Almost everyone knows or has at the very least heard the name Superman. In the DC Comics universe, he, along with many others such as Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern and Aquaman are all members of The Justice League. The Justice League is an elite group of superheroes banded together in the pursuit of bringing peace to Earth and justice to those who attempt to wreak havoc upon the planet, may the threat be “terrestrial, extraterrestrial, inter-dimensional or supernatural,”(DCWikia). Each one of the members has their own strengths, weaknesses and unique abilities they gained from freak accidents, great intellect and wealth, or alien heritage. The heroes in The League symbolize the type of people we should all strive to become. I don’t mean we should all attempt to fly, run at super speeds, make caves filled with silly bat themed items in them, or try talking to fish through our minds. To truly be like these heroes, selflessness, self-sacrifice and devotion must all be learned and constantly practiced to become morally superior over the evil that torments the world.
Superheroes share many different attributes such as super strength and the ability to fly, but what most don’t notice are their similar attitudes. Captain America, a member of Marvel’s Superhero group The Avengers, is arguably the most patriotic hero of all time. He wears a suit consisting of a red, white and blue color scheme and holds a strong shield covered in a similar color pattern along with a giant white star covering the front. On top of sporting the colors of the country he gets his alias from, he constantly makes remarks and statements professing his love for America, such as, “I’m loyal to nothing, General… Except The Dream,” (Wikiqu...
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...same thing that happened to him from happening to anyone else, as all of humanity should.
The superhero is a very special breed of person indeed. Even though they seem like they have it all, their gifts are used to help others all the time. It takes a belief in a higher cause to be a good hero. The act of giving must become one’s entire life if he or she may become a superhero. It isn’t impossible to be a hero; all it takes is a little bit of selflessness to learn to give, self-sacrifice to not be afraid to take chances, and the ability to turn negatives into future positive experiences. When it really comes down to it, anyone can be a hero just like Batman or Superman. Being a superhero, however, is a lot less likely than being a hero.
Works Cited
"Wikia." DC Database. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.
"Captain America." - Wikiquote. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.
Anyone can truly be a hero, even in real life. Heroes can be people who simply have an idea and decide to grow onto that idea and have it done. For example, Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi were real life heroes who started out as ordinary people but had a dream and made a huge difference in the end. Nelson Mandela, a Civil Rights activists, once said, “We can change the world and make it a better place. It is in your hands to make a difference” (Lazaro). Nelson Mandela was trying to say that anybody can make a difference, but it is up to that person or people to make that change. One simple change could cause any simple person to have a major change in lifestyle just because they decided to step up and do something. Furthermore, anyone can be a hero, it doesn’t matter what one’s background is, one can make even the simplest of changes and become a hero to oneself and the people around them.
Batman and Superman are superheroes whose qualities are exaggerated in a way that is reminiscent of the gods and heroes in The Odyssey. In Fact, the superheroes from comic books emerge from the epic tradition. Epics, as you know, celebrate the great deeds of one or more legendary heroes. This epic hero is generally involved with a quest to overcome hardship, and he (and it usually is a "he") succeeds. The hero performs superhuman exploits in battle, often saving or founding a nation or the human race itself. Sound familiar? And even in terms of the superhero's body, with his bulging muscles and larger‐than‐life qualities, such figures evoke the images of Baroque masculinity. What Becomes important in these retellings, then, is how the hero makes the journey, how he faces his obstacles, and what he learns in the process.
“What makes Superman a hero is not that he has power, but that he has the wisdom and the maturity to use the power wisely” (Reeve). As pointed out here, Christopher Reeve says that it’s not the superpowers that make a hero a hero, but the wisdom and maturity. Even though heroes can’t always fly, they make up for the lack of superpowers by maintaining an optimistic attitude and always putting others before themselves. This means heroes could be anybody; your parents, neighbors, or strangers walking down the street. This is because a hero doesn't always need to be robust, just cordial with the mindset to change the world for the better.
Superman's representation of cultural ideology is that of 'the ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas', the Marxist interpretation of material production and mental production (Karl Marx, 1932, pp. 7-8). Superman as title implies that he is "better" than just man; thus providing godlike qualities to a hero allows the edification of an icon that transcends above diversity. Subsequently, Superman embodies a civil religion of American ideals in which all can identity. Fostering qualities of a populist hero, Superman is a ideological symbol of the American ideology against the myth of aristocracy; the principle of moral quality being hereditary. Superman's identification with a lesser ...
There are various stories on the history of Superman causing one to believe that he was mischievous insurrectionist. Superman was born on Earth and founded by earthlings, Jonathan and Martha Kent in his starship that crashed in Smallville, Kansas. In another story, Superman was also found in the middle of nowhere, but was sent to an orphanage soon after. The original Superman is quoted to be “half Huckleberry Finn and half Robin Hood” (Tye 31). He had the technique to be straightforward and purpose as pure as gold. However in another comic rewrite, Superman is said to have been “a spineless, unbearable coward!” (Tye 31) by a woman that he is trying to pursue. Superman’s personality and character changes multiple times through the years making the reader think one thing, but if analyzing another comic make them think otherwise. It is believed that his purpose in crime fighting is not the same as most other superheroes tend to be. While Superman does have a personal trauma, he “cannot ritualistically redress this past by fighting criminals in hand-to-hand combat, as Batman and Spider-Man do” (Yockey 26). Superman generally protect great numbers of people, unlike the rest of the superheroes; he saves the whole world from catastrophes. Seeing how Superman’s home planet has been destroyed is unknown, but allows one to understand that the reasoning for his heroic d...
Rick Riordan said “A hero can go anywhere, challenge anyone, as long as he has the nerve.” and he is correct because that is exactly what King Arthur, Sir Gawain and Superman do. They risk their very own lives and put themselves in front of others with their courageous acts from fighting great green knights to fighting the towns super villain. They do it all just to protect their city. The culture of the Medieval Ages valued with bravery and courtly love which was reflected in the exploits and adventures of King Arthur and Sir Gawain; the modern culture trait of compassion is embodied in the modern hero Superman.
First, it is important to identify Captain America as a nonexclusive alter-ego. Isaiah Bradley, for instance, is an African American soldier who also received the Super-Serum. He later took on the role of Captain America, while still holding high moral standards. This proves Captain America is a symbol not bound by an individual, therefore not restricted by a certain demographic. Secondly, it is critical to examine virtue ethics, the moral code of Captain America, and how it can represent a whole country. In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle argues about a person is continent, incontinent, viscous, or virtuous. A continent person knows right from wrong and usually does what is right. An incontinent person also knows right from wrong, but will easily succumb to his or her desires. A viscous person will also do what is wrong and enjoy it. A virtuous person will always do what is morally right. Using virtuousness or virtue ethics as a representation of a group is setting them up for failure, yet is advantageous for the group because they then aspire to virtuousness. To answer the initial question, Captain America is a symbol of virtue, without being constrained to a certain demographic. He or she (assuming that a female will act as Captain America eventually) serves as a moral example by which to
On one end of the spectrum lays Superman, an alien who from birth is comparable to god, and on the opposite side lays Lex Luthor, a genius human who comes from nothing and created a financial empire. Superman
Gary Engle describes Superman as the ultimate American, “Superman is the greatest American hero” (Engle, 677). After reading three comic books I notice an occurring theme of wanting to protect what is good, even though the comic books chosen span over eleven years. Several distinct things to Superman’s personality are his cape, the respect he has for others, the respect others have for him, his intelligence, his protection of all life and what is right, his origin, and the sacrifices he makes. Superman is considered to be the greatest American hero of all time.
An English proverb states, “ A hero is a man who is afraid to run away”. I agree with this proverb, because when you see a hero in a comic book, they have super cool back stories, are not afraid to fight, and stare danger in the face and not blink. They are not afraid of anything. That’s nice to look up to, but they are not real. Our definition of a hero is too much for one man to become, you can do something honorable, heroic, but you will never actually be a hero because it's too much, in real life. Heroes don’t just do it so they can get paid, or respect. What really determines whether someone is a hero is if they choose to do something about it in a bad situation. We have people that do heroic acts, for example, people putting their lives before others. Those people cannot be heroes because they get paid to do it, they are, firefighters, cops, and military, they get paid to help people, so they aren't considered a hero.
One of the ways I see a hero is by someone being a catalyst for society change. That shows someone making a difference in life. One example shown is by Sherman Alexie where he talks about growing up reading books at home in Superman and Me. Most of the people in the reservation he grew up in didn’t feel like moving up in the world, Sherman was different than the others due to the reason that in his world a very smart Indians shows a lot of danger in their society for that even today tribes believe that “a smart Indian is dangerous” (Alexie 294). The danger of intelligence in their society means that either that they’ll no longer be a part of their society or that they could try to take over parts of their society.
Everyone dreams of being a hero however the path is narrow. The mantle of responsibility is important aspects and the presence of the heroic traits must be shown in some form. However, there will always be outliers and deemed delusional who attempt to be heroes. In Watchmen, Moore creates an omnipotent hero who lacks humanity in the portrayal of the Dr. Manhattan as a psychopathic anti-hero.
In my opinion, a hero is someone whose principal purpose, whether it be in one situation or over the span of their entire life, is to help others while simultaneously making the world a better place. When the word hero is brought up, the most prevailing image that comes to mind is superheroes like Batman and Superman. But I don’t think you have to have superpowers or even be well known in order to be a hero. There are people all over the world whose intention is to do selfless deeds and go out of their way for others without expectation of obtaining anything in return. These are the type of people I like to consider everyday heroes. They go through life just trying to be the best they can and trying to help as many people as they can. Whether
Have you ever known what being heroic is like? Well if you don't, you’ll want to find out, If you’ve ever watched a movie with a hero in it you should have a good idea of what being heroic should be but there are a lot more characteristics to a hero. Superman flies and saves people with his super strength but his weakness is kryptonite, Superman is kind, brave, and fearless. If you know spiderman he is fearless to so it is a thing that is pretty common with heroes and that's why ordinary people are heroes to it's just that they don't get noticed as they should. Although many acts of heroism don’t always have a happy ending and most heroic deeds go unnoticed, a hero is selfless for the protection of others and doesn’t
The Lone Ranger, Zorro, Batman, Superman are some of the characters that we stereotypically constitute as heroes. They are known to fight with courage without fear of death. They destroy the enemy within a blink of an eye. They fight using their own body strength, superpower, or some kind of weapon. They come to the rescue miraculously and leave without a trace. They are mysterious. We are unable to identify who they are underneath the masks and disguises. Yet, we praise them and ignore the real heroes that surround us regularly, ordinarily. “All of us …like to believe that in a moral emergency we will behave like the heroes of our youth, bravely and forthrightly, without thought of personal loss or discredit” (O’Brien 39). In other words, we are quite oblivious to the ordinary people of the world that are, in fact, the true heroes.