Why Are Super Heroes So Young?

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are living in the age of the super hero. Over the next year we are going to see on average one super hero movie every month between November of 2013 and December of 2014. We are also going to see a huge increase in super hero based television shows, joining the ranks of Arrow on the CW and Agents of SHIELD on ABC. And as I look at all the many actors that are being cast as these masked men and women, a question keeps screaming in my mind: Why are they all so young?

The question first came to me when I saw the actor who had been cast as Barry Allen on Arrow, a character who will be spun off into his own series, The Flash. The actor in question is Grant Gustin, whose previous roles were on Glee and 90210 (not the original, the reboot). How is he able to be on such shows? BECAUSE HE’S 23! And not a mature 23 since he’s played teenagers. A very boyish 23. My problem with this is that Barry Allen is supposed to be a Police Scientist (like a CSI). And as the Flash, he is one of the core heroes of the DCU. George Eads, who looks like a young guy, was 33 when he started on CSI (and voiced the character of Barry Allen/ The Flash on the cartoon show Young Justice). And that’s what I expect from both a cop and a super hero. An older individual. (To be fair, they do make fun of his age in the episodes of Arrow, but still, he should be older).

Maybe it’s just that I perpetually feel a sense of immaturity, but I have always pictured super heroes as being older than me. Hell, Batman and Superman could be my dad. The idea of a young super hero seems to take away some of the authority they should portray as emblems of justice. A super hero who can barely shave (something you’d notice since most of them don’t cover their mouths with a mask) seems impossible to intimidate a world conquering super villain. The few super heroes who are young, tend to have to disguise that fact in order to maintain their super hero identity. Spider-Man had to wear a full-face mask to hide his youth. Certainly I have discussed the issue of sidekicks before (see here) and while many sidekicks are just as heroic as their mentors, they do suffer from the handicap of youth.

"Hey! I'm in costume. How come
he doesn't have his costume?"

A large problem with the trend of young super heroes can be blamed on Hollywood. When a super hero film is being launched, Hollywood executives are both introducing the audience to the hero so they are showing us an origin story, AND hoping to jump start a major film franchise. So initially the character is young because he or she is new to being  a hero. They are also young because it takes a long time to make a big budget film (sometimes two or three years) and Hollywood wants to make many of these films. A young actor is more likely to be willing to do a fifth or sixth film, as opposed to a more elderly actor who may only be willing to do two or three (Robert Downey Jr. being the exception as he has done three Iron Man movies, an Avengers movie, and is signed on for many more future films with Marvel).

If Hollywood truly wanted to portray heroes as they are in the comics, they would definitely skew older. Heroes are always more powerful as they age and gain more experience. Although I hate to use this as a reference for anything, Smallville is an excellent example of this. Clark Kent has barely mastered any of his powers when the show starts. He’s a little strong and can run fast but most of the classic powers are not present. His most iconic power, flight, doesn’t show up at all (well it does a little, but not with regularity). An experienced Superman is more powerful. Which is why in the sequel to Man of Steel (a Superman origin story where he has mostly mastered all his powers by the end of the film) they are bringing in a more mature Batman (played by Ben Affleck, which I talk about here) to supposedly do battle with him (the working title is Batman vs. Superman, but of course that doesn’t mean they won’t team up eventually). The point being that the only way Batman can defeat Superman is if Batman’s experience is equal or superior to Superman’s powers.

Of course while I am vey happy about Ben Affleck being cast as Batman it just reminds me of the young super hero problem because Henry Cavill was cast as Superman. Henry Cavill is barely 30. Again, I understand the Hollywood logic, but personally I would have much preferred seeing Jon Hamm as Superman. Like I said before, Superman is like my dad, whereas Henry Cavill could be my little brother (well not MY brother, but somebody’s little brother).

Killing With A Code

I’ve already dabbled with this particular idea (see here) that heroes don’t kill. It’s one of the big rules of being a super hero. You wear tights and you don’t kill. Those seem to be the only requirements. But as I stated before, sometimes heroes DO kill. And it finally occurred to me as I watching The Walking Dead. Killing is okay if you have a code of honor.

What is a code of honor? Well to put it simply it’s a set of rules for your behavior. A bit of a simplistic explanation, but I think that sums it up pretty well. And it is because of a code of honor that you can kill and still be considered a hero. The problem with killing comes mostly in comic books. The Super Hero code of conduct says “No Killing.” And yet it is done and it is considered okay. If done within a code of conduct.

To best exemplify killing with a code I go to one of my favorite characters to embody morally justified murder, The Punisher. The Punisher kills all the time. He mows downs entire ballrooms full of people. But he still has a code. Everyone the Punisher kills is themselves a killer. He only targets criminals, people who have a lengthy record of murder without any sort of moral code guiding them to pick and choose their targets. The Punisher, when possible, avoids excessive casualties when he can. He also refuses to kill women or children, despite their connections to organized crime.

So the Punisher is not different than our own justice system. While there are states in America that do not apply the death penalty, some do. The citizens of those states have elected officials to enforce punishment by death for severe crimes. In essence they have condoned the killing of undesirable members of society. The Punisher merely takes it one step further, enforcing his own personal brand of justice.

As I said at the beginning, this blog entry was inspired by The Walking Dead. Specifically by watching the character of Darryl. Darryl is often described as a man with a code. Unlike his brother Merle who most definitely does not have a code, Darryl will act with a level of respect towards his fellow survivors. And Darryl has killed, not just the roaming walkers (I wish they would call them zombies, but that ship has sailed), but Darryl has killed other humans. But in defense. Merle kills people for sport and fun, but Darryl has only ever killed to defend himself and the other members of his group.

And I think if you asked most people they would agree that killing in self-defense is justifiable. Humans are hard wired with a strong survival instinct. We will do what we need to in order to preserve our own existence. We almost look down on people who do not fight to live. And that is because it takes strength to live. It’s easy to just give up and waste away to nothing. To actively achieve something needed for survival is difficult.

There is also something noble in that most killing that is justified in fiction is done not just to save one’s self but to save the lives of others, either their own loved ones or a larger community in general. In essence, it is okay to kill the wicked in order to preserve the innocent. There seems to be a moral scale on which the lives of those being killed are measured against the lives of those being saved. Of course the moral argument comes into question when you ask who is ultimately making said judgment, but no one seems to argue the actual question itself. To quote the great Animal Farm “Some animals are more equal than others.”

Our society tries to teach us that killing is wrong. And yet at the same time it presents so many instances where killing is accepted. Soldiers killing on the battlefield are hailed as heroes when they come home. A District Attorney who advocates for the death penalty is seen as tough on crime. A cop who shoots a criminal in a hostage situation is commended by his department. All sorts of instances are given where “Thou Shalt Not Kill” is not an absolute. The only  thing we can ask of our fellow citizens is that when they do feel the need to kill that they try and do so with some sort of code of conduct.

Native Americans in Comic Books

This blog entry is an attempt to recreate an essay I wrote in College for my sociology course about Native Cultures. Since the teacher was herself Native American, we ended up focusing a lot of the class on the treatment of native cultures in America. And I of course being a giant geek had to find some way to incorporate comic books into the class, as I managed to do with nearly every course I took in college.

The simple truth is there are quite a few Native American super heroes and comic books. And while many ethnicities don’t feel the need to emphasis the characters cultural background, Native American super heroes are always depicted in some sort of ceremonial garb and even names that would be embarrassing to see in the credits for Dances With Wolves. They make sure their Native American heritage is broadcast front and center for all to see.

My problem is not that there are comic book characters that are proud of their Native American heritage. My problem is that the displaying of said heritage is so forced. An obvious example of this is the character of Forge from the X-Men. Forge is a mutant whose special mutant ability is that he is a technical genius. Basically he can make any possible machine he can imagine. As such he is responsible for outfitting the X-Men with much of their technological gadgets. He also happens to be a Native American. And we know this because he decorates a typical blue and yellow X-Men uniform with fringe and tassels straight out of an old timey western. He, along with being a mutant, is also a Shaman. In fact it seems like every super hero of Native American heritage is a shaman or medicine man of some type.

The X-Men are actually the worst offenders when it comes to exploiting Native Americans. They have had two characters by the name of Warpath (first John Proudstar and then his brother James) and then the character of Moonstone from the New Mutants. While one would think it is a good thing for a super hero group to feature so many Native Americans, the problem is that they basically scream they are Native Americans. Their costumes and codenames all have a hint of tribal culture to it.

But Marvel is not the only offender. There is of course the famous character from the DC cartoon show Challenge of the Super Friends, Apache Chief. The characters ability is to change size so his super hero name makes no sense other than to simply show that he is a Native American. Also the character’s costume looks like he should be an extra on Bonanza. Meaning he is not showing off true Native American cultural heritage but more what Hollywood stereotypically perceives to be Native American culture.

While costumes are one thing, even the powers given to most Native American super heroes seem to be stereotypical. As I mentioned with Forge, even though his main power is mechanical prowess, the writers felt they had to give him a shamanistic role. And that is where many Native American super heroes seem to lie on the super power spectrum. All their powers are in some way connected to nature and the earth. Warpath is a skilled tracker with animal like senses. Rainmaker of the super team Gen 13 can control the weather. Danielle Moonstar of the New Mutants is connected to people’s souls. All characters with a connection to the earth, a stereotypical Native American trait.

Diversity in comics is good. But diversity based on ignorance is not true diversity. Trying to depict characters as what uneducated people perceive them to be does nothing. To truly show diversity in a book, the writer should instead try to expose the writer to something they may be unaware of about a culture they would otherwise be ignorant of.

The Impossibility of Batman

As a comic book fan, I would love to be a super hero. It’s safe to say most fans are right there with me. And when people discuss becoming a super hero it always seems to me that the hero most people say is the most possible is Batman. Well, as someone who has read many Batman comics, seen all the Batman movies, been a fan of the many Batman TV shows, and even played several of the Batman video games, I have to say Batman is probably one of the least likely heroes to ever exist. Recently I bought and played the video game Batman: Arkham Origins. Truly the Arkham games have come closest to replicating the mechanics and gadgets of what someone like Batman would actually be like. The rapid fight mechanics, the various gadgets, the solving riddles and puzzles, all of that is what I imagine life like the Dark Knight is like. But as I play the game I come to realize, none of this is possible for a normal human to do.

One of the main mechanics of the game is you get around Gotham City using your trusty bat grappling hook. Of all the gadgets in your utility belt, this is the one you’ll end up using the most. Not only does it help you ascend to the rooftops, it is also used to grab far off items, pull down hard to reach air grates and portholes, pull far off enemies off of their feet, and also pull you along on a raft made of glue (yeah, you make rafts using glue bombs). Truth be told though, if you actually used the grapple in real life as much as you do in the game, your arm would rip right out of your socket. The grapple doesn’t merely lift you off the ground; it violently pulls you through the sky. The entire force needed to lift a full-grown man in a heavily armored bat suit is distributed into your arm. True, Batman is not the only hero who gets around by swinging on a rope. Spider-Man and Daredevil are also fans of the swing. But both of them are super human so you can believe they have superior muscle structure that can take that kind of activity. Batman is just a man.

The entire fact that Batman is just a man is the core to the argument that anyone can be Batman. But when you look at Bruce Wayne, that’s not true.  Bruce Wayne, besides being a billionaire (which is hard enough to achieve) was already an intelligent child and gifted athlete. The building blocks are already there for Bruce to become someone amazing. Had his parents not been killed, Bruce Wayne would still become an amazing individual, surpassing his peers. He just would do it in some field other than heroics. The odds of finding an intellectually gifted, genetically athletic, billionaire heir, who then undergoes a personal tragedy, seems pretty long. Wanting to fight crime just isn’t enough. I keep thinking of the line in the movie Rudy “I wish I could put your heart in some of my players’ bodies.” That line sums up great what is wrong with just wanting to be Batman. You need to be Bruce Wayne first.

And the sad truth is, humans are not good at dealing with tragedy. Most people when confronted with a traumatic life event end up either lashing out inappropriately or shutting down completely. The ability to take all the rage and anger felt by a young Bruce Wayne and focusing it into such a productive and dedicated one-man war on crime is hard to believe. Most likely a real world Batman would go out to fight crime and end up crying in a fetal position as soon as he remembered his parents were dead. Or the even more likely situation is that Alfred would have gotten little Bruce to a really good grief counselor as soon as the Waynes were in the ground and kept Master Bruce doped to the gills on Xanax for the rest of his life.

Sadly the one part of Batman that does seem believable is a multibillionaire extorting funds from his company for his own personal use. We see that sort of behavior all the time in the real world. Unfortunately when such individuals are caught, it’s never crime-fighting endeavors they have devoted their stolen money to. It’s usually hookers and blow. The few times they do devote money to worthy causes it is usually just as a way to avoid paying taxes or as an act of contrition for some scandalous act they performed in their personal life. Honestly, if the people on Wall Street were using their bailout money to fight crime, Occupy Wall Street never would have happened.

The sad truth is that the character of Bruce Wayne is alive and well in our society. That image of the spoiled playboy who parties too hard is a common occurrence in the tabloids. The sad irony is that that character is a fiction portrayed by Batman in order to mask his crusade. A fictional character acting fictional. What the world really needs is more Batmen and fewer Bruce Waynes.