Super
Dan Rosen, 2014
All-righty. If you could be anything, what would you be? Absolutely anything. And no, I’m not talking about a lawyer, surgeon, or any of those other societally fixated upon and stereotypically accepted career paths which people, young and old, have and continue to settle upon. If you could be anything, whether it’s within your mental reach or if it were literally out of this world, what the Hell would you be? If I could be anything- absolutely positively anything, I would be — a superhero. You read that right. I want to be a superhero. No, I’m not crazy. I can justify it.
Ok. I know that may have come off as insane, weird, stupid, odd, unlikely, impossible, and every other word with a negative connotation. But, humor me. The other day I was watching Spiderman 3 (and yes, I am able to tolerate the movie despite the typically bad reviews that come with it.) I was thinking about my life; my future, my present, my own happiness, etc. This led me to do two things. The first was to hunt through the wild Amazon forest in search of a great Batman graphic novel and other superhero comics for my Kindle. But the second was to jot down this idea.
Considering that I’ve had a lot on my mind lately, I try to find ways of “getting away from it all,” if you will, for as long as possible. This comes in the form of listening to music, playing video games, and, writing. I’m really just trying to escape from it all - mask my worries for as long as I can in order to maintain sanity.
Escaping reality. You know, now that I think about it, we’re all just trying to escape reality at some point in our lives. We need to in order to maintain any sense of normalcy, stability, and cognitive awareness. There is always an underlying reason for it — for example; my infatuation with the thought of being a superhero comes from my childhood and up-bringing. I used to watch all the shows— Batman, Superman, Power Rangers— read all of the comics, play with all of the action figures, and watch all the movies. I guess this hidden desire of mine is just my longing to live out some unconventional dream that I wish could come true. I, along with pretty much everybody else, have always (in the least narcissistic way possible) just wanted to be admired. Admit it; you know you want people to look upon you with respect and trust. You want to be looked up to. You want to be seen as a hero and a leader. You want to be a superhero. Someone who can not only assure you that everything is going to be alright, but also prove it with their actions; not just mere positive reinforcement brought upon by cliché and pacifying Hamlet-era “Words, words, words.”
I have a pretty romanticized view of the world, which perfectly segues into my next point of why I would love to be a superhero: You get to save the pretty girl, again and again. Isn’t it secretly every guy’s dream to swoop in, pick up your dream girl when she has fallen, defeat her enemies and fears, show her that everything is going to be— and will be— alright, and fly off into the sunset? She’d fall in love with you before you could say “my secret identity is...” and everyone would view you— you— a hero and a savior. Oh, and, in this case, quite the lady’s man.
But along with this adoration and praise, superheroes can still be everyday people, with everyday problems. I go through my own ‘stuff’, and you go through your own. Everyone has their own troubles that they face on a day-to-day basis. So who wouldn’t want to slip into some body armor and possibly colorful attire, throw on a cape, and put on a disguise; not to runaway from your problems, but to mask them, so that for maybe a few hours a day or week, you can escape from it all. You can escape from reality and live an amazing, powerful, impactful and important life. You could change lives. You could save lives. You would have a purpose. You would matter and know your place in a world of constant and utter confusion. You could make a difference. You could be that difference. Who wouldn’t want that? All I want is to know what my purpose is in this life, so what could be better than being a hero? A superhero…
Fly on. Stay super.
Ok. I know that may have come off as insane, weird, stupid, odd, unlikely, impossible, and every other word with a negative connotation. But, humor me. The other day I was watching Spiderman 3 (and yes, I am able to tolerate the movie despite the typically bad reviews that come with it.) I was thinking about my life; my future, my present, my own happiness, etc. This led me to do two things. The first was to hunt through the wild Amazon forest in search of a great Batman graphic novel and other superhero comics for my Kindle. But the second was to jot down this idea.
Considering that I’ve had a lot on my mind lately, I try to find ways of “getting away from it all,” if you will, for as long as possible. This comes in the form of listening to music, playing video games, and, writing. I’m really just trying to escape from it all - mask my worries for as long as I can in order to maintain sanity.
Escaping reality. You know, now that I think about it, we’re all just trying to escape reality at some point in our lives. We need to in order to maintain any sense of normalcy, stability, and cognitive awareness. There is always an underlying reason for it — for example; my infatuation with the thought of being a superhero comes from my childhood and up-bringing. I used to watch all the shows— Batman, Superman, Power Rangers— read all of the comics, play with all of the action figures, and watch all the movies. I guess this hidden desire of mine is just my longing to live out some unconventional dream that I wish could come true. I, along with pretty much everybody else, have always (in the least narcissistic way possible) just wanted to be admired. Admit it; you know you want people to look upon you with respect and trust. You want to be looked up to. You want to be seen as a hero and a leader. You want to be a superhero. Someone who can not only assure you that everything is going to be alright, but also prove it with their actions; not just mere positive reinforcement brought upon by cliché and pacifying Hamlet-era “Words, words, words.”
I have a pretty romanticized view of the world, which perfectly segues into my next point of why I would love to be a superhero: You get to save the pretty girl, again and again. Isn’t it secretly every guy’s dream to swoop in, pick up your dream girl when she has fallen, defeat her enemies and fears, show her that everything is going to be— and will be— alright, and fly off into the sunset? She’d fall in love with you before you could say “my secret identity is...” and everyone would view you— you— a hero and a savior. Oh, and, in this case, quite the lady’s man.
But along with this adoration and praise, superheroes can still be everyday people, with everyday problems. I go through my own ‘stuff’, and you go through your own. Everyone has their own troubles that they face on a day-to-day basis. So who wouldn’t want to slip into some body armor and possibly colorful attire, throw on a cape, and put on a disguise; not to runaway from your problems, but to mask them, so that for maybe a few hours a day or week, you can escape from it all. You can escape from reality and live an amazing, powerful, impactful and important life. You could change lives. You could save lives. You would have a purpose. You would matter and know your place in a world of constant and utter confusion. You could make a difference. You could be that difference. Who wouldn’t want that? All I want is to know what my purpose is in this life, so what could be better than being a hero? A superhero…
Fly on. Stay super.