Hope Among The Heroes

Roaming around our fair city looking for a way to while away the insanely hot day, we stumbled upon an old small theatre with a whopping three screens and two movies, one of which was the much hyped superhero saga Superman. In we went to partake of the newest chapter in the espcapist epic. Okay so actually, The Beau is a total comic book nerd – er, i mean writer – and maybe, just maybe, I enjoy movies with men in tights. But in any case, into the lovely air conditioned theatre we went.

I gotta say, I should not be writing this post. The Beau really is the comic book expert – but he’s off elsewhere in the house working on his comic book art. So, you got me and my admittedly uninformed view of the subject matter at hand.

The SuperMan movie is, shall we say, average. I won’t compare it to either the movie or comic book sagas, since I know little about either. But overall, while a fun little tryst, beyond the excellent acting of Brandon Routh, Kevin Spacey and Parker Posey, and reasonably good directing by Bryan Singer, the movie was a bit flat. What it did do for me, though, was highlight just a shade of Superman’s character.

Many have pointed out the big gay following comic books and superhero lore attract. There is something about misfitted people with hidden lives, special talents, cool toys, and yes, hard bodies in tights that attract an otherwise misfitted subculture. But something this Superman movie really did for me was highlight SUperman’s inner-felt dichotomy between loneliness and hope.

He’s the last of his kind in the whole universe. No one on earth can understand what he deals with each day. People misjudge him, expect the world of him, idolize and fear him. And in the end, he’s got no one to vent to.

The young gay man or lesbian in Anytown, USA is isolated. He’s the only gay person in the town. She’s expected to marry and have a dozen kids. He gets nervous and stammery around the friendly cute guy in Science class. She’s driven by passion to succeed, to win, to be more than what he is, and to celebrate his life with the woman she loves. They’re lives are confined to the solace of their minds, because it’s only safe place. Everywhere else is lonely.

The parallels between the lives of countless young gay people and the stories of Superman or the X-Men are obvious. But the story that this edition of Superman and the X-Men saga bring is one of hope for the lonely-hearted. By the end of the movie, Superman’s loneliness is abated by a sliver of hope that helps him to conquer the worst affliction he’s ever faced – an internal struggle for meaning.

What is it about comics and superhero stories for me? The hope they bring. That I’m not alone – that there are others out there like me. That I, too, can find comraderie among like-minded and abled and bodied and passioned people. There is hope. There’s always hope.

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Filed under Daily-Life
07/21/06 07:35 AM
by The Blogger

Nick says (Jul 23, 03:06 PM ):
I love the gay connections to the movie, but how about all the theological/christological ones? Wow

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