Superheroes, Escapism and Change in America
“No medium has contributed more greatly than the film to the maintenance of the national morale during a period featured by revolution, riot and political turmoil in other countries.” - Will Hays, head of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association, 1934
As Americans, we’ve officially caught superhero mania. What used to be reserved for teenage comic book fans is now as mainstream as ever. One look at the country’s current events and it’s not hard to tell why Americans are packed into movie theatres to catch a glimpse of these comic book crusaders. In the end, might we find something in them that lies dormant in all of us?
A Realistic Diversion
Americans have historically turned to escapism during hard times. On-screen characters who conquer real-world problems are nothing new. When the chips are down and the facts of life are too bleak to look in the face, the silver screen has provided a gateway to an alternate reality that abstractly allows us to confront our own.
It comes as no surprise, then, that during the Great Depression, 60 to 80 million Americans could be found sitting in movie theaters every week. Contrary to what may be expected, they weren’t flocking to watch movies based in a wonderful fantasy world, but rather preferred films set in an environment similar to their own; movies during the early 1930s mirrored the dark landscape of the time, largely consisting of gangster flicks featuring characters such as corrupt politicians and murderous criminals. When the economy started to recover in the later 1930s, American cinema’s focus turned from those committing crime to those fighting against it – characters such as sheriffs, lone rangers and detectives were cheered on by movie goers nationwide.
It was around this time that comic books and the superheroes contained within them first sprang to life (Superman first appeared in 1938, Batman in ’39), spawning a genre that to this day has resulted in numerous television shows, action figures and films. Recently, these films have seen remarkable success: the latest Batman film, The Dark Knight, just set an all-time opening weekend box office record, beating out Spiderman 3 for the number one spot. Iron Man, released in May of this year, currently sits at number 12.
Similar to the early 1930s, these films are being released at a time when a lot of Americans have a lot of problems. The characters in these movies are a combination of American cinema’s early 1930’s criminals and late 1930’s crime fighters, a blend of light and dark that is reflective of our current fears about living in a society which seems to contain a few good crusaders but just enough villains to make us unsure of a happy ending.
Modern Heroes
Even though these films contain formidable evil villains, watching these super-men without limitations banish them from the world gives people hope for their own lives. As box office numbers show, we eagerly live vicariously through these on-screen superheroes who seem to conquer all, never fazed by the increasing pressures we face daily:
The Iraq war. As Americans, we have a curious relationship with the Iraq war. Of course, we don’t want to see dead soldiers, and thanks to the watered-down media, we don’t. Most of us think we shouldn’t be there, but then again, most of us don’t really care to pay it too much attention. As hard as we try, we can’t feel the impact of a roadside bomb the same way the families of the soldiers do. Many feel helpless — that regardless of how much we protest, the troops will either stay or go depending on what orders the guys in brass give at the top. We’ve got a battle going on, yet we play no part.
Superheroes are the battle. At any conflict, they are on the frontline. They’re fighting the good fight. While we read the headlines about another soldier killed in Iraq, superheroes are making the headlines by saving the city from evil. Where we are powerless, they are a force to be reckoned with.
Politics. As American citizens, it’s hard to make decisions about what political candidate to endorse. We’ve come to see every politician as a “Two-Face,” each pandering to the public with their best toothy smile while promoting their secret agenda behind the scenes. We make voting decisions based on statements by politicians that are crafted by the world’s highest paid speech writers which are then commented on by cable television talking-head spin masters. We feel powerless, forced to make calls when there’s so much smoke we can’t even see the playing field.
Superheroes, by contrast, can see through false claims and phony smiles with X-Ray-vision ease. They seek out corruption and valiantly pledge to oust it wherever found. They stand up and make a difference where most of don’t even know where to start.
Gas prices. Crude oil is nearing $130 a barrel. For us mortals, this means driving less, carpooling more and feeling an even harder crunch on our already tight budgets. Meanwhile, superheroes keep flying/swinging/gliding around like nothing’s changed. In fact, when it comes to a reduced carbon footprint, superheroes have to be up there with some of the greenest Americans alive (even Ironman’s suit was powered by a fictional clean energy reactor). With the exception of Batman, whose “Tumbler” batmobile makes Schwarzenegger’s Humvee look like a hybrid, these guys simply aren’t affected by our looming energy crisis.
Bad job market. Unemployment is rising everywhere we look. For Americans, we now have to worry about not only the size of our bills but whether we’ll even have a job to wake up to in the morning. Many of our favorite superheroes have day jobs just like us – Clark Kent the journalist, Peter Parker the photographer, Tony Stark the inventor. For us, losing a day job like this could be potentially devastating – but for superheroes, they would shrug their shoulders and keep fighting. Where we define ourselves by our jobs, superheroes define themselves by a higher standard. Their happiness doesn’t depend on a paycheck, but rather if they’ve made a difference by bettering peoples’ lives.
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s… you?
As everyday people we often feel like a canooer in a hurricane, helplessly tossed around by world events beyond our control. The powers that be reach into our lives daily, uninvited, and force us to react. By contrast, superheroes are proactive. They too live in our world — a world of danger, death, destruction and chaos, but we watch knowing that in the end, they are a force of good that will overcome the evil that surrounds them. From them, we draw hope. We watch superheroes accept what they cannot control while making a difference with what they can. They stand up and fight at times when most of us feel too exhausted to do anything but watch the nightly news and shake our heads.
Realistically, we don’t have the luxury of having the fantastical powers these guys possess. And there are many: being able to fly, subdue bad guys with spider webs, leap tall buildings in a single bound and having billions of dollars to create bat suits that would make any Navy SEAL blush are certainly big advantages. And even though we don’t have the superpowers, it sure seems like we have the super-villians: Greedy oil barons. Murderous terrorist leaders. Corrupt politicians. Shady businessmen.
The truth is that although we may not be able to fly, dodge bullets and lift cars, we can make a difference. Just like our favorite superhero, we can accept what we cannot control while pledging to do our best to change the things we can. If can be from anything as simple as reducing your family’s oil consumption to starting an online social movement to running for a local political office. Everyone knows deep down whether they are making their personal best attempt at creating change or not.
Once you decide, with all of your heart, to make a difference, where will your path lead? Just like our favorite caped crusaders, you too may discover powers deep within yourself that you never knew you had.
Just stay away from kryptonite.