Are Heroes (Super and Otherwise) Truly Gone?

Elisabeth Rappe at Cinematical believes I have it all wrong on superheroes. She makes some good points.

First, she points to recent adaptations of X-Men, Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and Superman — and the myriad of other superhero movies on the horizon — as proof of how wrong I am. And actually, the X-Men movies in many ways epitomize precisely what I’m writing about. Rather than a fight between Good and Evil we are presented with a complex narrative and, quite often, heavy-handed moralizing (humans are often mutant-phobic, read: racist …) that plays in the politically murkiness I see so often these days. (This complexity, incidentally, appeals to me as an adult.) Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and Superman all deal with self-involved revenge fantasies or dealing with existential threats to mankind beyond traditional themes of good and evil.

She goes on …

But heroes don’t always need super powers — even if they do seem to have a penchant for capes. We’ve had our fair share in the past few years. What about Aragorn or Frodo? King Leonidas? Even when all seemed lost, they soldiered on to defend their homeland. Or do such heroes not count because they fought for Middle Earth and ancient Sparta? Is the implication in Harsanyi’s article that the only good heroes are American ones? (I think it is, but as he claims the 80’s were a time when “revenge and justice, in fact, could be unearthed everywhere in pop culture,” I think Hobbits and Spartans are worthy examples as to where heroism can be found today.)

The Hobbits and Spartans are superb illustrations of decency and wickedness I was writing about. Then again, much of the Lord of the Rings series was created during World War 2, it’s moral fault lines are created by now-historic battles rather than contemporary ones. And, obviously, the Spartans had their days thousands of years ago. In fact, “300″ was widely panned for very same politically incorrect themes I speak of in the piece.

Finally, I made no judgment call on whether I think the lack of simplistic heroes is a positive development or a negative one. I understand there are generalizations here. But I think overall my theory stands.