Iron Man Three, the latest film offering from Marvel
Comics, gives us an anxiety-ridden superhero.
Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man, has come away from the epic battle alongside the
other Avengers in New York (see The Avengers from last year) as a changed man.
The bravado and sarcasm is still there on the surface, but underneath is a
person who has difficulty sleeping, fears for the safety of loved ones, and
often succumbs to anxiety attacks.
Marvel led the way in giving us superheroes with problems—the
Hulk and Spiderman come immediately to mind.
In recent years, graphic novel and movie adaptations have provided DC
Comics heroes like Batman with angst-ridden back stories. This approach was central to the
just-complete Batman movie trilogy. The television
series Smallville attempted to do this with the Superman story, and usually
succeeded. It will be interesting to see
how the upcoming Man of Steel movie will approach this legendary superhero.
Although some will say that we live in times when we want
our heroes to have feet of clay, I would take another tack. I think we want heroes with whom we can
identify. People that deal with the same
emotions we do, even if they have extraordinary powers. We want heroes who need other people and value
relationships. In Iron Man Three, Tony
Stark discovers there are several people he needs and at least one of the most important
ultimately comes to his rescue.
Sometimes we are tempted to see a superhero as a Christ
figure—an all powerful being who has come to save us. In reality, the latest incarnations of the
superhero are examples of humanity in all its glory and failure. The superhero always has a flaw. Even
Superman could be hurt by Kryptonite.
What we see in these current examples is that internal flaws plague us
all and we can only overcome them with the help of others.
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