Superheroes

Remember when superhero movies used to be all about good always triumphing over evil? Sure the hero would face some conflicts of his own but the minute he donned on his superhero costume, all of it would be sorted out along with the criminal activity in his hometown. The pictures had so much color and the theme would be constant and light. The audience were assured that even though the hero was going through some trying times in the first half, as soon as he got his powers, everything would be fine and the climax would have a mind blowing action scene where the whole city would finally hail the previoulsy misunderstood hero. That was the fun quotient in watching these superhero flicks- that it made us feel safe knowing that there will always be an end to evil. However, in recent years, superhero movie have just not been as comforting. The real world is in a state of turmoil. There are wars, earthquakes and mindless killing of innocents by maniacs. At this trying time, when we seek solace through movies and try to convince ourselves that one day "good' will overtake all evil, we are presented with movies that do little to put our minds at ease. Fiction has never entirely been fiction. The audience only accepts a fictional work if they can believably relate to it. That means a lot of work is put on by the writer to mould their characters into people the audience can without hesitation say: " hey I know these kind of guys. My friend/relative/neighbor is exactly like that. This works when creating a normal character sans any supernatural power. But superheroes are superheroes. They are supposed to live extraordinary lives and as they fight off their enemies in the dark and in disguise, their personal lives are without any emotional dents. Their friends and families wonder where they are when they're supposed to be spending time with them, but that is just a trivial scene a writer will add to give their heroes a little depth- a hero's life beyond their superhero duties. That cannot be said of the superhero movies and shows that have been released recently. The heroes live depressing lives and they have to constantly struggle to keep any relationship afloat be it their family, friends or girlfriends/boyfriends. They face injustice in their true personas and try to fend off evil once they wear their dark costumes and search for their enemies. Do they always win? They do not and somehow that is just so depressing because if a superhero cannot stand in the face of adversity then what chance do we normal folks have? It was while I was watching a multi superheroes movie and saw all the devastation being caused by the antagonist that I was caught up in my own thoughts and wondered if the world could be truly saved by there superheroes. Onscreen, in their skintight uniforms and distinguished weaponries they do look like the saviors of the world. But it is when their personal stories are told that some of the superhero sheen wears off. They suddenly become ordinary people just like us who suffer the same normal problems and while they manage to somewhat save the world (for now), their personal lives are in disarray. Movies now days do mirror the bleak realities of this world bit can superhero movies please be exempted from this current fad where the creators are more interested in producing "darker and grittier" films? At the end of the day, we all want to cling to the hope that after every all the hardships we face and all the calamities the world suffers, good and humanity will rise above all that. And that even though there are no real superheroes, somewhere out there is a hero who will always choose to be good.

Share :