have the new movie that embodies what the 60s show was all about, optimism and a brighter future, to show us what humanity could be like.

I think that this optimism isn't outdated as the new movie shows us. A film can be serious and optimistic without being completely cheesy and obsolete to a modern audience. Today we have so many dark angsty heroes like Batman is in The Dark Knight, Iron Man had a darkness to it. People in the modern day have become so pessimistic about the future and about life that it's actually starting to get a little irritating. Everyone's an asshole, everyone will betray, murder and steal.

But to be honest, life isn't all darkness, there is an optimism, otherwise pessimism would just be realism and it's not. Sometimes we need to be shown that we have someone to look up to, even if it's impossible to reach, that's what believing is all about, it's kind of like religion in a sense. God is all powerful e.t.c. does he really exist, probably not, can we aspire to reach heaven, why not? Is it so wrong to be a good person? Superman is a SUPER man, he's beyond humanity and he's what people are meant to be inspired by. Superhero culture isn't dead and I think it's due for a little more of a come back. They say if you reach for the stars you might make it to the moon, well if we just be realistic and reach for the moon, we probably won't even make it there.

Anyway, that's my little speech.