Comparing Superheroes and Mythological Heroes
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Comparing Superheroes and Mythological Heroes
Throughout history man has had heroes, people or beings, which were able to accomplish things that he himself could not. With a hero nothing is impossible. They may face terrible odds or obstacles, but in the end they will prevail. This is true of Superheroes and Mythological Heroes. Each just reflects the concerns and fears of the times.
At certain times in our history, we needed our heroes to come in and save the day, to rise above all of the frailties that being human involved. Several of our current Superheroes were created during a time of war. They were larger than life and infallible, because that is how we saw ourselves. Superman came to save the day, because the American public believed that we would all rise up and save the world from evil. He gave us focus.
There are other times in human history, where our heroes are more human. They are fallible, so that each of us can see himself as the hero. Most of our mythological heroes were fallible. They weren’t perfect, and they often walked a grey line. Mankind could look at them with all of their powers and think that we could do better. Achilles had his heel, the one spot where he could be wounded and killed. We wonder why he didn’t do more to protect himself, or was it just arrogance?
If we look at the current crop of superheroes, we can see that they are becoming more human and flawed. Clark Kent in Smallville does not want to be a Superhero, he wants to be Clark Kent. In previous incarnations, very few people knew that he could be injured by Kryptonite. Now, it seems that everyone knows and uses that against him but in the end, he still prevails.
Batman, who started out as a force for good, is now known as the Dark Knight, tortured by the deaths of his parents, and a feeling that the world is getting worse. Yet, he still prevails.
This reflects current trends. People are more fearful, and need heroes who they can aspire to be. We can see their flaws, and know what must be done, but at the same time we can see that they have the same anguishes, fears and concerns that we do. In the end, we know that they will prevail, but we can see the pain and grief that making those decisions has on them.
It is rare that any of the decisions we make on a daily basis will have the same impact on mankind that our Superheroes decisions will, but it is gratifying to see that they know the consequences, are anguished by them, and yet still make the correct decision. In a way, it makes it easier for us to live our lives, knowing that we are not alone.
Our Superheroes of today are the Mythological Heroes of tomorrow. The only change will be in how the stories are told.
© 2017 Pitlane Magazine
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I agree with the author that Superheros always prevail. Anytime that the world needed help, the superheros were always there to aid them no matter what. Even if mankind didn’t deserve their help, the heroes are always there for the people. For example, in Wonder Women (the movie), Wonder Women helped mankind fight in the Great War and try to defeat the Germans, and even though mankind didn’t deserve her help, she still aided them in their fight.
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I think that the fact of whether or not Atticus prevailed is arguable. I believe that Atticus did prevail in the sense that he made people question their beliefs. Racism isn’t just something that can be erased after just one trial. Atticus made the jury take a long time on their decision instead of immediately claiming Tom Robinson as guilty, showing that his effort did do some good in the end. He took the case knowing that he wasn’t going to win, but he wanted to show the people that what they believed in for so long was unequal and immoral.
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I agree
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I agree, superheros are always there even when they are not asked for.
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Superheros always prevail. If the world needed help, they were there to give it. They always gave it their all and never backed down.
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Superheros are needed to do things regular people cannot do. This makes them an assets when there is a time of need. Everyone makes mistakes and ever one needs someone to help them up after making a mistake. All heroes make mistakes that doesn’t mean that they should be shamed and become unwanted. Everyone needs a hero
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I agree that superheros always prevail. I think that superheros are taken to be people that help other people even when it is not asked for. Superheros try to persuade people or give them a idea that there are good people in this world. Even though sometimes superheros do not always come out on top as we picture them to
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Whenever a superhero was in need they always come through and help out. The superheros are always there no matter what
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Superheroes are created in times of need. Superheroes are created to inspire people to come together to save the world. Heroes are basically symbols. A lot of times, superheroes are created to be infallible, so that people have something/someone that’s larger than life to believe in during hard times.
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I think that mankind could survive without superheros and that they don’t need a superhero to give purpose in life. There have been many times when we didn’t have a superhero but the people survived and got through it without help, though it took time,we still got through it.
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It is very important that superheroes have flaws, so that it creates a sense of reality and people can relate to them. If superheroes were perfect, they would lose their ability to influence people. This is because when we see examples of people who have flaws like us standing up for justice and overcoming their fears and imperfections, it creates a belief that we could do the same thing. If heroes were perfect, we wouldn’t be inspired to do heroic things because we would attribute their achievements to the fact that they are flawless and always do what is right.
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I believe that having heroes that are more fallible and human is important. People should be able to see themselves in the hero, like it says in paragraph 13. Being able to relate to a hero in some way is a big part of why people look to heroes in times of need, aspire to be heroes, and care so much about stories having to do with heroes. Also, it isn’t realistic at all for anyone to be perfect, not even heroes. It makes people feel better to know that even heroes aren’t perfect and have flaws.
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I think that this is true today too because in some movies, some of their actions can be seen as very questionable. Even though they are doing what they see best at the time in order to protect the people they care for or the world, it can sometimes cross some lines.
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It seems that they create superhero who are more flawed so we can relate to them. There are people who appreciate this and still look up to them. But for the other people this causes the superheroes to lose their value because they now seem plain to those people.
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Superheroes are becoming more flawed. This makes people that look up to heroes able to relate to the heroes, which is good. But, the downside to this is that heroes might not be as interesting to some people and less valuable.
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I would definitely have to agree with the author here that the superhero are definitely becoming more human, and they are becoming more flawed. Just like how he talks about Clark Kent, and how few people knew that he could get injured by Kryptonite.
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I agree with the author here about the superheroes being more relatable to humans. I feel as if it is supporting that we can be normal humans but still be seen as heroes but stories and movies still add the magical part to it so it’s still a sci-fi fictional story that is interesting for all ages.
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I think that it was a good idea that the author pointed out that superheros are flawed as well. Nobody is perfect, and the fact that superheros can have flaws as well, proves to people that not only them, but heroes can make mistakes as well, making mankind feel better since they’re not the only ones who make mistakes.
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I agree because it show especially younger fans that they do not have to be perfect to make a difference or save the world.
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I also agree with Anna, it seems that most superheros are flawed.
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How can people find superheros inspiring if they see saving mankind as more of a chore than something they love doing? To be inspirational, one has to be passionate about something, but if the superhero dreads going out and saving the world, can people really look up to him? In the movie “Captain America The First Avenger”, Steve Rogers was passionate about joining the war cause. In fact, that was what he was eventually physically changed for- to become a super soldier. He loved what he did and, in turn, inspired people to keep fighting. If a popular hero such as Superman is getting tired of saving mankind, does it make people think that they are just a burden with their problems?
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I agree that superheroes should want to help people in order to be inspiring, in the fact that they have a passion for other people. However, if a a superhero is afraid of something but does it anyway, we can relate to that and it causes us to want to be brave and just in the same way. Also, couldn’t it be very inspiring if a person was thrust into a situation without even wanting to be, and they ended up doing the right thing and became a hero? This kind of superhero is especially inspiring because people can relate to not always wanting to do what is best for others, and it encourages them to make the right decisions and put others before themselves even if they didn’t want to be in that situation.
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No superhero is perfect. Not superman, not batman, not any superhero. Like the authors says, batman is tortured by the deaths of his parents. This is a good example showing how superhero are not perfect.
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When we try to be “superheros”, it won’t have the same effects as the heroes in myths and modern stories/movies. Superheroes aren’t really supposed to cause people to try to have global impacts by doing heroic things. They are supposed to encourage us to be confident and help us understand that we can always make the right decisions, even when it is hard or painful.
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Overall the document is right the main reason that we came up with these heroes is so we have a symbol of hope when we need and invincibility. We admire these heroes because they are courageous and strong.
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I agree with your claims about how superheros were created so that people can have rely on them to save and solve their problems. I think that sometimes people would rely on the superheros too much, and wanting them to solve every single problem they have.
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