One of the articles that I read this week isn’t particularly hard-hitting, but I’ve found its message to be profound. It’s an essay about an author’s experience as a boy, and reflecting on his father’s influence. The author’s father was a well-respected man, and his father clearly influenced him to be the person he is today. As a fan of comic books, the author makes a connection: it’s easier to be a symbol of fear than it is to be one of hope. Superman is a symbol of hope, while Batman is more or less a symbol of fear (or at least he uses fear to accomplishes his goals).
The author argues that hope is much harder to stand for and represent because people have become too jaded and cynical. Superman will always matter, despite how dark times get. After the events of the recent election, I’ve seen nothing but vitriol coming from both sides, and it’s depressing. People proclaim that the world is coming to an end, and others use backwards social values to excuse their actions. Instead of succumbing to the chaos and joining in the hysteria, I’ve chosen to do what Superman would do: inspire hope, encourage unity, and promote rationality. It’s easy to become pessimistic, but to rise up and say that things will be better takes some level of strength, especially when people are being beaten down or into submission for stating their opinions.
The character means a lot, not just to me, but to many others like me. The author is clearly one of those people. I’ve said in the past that Superman is a character that you understand once you’re older. Not older in the sense that you are jaded and cynical to the world, but older in the sense that you stop focusing on the negative and how things directly affect yourself, and instead impact others. The author’s father, though it is unknown if he was a Superman fan, clearly understood these things. He made friends with anybody he could. It sounds really stupid, but there’s a bit of Superman inside all of us. There’s always going to be light that shines through and hope and aspires for the best. Superman will always matter because there will always be some desire to reach the best in human potential. There will always be people who want to help simply because it’s the right thing to do. There will always be people who fight to preserve the rights of the oppressed and the downtrodden. That’s what Superman is all about, and that’s why, despite corporate attempts to change him, the character still endures. He’s the shining example that we should all strive to achieve.