The other day at work I was asked a question by one of my teammates. Basically, what is the appeal of Superman if he's invulnerable and you already know he'll win any fight? It took me a minute to be able to answer that question, and I've continued pondering many rabbit trails off that main thought. I will share some ideas with you.
I think about the kind of movies I seem to enjoy the most. They are the ones with superheroes, or just regular heroes. Stories of someone who stands up and chooses to risk it all for the sake of others. With the supers obviously the risk seems smaller, but it's still inspiring.
Superman is fairly hard to kill or even hurt, so what risk is he taking? This brings me to something I've been noticing in the movies that I am still chewing on. The villain will often allude to the fact that the love the hero has for the people is his weakness. That doesn't sit well with me because love is the greatest thing of all. Love is the ultimate source of power, not weakness. But still there is a truth in what the villain is pointing out. He has no scruples. In his quest to win, he will destroy anything he can in order to hurt the hero. He begins to throw buses at civilians because he knows the hero will rush to save them and give him a chance to escape or get another advantage. The hero must always be mindful of the people around him and that slows him down and distracts his focus. An interesting conundrum. It is fun for me to ponder situations where the right choice isn't always clear. To choose your priorities in the moment can be difficult.
The other issue that I find the most fun to explore, is that of morality. Right and wrong are not always black and white. The most interesting stories to me are those which explore the grey areas. Man of Steel SPOILER following. ...................................................................................................... .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. .............................................................................................................. There was some controversy about this movie when at the end Superman killed General Zod. They argued that Superman was supposed to be good and not kill anyone. It was a good dilemma, but I think he did the only thing he could do. The man clearly stated that he would continue killing humans until he was stopped. Is it moral to allow that in order to not kill this one man? ................................................... ........................................................................................................................................... .......... ....................................................................................... ..........................................................................
I also think about the Machine Gun Preacher, a real man portrayed in a movie by Gerard Butler. He went to Africa because he learned of how the rebels were taking children and turning them into soldiers. This is possibly the most horrific thing happening in our world today. He took his skills from his past as a pretty bad man and he went after these evil soldiers. Some would accuse him of being a murderer and not a Christian. I don't know. This is a hard one. We want to say what Jesus said, turn the other cheek.... but that isn't going to end the problem, you'll just end up dead most likely. Then the children would still be taken. Is this "preacher" a hero or a villain? Still chewing on that one. Again we have the issue of priorities. Is it more important to protect children from that much harm or to not kill one evil man?
I love stories of people who have courage and stand up for what is right. How they go about it is the thrill of the story. Some do it with violence, which gives us an intriguing moral question.... some do it by simply standing up in rebellion against corruption. They stop doing what they're told, they come up with new ideas and they lead others into a new way. Each time I leave a hero movie, be it Superman, Captain America, Divergent, or most recently The Maze Runner, I am inspired to be more courageous, to stand up for what is right, no matter the risk.
Every situation calls on us to pull from our moral foundation and that is why I spend so much time pondering. It is best to know what you believe before you're in a situation. When adrenaline kicks in it's too late to decide what you believe. I believe God's word is true. I believe that He gave us a code for right and wrong, but in the grey, we have to rely on Holy Spirit to guide our choices. He built us to live an adventurous life running alongside Him as He works in the Earth. I was born to be a hero...... and so were you! Will you accept the challenge?
