INTERPRETING HEROES

By Emily Godbey

Idealistic influences• When it comes to a concept as general as “heroes,” we face many outside

influences that shape our beliefs form an early age. Often, it is our earliest beliefs that are the hardest to challenge, and sometimes, we are never able to completely change them.

• In the case of heroes, there is imagery that will always come to mind at the mere mention of the word, including but not limited to capes, spandex, secret identities, comic books, outrageous villains, superhuman powers, and the like.

• If we had to name who or what is most responsible for this way of thinking, it’d be easiest to point a finger at television, movies, and comic books. It is these media outlets that have had the biggest hand in shaping how we see heroes today. Because of these outlets, practically everybody knows who characters like Superman, Batman, and Spiderman are and the ideas that they stand for.

• For example, common tropes we can identify throughout the standard superhero genre include a very clear distinction between a “good” and a “bad” guy, a figure that is set apart from the Average Joes due to a heightened sense of justice and/or superhuman powers, and remarkable displays of courage.

Idealistic influences (cont.)• That said, media doesn’t only serve to shape our views of the

stereotypical superhero. Because media has formed a fairly steady perception of what a hero is, this perception can be applied to real-life figures to shape their image.

• Likewise, the hero genre creates many archetypes for villains as well, which can also be used to drive certain agendas.

• When the identity of a hero is removed from a crime-fighting comic book protagonist and instead applied to real people, our views on who can and can’t be a hero are broadened, but at what cost?

• Political campaigns are a good example of this. You can show one candidate as the “good” guy, the hero who stands up for all the Average Joes and has all the right ideas. This candidate can use their sense of justice to “save” the demographic they aim to represent. In the same ad, you can show their opponent as the “bad” guy, the villain with the “evil” plans to go against this hero and harm the demographic he may seize power over.

So what, are these ideas “good” or “bad”?

• Therein lies the problem. The fact of the matter is that nothing in this world is simply all good or all bad.

• In general, I view the superhero genre as problematic because of its black and white portrayal of good and evil, as well as how this mentality can be applied to real-life people and utilize black and white thinking to divert from critical thinking.

• In short, if you allow yourself to fall for cliché definitions of what it means to be “good” and what it means to be “bad,” you’re less likely to challenge these ideas and bring their flaws to light.

• This is why naming someone a hero should be done cautiously; often times when people idolize someone, they forget that they are first and foremost human, and have both positive and negative traits. No human is the perfect hero, nor the perfect villain.

Ideas we can live with• It’s easy to blame the raging entity we commonly refer to as “The Media”

for all of our skewed perceptions, and our perceptions of heroes are no exception.

• Even still, perpetuated by media as they are, there are still positive traits associated with heroes that it would behoove us to take away from and try to follow the example of.

• For example, heroes often show courage and value others’ safety over their own. They dedicate their lives to protecting humanity and expecting nothing in return, and that in itself is an admirable way to conduct one’s life.

• However, it is imperative that we aren’t fooled into accepting someone as a hero when they’re not deserving of the title. I’ll return to the example of a political candidate; how much do they say they’re going to do vs. how much they actually do? It’s things like these that we must pay attention to, and it’s up to us to constantly challenge the idolization of humans with flaws and the lack of a moral gray area their image often comes with.

Is everything is “The Media’s” fault?• Media outlets have a hand in shaping many of our ideas from birth. They’re extremely pervasive

in our society and almost impossible to escape.• However, just as everyone is equipped with some sort of a connection to media, everyone is

also equipped with their own moral compass.• Something that is just as ingrained in us as societal tropes is our own experiences and how

they’ve shaped who we are and how we think.• At the end of the day, it is our own opinions that dictate who we would and wouldn’t consider a

hero based on their beliefs, actions, character, etc. Alongside our opinions, our ability to relate to others plays a role in whether or not we deem them a hero.

• Maybe most people can’t relate to someone as grandiose as a comic book hero or even a prominent figure that is renown for their lasting contributions to society.

• But maybe they can relate to someone who saved an innocent animal from drowning or stopped a fellow pedestrian from getting hit by a train, because they see the kind of person they’d like to be in these every day figures.

• This is why people often have their own “heroes,” or people that they look up to even though others may not. Who we choose to consider a hero is largely shaped by qualities that we personally find admirable and are inspired to emulate.

• This broadens our personal definition of a hero, and expands it to include people such as historical figures we favor the past actions of, outstanding members of certain fields we wish to go into, or otherwise “average” people that commit acts of remarkable courage and inspire us to do the same.

Arriving at my own conclusion• I previously defined a hero as someone who has an

unconditional love for humanity and is willing to jeopardize their own safety in order to preserve another’s.

• My opinion on what constitutes a hero is rather pedestrian, so to speak. This is primarily because I never could find it in myself to relate to the stereotypical superhero, despite the fact that the superhero genre was my first taste of what it meant to be a hero.

• I tend to avoid cliché portrayals of heroes because the genre is often male-dominated, and by extension, hyper-masculine.

• Because of this, as a female, I have a hard time seeing myself in these male figures because the implication often ends up being that men are more suited to becoming heroes than women are. How I define a hero is purposefully far-removed from this mentality.

But there are popular female superheroes, too!

• You got me there. There are real women throughout history and the modern day that can be considered heroes as well. However, my disdain for the superhero genre generally stems from how differently men and women are portrayed within it.

• You’d be correct in arguing that female superheroes don’t often play the sexist role of the damsel in distress; generally, they can hold their own in a battle and aren’t portrayed as weak.

• Their portrayal, however, is vastly different from that of male superheroes’, and this has an effect on how we think the different genders “should” appear as heroes.

For example…• If you Google search “superhero,” these are the kinds of

images you can find easily on the very first page of results:

• Some common themes are that male heroes are portrayed as physically fit, conventionally attractive, and placed in poses that either suggest dynamic action or pride and strength.

• Their demeanors suggest confidence and power, and they are made to look like a figure that can be both respected and trusted.

• When it comes to male heroes, the emphasis is placed on both their character and their ability to bring about justice, and this carries over to how we see real-life male heroes. They’re often distinguished people who are revered for something such as their courage, intelligence, or strong leadership.

• This gives men a wide selection of positive role models to choose from and images they see can themselves in and desire to do right by.

But…• When you Google search “superheroine,” the first page of

results yields the following…

(Believe me when I say that as uncomfortable as I am putting such images in an academic assignment, these are still some of the more modest examples I encountered)

• There’s a clearly gendered divide between how we are told to see male and female superheroes.

• The common portrayal of female superheroes is wildly misogynistic, as their focus lies on their bodies and sex appeal while the male superheroes are known for their abilities and good deeds.

• Once again, the implications repeat themselves in real life; we value notable male figures for their beliefs and actions while women are often objectified, seen as lesser, and silenced when they show equal, if not more courage in speaking up and sharing their ideas.

• As a woman, this makes it difficult to relate to female superheroes, or even want to, for that matter. It’s not uncommon for women to feel alienated by the concept of heroes when they’re treated in a much more shallow manner than males are.

• After having become aware of this, I purposefully drove my idea of a hero more towards a gender-neutral view that concentrated solely on a person’s character and what they are willing to do to positively influence society.

Realism plays a part as well• When I think of a hero, I want somebody who is, simply put, real.

I don’t like to think of a hero as someone of unrealistic, unattainable status that can only exist in hyperbolic action movies or comic books.

• Even though fictional heroes often have admirable traits, they’re not as inspiring as a real human being that accomplishes heroic deeds. I’d rather look up to somebody that can change the world with their sense of morality and innovative solutions rather than their ability to lift an entire building and shoot lasers from their eyes.

• Heroes are often seen as a cut above from normal human beings, but I believe that the more human a hero is, the more admirable and relatable they are. Being able to relate to a hero immensely helps one follow in their footsteps if they are inspired to do so.

In summary…• Even though the most popular heroes are often shown wearing

capes and endowed with otherworldly powers, their defining desire for peace and justice can still be applied to real, every day people.

• We can find real heroes throughout our society in historical figures, political figures we align ourselves with and trust to enact positive change, or people who simply go out of their way to perform an admirable deed.

• Media outlets ingrain certain ideas of what it means to be a hero within us, but our own experiences and opinions dictate how we question and interpret these ideas. Furthermore, the stereotypical notion of heroes sometimes promotes dangerously black and white mentalities, but our own personal morals ultimately enable us to decide who is a hero, who is simply a good person, who may be a bad person, and how people can sometimes exhibit traits of all three.

My own beliefs in review• In a male-dominated society, the concept of a hero is often

male-dominated as well. As a female, this makes it difficult to relate to stereotypical heroic figures. After having become more aware of the gendered gap between male heroes and female heroes, I distanced myself from the focus on gender and invested most of my beliefs in the selflessness and character of certain figures.

• I also choose to take a more realistic approach to whom I consider a hero and look up to as such. If I only ever considered characters with super powers and outrageous crime fighting lifestyles to be heroes, I’d have no realistic role models. Over-the-top fictional heroes can’t touch us the way real people with genuinely good hearts and strength of character can.