The Pub

Fulfilling Heroic Myths

Alicia M. Cohn

Americans love a good superhero story. The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, and the Batman sequel The Dark Knight were all released to movie theaters in the summer of 2008. All starred notable Hollywood cast members, all were budgeted at over 100 million dollars, and the latter two met with significant box office and critical success. There are also popular, long-running TV shows featuring superheroes: Smalllville (about Superman) and Heroes (about a variety of comic book-inspired superheroes). Although the paper comic book business is in recession, hundreds of individual comic books are still released every week. It would be difficult to find any American, regardless of age, race, or hobbies, who could not identify iconic figures like Superman, Batman, or Spider-Man at first glance.

Opinions on superheroes differ depending on whom you ask. Some view them as the remnants of our modern myths; others deem them the final frontier in our quest for true escapism, and some see them as an enduring secular form of the very human belief in the supernatural. Regardless of which view is most accurate, superhero movies continue to be a reliable prediction for blockbuster and franchise success. In the last decade alone, each movie in the Spider-Man trilogy made about 400 million dollars domestically, every movie in the X-Men trilogy progressively exceeded 100 million, and Fantastic Four and The Hulk, although critically dismissed, warranted a sequel and a remake, respectively. If, as these statistics seem to indicate, the popularity of superheroism does in fact have a tangible effect on modern society, the pertinent question for us is how we, as Christians, should react to its presence.
The issue raises two important questions:

1. What hope can superheroes provide that real life heroes, who are human and therefore fail, cannot?

Superheroes are a peculiar hybrid of supernatural ability and secular power. If defined as a figment of some artistic imagination, they seem to represent a powerful form of wish fulfillment through their capacity for almost unlimited control over their environment. Superheroes are superheroes precisely because of the power they wield over elemental nature. This great capability seems to arrive inexplicably through alien intervention: extraterrestrial, mythological, or unexplained.

No matter the unique aspects of a superhero, the full-grown superhero is usually the product of a tremendous amount of suffering prior to his ascension into superheroism. Suffering is a particularly human preoccupation, perhaps even more so in difficult times; therefore survival of suffering deserves admiration. The few who not only survive but also triumph over suffering are to be truly celebrated. Their achievement, of course, is an entirely secular glory—but not one common to the human experience. Humankind aspires to successfully navigate the heartbreak and chaos of reality, but as we age we learn to resign ourselves to the knowledge of its futility—or at least to the attempt itself, more than the victory.

The superheroic ability to triumph over troubled times, as well as the persistent popularity of such imaginary ability, reflects a desire that may be common to humanity: the desire to overcome the world. It is their achievement of this ideal that makes these characters unreal and qualifies them as something more than just heroes. They do not exist outside the world, but somehow above it. Something in them makes them capable of interacting with an improving effect on the world. The conclusion might be that popular demand is for spirituality, not specifically for science fiction or fantasy.

I suggest it is this ideal, or aspiration, that truly attracts superhero fans. The increasingly reliable popularity of superheroes may be a response to our troubled world and the post-September 11 United States, but it is only one symptom of a more visceral reaction. The implausible success of fictional superheroes reflects the widespread, underlying hunger for the Biblical promise that “amid all these things we are more than conquerors,” an extraordinary promise to those who put their faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 8:37). Although we live in cynical times, when doubt passes for common sense and “being realistic” is celebrated over dreaming too big, the desire for something more and something better is at the root of our shared human perspective.

2. Are superheroes truly inspirational, or do they serve merely to entertain us?

Superheroism may act as a placebo to soothe stress-filled minds and as a placeholder for real social change. In other words, superheroes may provide the means to address social evil at a safe distance without ever confronting it in real life. This was never more apparent than post-September 11, 2001, when it was not uncommon to hear trite sayings like “people need heroes” used in every context. When Tom Cruise got up at the Academy Awards that year and reassured Hollywood that even in a stricken land, people needed entertainment, he presented himself as a sort of icon for that particular need. Tom Cruise has made his blockbuster career playing heroic roles, and therefore has a stake in reinforcing their significance. Yet the emphasis he puts on such roles explicitly describes them in terms of their iconic importance. His affirmation of these quintessentially heroic roles within the context of the post-September 11 United States also contextualizes Tom Cruise’s style of hero as a fundamentally American one. One could argue that such super-manly heroes are a particularly American response to an increasingly traumatic world.

And yet, superheroes are not only popular in America; they are an international phenomenon. The international box office revenue for each of the Spider-Man films was comparable to the domestic, and that is not an isolated pattern for superhero movies. Some might assume terrorism is an international anxiety but only recently an American concern, and also point to the similar circumstances surrounding the birth of the superhero genre in comic books. It is accepted knowledge that Superman, for instance, was born out of the unique mindset created by the series of events that eventually prompted World War II. Do people respond to troubled times through the improbable exploits of superheroes? Heroic idealism, in itself, should not be dismissed as purely entertainment.
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Popular culture has often appropriated Christian ideals for the sake of amusement. But are superheroes leading the unsaved even further from the path to Christ by attaining a Christian promise through secular, though imaginary, means? In their world-renowned status, superheroes have become powerful culture-bridging shorthand. They could be a powerful tool pointing toward the path of divine aspiration and true power, and this Christian is troubled by the dismissal of the theological resonance of these supernatural beings.

Why are superheroes, as iconic products of a supernatural life, not more frequently utilized as a metaphor for Christian life? The culture has learned to accept the aid of the supernatural when it benefits a superhero. As a form of wish fulfillment, relying on supernatural aid is acceptable. But otherwise, we have been trained to believe that the supernatural does not tangibly affect “real life”—an ideology many Christians, too, have accepted in their daily lives. Yet the words of Jesus, “who gives us the victory” in life, steadfastly insist there is more to life in this world than mere human effort (1 Corinthians 15:57).
Some fear, many deny, and others disregard the existence of the supernatural realm. Even Christians often relegate forces of the supernatural to a more discrete category of Christian doctrine. It is a persistent curiosity and a compelling idea, however, and therefore often tentatively explored through distant, idealized concepts like superheroes. In their extraordinary goodness, strength, and power, superheroes provide a metaphor for the spiritual armor characterized in Ephesians 6 as something that tangibly benefits real life. Believing in the supernatural possibility of the naturally impossible is an essential part of belief in Christ. Christians are called not just to survive the world, but to live triumphantly, and through that triumph to represent Christ. That is the ideal we ought to aspire to—one attainable through the real supernatural aid of God.

Why do Superman or the “Heroes” on the NBC series keep trying even when they can’t save the whole world? Because something outside of themselves has given them extraordinary powers, an indication of a source of power that defies perception according to this natural, human world. In popular culture, this idea of something “bigger” is pure imaginative opportunity, but at its root is genuine belief in the possibility.

Superheroes are role models, not through intent, but in their curious capacity as ambassadors of supernatural power. Christ imagery, which is often evoked in superhero characterization—particularly that of Superman, as demonstrated in the most recent movie Superman Returns—is the rightful inheritance of Christ-followers, who have been given the “exceeding greatness of his power” in order that we might carry out his work (Ephesians 1:18-23). As Christians, empowered by Christ to work his ministry in this world, we ought to regularly demonstrate his super strength through mighty deeds, great works, and reverence for the authority of his words.

So, then, where are the superheroes for Christ? We as Christians live an epic life, one characterized by our understanding of the fundamental choice between life and death (Deuteronomy 30:19). Our God-given ability to make that choice highlights our supernatural authority. To paraphrase Spider-Man: with great grace comes great capability. Every Christian should rightly be living out the fantastic principles of God’s Word “according to His power that is at work within us,” so that they might become an example of implausible strength and goodness to the world (Ephesians 3:20). Superheroes are not afraid to demonstrate their power. Their supernatural authority defines them. God has not called us to wear brightly colored costumes, but He has called us to a purpose, and in doing so also has given us the power to carry out his will.

Alicia M. Cohn is a senior English writing and communications major from Lenexa, KS. Superman is her favorite superhero.