Super Heroes And 100 Days

The public loves super heroes, especially when times are tough. Most of the classics where born in the era of WWII. Once again we find the public enamored with the recent big screen incarnations of our favorite comics. But what does this mean for us?

There are two types of people in life, no matter the situation: the spectators and the participants. Both are greatly attracted to super heroes. The participants enjoy the characters as inspiration. What if? If only! They envision themselves in the lead character's role. They wish they had the strength, the power to save others... to save us. They need these stories to carry on for daily we are all reminded of our own limits. They are motivated by these tales to keep going forward, to keep fighting the good fight, because sometimes (just sometimes) one person CAN make a difference.

As a participant gets older they realize, more and more with time, that the general populous are spectators and require the strength of the few participants to carry us forward. They can be re-energized with tales of these super heroes or they can slowly devolve into spectators.

But the spectators, too, need these super hero characters. When sitting and drinking while watching baseball (or American football depending on the time of year) is no longer enough to distract them from the woes of the world they need their super heroes. They know that they are not going to actually DO anything that may help out the greater good so they need to be coddled by the super hero tale letting them know that someone much greater than themselves will indeed come and save them at the last minute.

That person indeed needs to be super as the spectator does so enjoy tearing down the common man, especially if that common man makes the spectator uneasy because that person DOES STUFF. What do all these super heroes have in common? They all work out side of the system. The general populace does not have faith that cops, soldiers, or politicians can save them. This way the spectators can still believe that they will be saved while still being able to enjoy ridiculing those they have selected or hired to run things or keep the peace.

Meanwhile, this also entertains the participants because they know that most of the politicians, cops, and soldiers are the same spectators they are surrounded by in everyday life. They frequently see themselves as outsiders themselves.

So as we are bombarded by political assessments of the Obama administration as it nears it's first 100 days and as we are approaching the release of the next Wolverine feature film i am forced to think of super hero tales. Judging a president's first 100 days fits into our super hero parameters as mentioned above. One side expects our elected super hero to solve all our problems within 100 days (if this was possible presidential terms would last 100 days instead of four years) while the other knows that this is impossible and ecstatically awaits the inevitable passing of this useless time marker to resume mocking said elected super hero official.

i guess i am left with no choice but to start bombarding myself with Gama radiation in hopes of becoming the super hero we all so desperately need as i have nowhere near enough money to be the next Batman or Ironman. Also, we do need another green super hero... pun intended.