IF only it were that easy. The Justice League gets an alert, the superheroes fly into the city, put a stop to the explosion and spare the lives of innocents. That’s how the cartoons would do it. That’s how it’s supposed to be in an ideal albeit imaginary world. But it is hardly that easy. It is also hardly true.
What we have is reality. The grief and disbelief that followed last Friday’s explosion was followed by many questions of how’s, why’s, what’s and who’s. Some stood rooted to the ground unable to grasp the gruesome truth of what had just happened, not more than a ten-minute walk away from where they worked. Most started making calls to loved ones, checking to make sure they were safe. All wanted answers, but closure does not come easily.
Could’ve beens and should’ve beens accented sentences here and there, but verbal assurances didn’t fully make one feel safe. While we yearn to enjoy life as much as we want, we yearn more so to feel safe. Isn’t that how it is on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs — satisfy my need for security before my need for the good life?
Life goes on, yes it does. While we wait for answers, let’s hang in there and keep each other safe. There are no superheroes. There is no Clark Kent, no Peter Petrelli, no Hiro Nakamura to unravel time and hinder that disaster. There is only us — ordinary human beings without superhero capabilities but with an enormous capacity to nurture and love. Let’s take care of each other. This is reality. This is ideal.
October 26th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
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October 23rd, 2007 at 11:53 am
My all time favorite comic book (published 1997) is called Kingdom Come and the story opens in a world where Superman had long abandoned his quest for Truth and Justice and with him, the Justice League. As a result there existed a dichotomy between those with powers and those without. But it is more than that. The book’s premise is that the Superhero is the Everyman.
I find it very apt, very timely to quote, Elliot S. Maggin who wrote in Kingdom Come’s introduction: “In the story that you hold in your hands, Mark Waid and Alex Ross tell us that our proper response to the inexorable march of progress that has brought us to his place and time, in the history of civilization is to find a way to confront it responsibly. Not modestly. Not unself-consciously. Not with faith in a power greater than ours to descend from the sky and set things right despite our best efforts to screw up. We have an obligation to know who we are and where we are and what we can do. We have an obligation to understand the ramifications of the things we do, and to chose to do them— or not— with our eyes open.”
In a world where seemingly we don’t have superheroes, I find it appropriate that the Everyman is the Superhero.