Modern day pop culture has become enamored with super heroes cut from the comic books of our youth by creators such as Stan Lee and Bob Kane.
These larger than life characters, like Spiderman and Batman, have now been brought to life by movie magic as blockbuster hits and record-selling media.
In a world where, at times, there seems to be an insurmountable presence of evil and an absence of moral fortitude, we pay our $8 for admission and $12 for drinks and popcorn, sit down in a dark theatre and get swept away to a place where someone possessing great power and an unwavering sense of good, truth and justice protects us.
The reason we have become so enthralled with this genre beyond the fantastical epic battles and thrilling special effects is simple – we need hope. Turn on any news channel at any given time or open a newspaper (or even bear witness first hand), and you will see horrific acts of cruelty demonstrated by the evil aspect of human nature, catastrophic weather events and horrible accidents.
And we somberly ask ourselves, why?
These super hero movies illuminate our imaginations and fill our hearts with the thought that good can triumph, and we leave the theatre asking ourselves what we might do if we possessed super powers.
Would you save the day? Could you muster the willingness to do what was morally right? We do have our unsung heroes that put themselves in harm’s way to try and protect us without any powers at all like policemen, firemen and soldiers.
And there are those people that always go out of their way to put other’s needs before their own – parents, philanthropists and sometimes – you.
You see, you do not need to be a billionaire playboy with a scared psyche, be genetically altered when bitten by a radioactive spider, possess the ability to fly, or have super strength to dish out hope like candy on Halloween.
You have the capacity for hope inside you, and you can share it with everyone. Cause and effect is a very tangible concept, and everything that is now big, started out small.
Nothing is trivial. Inspire me today with hope by simply just participating in an act of kindness.
Be my hero.
