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Superhero films have become a new cultural phenomenon. Even intellectuals are excitedly discussing the new clash of Batman and Superman. What is behind the popularity of these images?
He can be an alien from another planet (like Superman), a mystical entity (like the god Thor), a mutant (like Spider-Man and Wolverine), or an ordinary person who has developed his abilities to the limit (like Batman or Tony Stark). One way or another, a superhero is a superman, a demigod, capable of performing incredible feats alone and deciding the fate of millions of people.
Today, thugs in ridiculous tights who slam each other into walls have been replaced by complex and angular characters imbued with drama or postmodern irony. In their images and plot collisions of films about them, parallels are found with biblical myths, the ideas of Jung and Freud, and modern events. Why are we adults so attracted to the stories of the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel?
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- Your avatar: what force guides you through life?
They are our childhood friends
Most of the viewers of modern superhero films among our compatriots are those whose childhood fell on the beginning of the 90s. Mass Western culture has opened up new, fascinating images and plots for us. Chapaev or Gagarin was replaced by Superman and Spider-Man. And today we are not averse to reliving the long-forgotten sensations associated with waiting for a new series of the animated series or the release of a new issue of our favorite comic book.
“A new film about Superman or Spider-Man always combines a story familiar from childhood, placed from the world of drawn images into a real-looking world of realistic scenery,” agrees philosopher Elena Boyarshinova. – On the one hand, the seriousness of the picture allows the viewer to stop feeling guilty for watching “childish nonsense”, but on the other hand, he is immersed in a long-familiar and beloved world. Adventures are relived.”
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Unlike the helpless or absent adults that children see around them, superheroes show up when they are needed and always know what to do.
They make us feel omnipotent
From time to time, we yearn for a childish sense of power over the whole world. First, the child attributes power to himself, then to his parents. In the future, as Sigmund Freud believed, our “longing for the father” makes us look for authority figures and images that can take his place – including God. In the image of a superhero (if he is depicted as a positive character), the features of an omnipotent parent also appear.
Psychologist Lawrence C Rubin notes that love for stories about superheroes often manifests itself in those children who lacked parental love and care.1. “Unlike the helpless or absent adults they constantly see around them, superheroes show up when they are needed and always know what to do,” he explains. “In addition, the heroes often show an example of personal growth: many of them endure psychological trauma, but learn to redirect destructive energy to fight evil and serve society.”
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- James Hollis, In Search of the Divine Home. The role of myth in modern life»
They satisfy our need for protection and justice.
A hero who defends the weak, fights evil without demanding anything in return – this image is present in all cultures and in every historical era. In the times of Ancient Russia, the hero is a powerful intercessor who can speak out against the injustice of the prince and repulse the nomads. Today, it is also important for us to have a defender in the fight against crime, the arbitrariness of the authorities, natural disasters, and terrorism.
Culturologists John Lawrence and Robert Jewett note that the superhero always stands above society. He does not integrate into it either before, during, or after the accomplishment of his exploits. He is always “on the other side” and therefore cannot live “like everyone else.” The narrative of the modern superhero differs from the legends and epics of the lone knights and hero-travelers that we know in the European tradition by an extreme degree of generalization. Aeneas, Odysseus and similar characters, passing through trials, brought deliverance to a certain people, a certain country. A modern superhero saves all mankind2.
Aeneas, Odysseus and similar characters, passing through trials, brought deliverance to one people, one country. A modern superhero saves all of humanity.
They ask us hard questions
Since childhood, we have been constantly deciding what to do: hide the offense or confess – and get scolded by our parents? Should I tell my superiors about a colleague who steals? Go against the opinion of the majority or remain silent so as not to spoil relations? In superhero stories, the stakes are especially high, as the fate of the entire world is at stake. Often the characters find themselves in a classic situation of conflict between duty and feeling: to save innocent people – or a lover? And even if we intuitively feel which choice is right, we experience it with the character.
There are also more complex situations in which there is simply no clear answer. For example, in the comic strip Watchmen, the utilitarian Ozymandrius is ready to commit a terrible crime if, at the cost of it, an even more terrible catastrophe can be prevented. He is opposed by the idealist Rorschach, who rejects any deal with conscience – “even in the face of Armageddon.”
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Are they us in the future?
Technology is developing so rapidly that it seems that we are about to learn how to instantly heal wounds like Wolverine or acquire a “smart” exoskeleton, like Iron Man. Olympic athletes, inventor geniuses and owners of cybernetic implants are practically the superheroes of the present. But if you look into the future – what will the life of Human 2.0 be like? Will he be able to get rid of fears and complexes, or, on the contrary, will he only acquire new ones?
“Films show us that superheroes, despite having superpowers or technical abilities, like many of us, suffer from psychological problems: Batman cannot survive the death of his parents, Iron Man has panic attacks, Thor has problems with his younger brother, Spider-Man can’t get a promotion at work, and the Hulk has temper tantrums. These “imperfections” allow the characters to become very close to the audience,” Elena Boyarshinova reflects.
1 «Using Superheroes in Counceling and Play Therapy» (Springer, 2006).
2 J. Sh. Lawrence, R. Jewett «The Myth of the American Superhero» (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2002).