I can’t help but notice that a lot of media deals with the satire and break-down of superheroes lately. Specifically with ones that abuse their power, or have ill-intentions behind a peaceful facade. 

I have mixed feelings about this. Partially because, as a comic book lover, I like seeing my heroes be heroic. I find that they are written with the explicit intention of being the best that humanity has to offer, to be us humans lionized and at the pinnacle of the better angels of our nature: brave, compassionate, trustworthy, merciful, and just. 

Secondly because I have often heard of comic books described as “America’s Mythology”, and that’s a dire and powerful notion. Mythology exists to explain the way the world works, and to give us heroes to try and become. That even in the face of tragedy we could be great. That even though wronged by the world we can be fair. That even though called weak we could contain hidden strength. 

How then should we look at those shows and books where the mighty abuse their strength? Where the instead of compassion we are faced with callousness, with cruelty, and with cowardice? 

Better yet, why are they so popular?

If Superheroes are American mythology, does this mean these are written or created by modern distheists? People who hate heroes and hate seeing these noble traits epitomized in their media? I very much doubt the latter. 

I suppose it deals more with the most painful part of hero-worship: saying goodbye to our real-life heroes. 

Most people, I imagine, will encounter a time when they discover that an artist, an athlete, or a person of importance to them is, or has been before, a bad person. That they’ve been hateful, bigoted, ignorant, or far worse. It’s hard to reconcile that a person you’ve admired is mortal and capable of folly or willfully ignorant. It hurts, to see them act that way, or to use harmful words. In the mythology we’ve created in our minds, we feel they should have known or done better. It’s jarring to realize, they are just human after all. 

Maybe it’s easier to imagine our fictional legends as being flawed than it is to admit our real ones are too. 

For me, this doubly incentivizes the reason for Superheroes to exist in the first place. Myth and stories should uphold and be strong when life is uncertain, and when the crucible of the world rages around us the legend of those noble, kind, and mighty who have come before us should serve as an example of what we should strive towards, even if we can never reach it. 

And thus with hope we should endeavor to become the next generation of role-models for those who come later: better, wiser, and stronger than the last. Just as brave, just as compassionate, with fewer of the priors’ flaws. We’ll craft better arts, we’ll break their world-records, and we’ll be better to each other in the process. 

Maybe the capes and cowls we have been looking for have been in our mirrors all along. We just have to choose to don them.