Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Who’s Your {Super}hero?

As a rule, magazine articles don’t make me cry, but reading Utne this morning, I teared up and spilled over. The article is called “Geek Squads: It’s a bird! It’s a plane! “It’s a superhero—in your neighborhood!” In my original flip through the magazine, I was pretty sure this article was about those wonderful white socked, skinny-tied computer wizards who make housecalls, but no . . .

Author Kristen Mueller cites a magazine called Punk Planet, “An entire community of real-life superheroes patrols the streets from Los Angeles to Boise, Chicago to Phoenix.” Who knew? A New York City superhero named Dark Guardian said,

“It’s all about standing up for what’s right.”

The President of the United States commuted Scooter Libby’s prison sentence the day before yesterday, and I am dismayed. This action is so far from standing up for what’s right that it makes me feel ill. That’s why I cried over the superheroes. Because they exist.

The thing it made me wonder about is this: does a superhero/ine exist in each one of us? Let’s say it does. You have a superhero inside you. Who is he? Who is she? Would you let him/her out if you could? When? Under what circumstances? Why? Why not? What’s her name? How is he costumed? What’s the mission?

A New York metro area superhero named Tothian says, “I’m pretty much fighting the bad guys, saving the world, that kind of stuff.” Superheroes also pick up trash, stop older kids from bullying younger ones, and provide hope—hope that there is within ourselves and our race a genuine, natural desire to stand up for what’s right.

Another superhero in Flagstaff, Arizona, Kevlex runs the World Superhero Registry. He says that real-life superheroes are trying to prove that . . .

anyone can provoke change

by “taking a stand for your version of the world, and doing it in a very public way.” I suppose it could be argued that this is just what George W. Bush and his cronies are doing, but the superhero designation adds a twist to the equation.

In ancient mythology, a hero/ine was a human who mediated between humanity and the divinity, a human plus and/or a deity minus. On this Independence Day, consider spending a little of your holiday daydreaming your own inner superhero/ine into reality. We need the hope your existence inspires.

1 comment:

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