Superheroing and Wrestling. BOTH FIXED?

Ratteler · Forum Member Joined: Jun 10, 2002 Posts: 561 Location: NYC

I see it the other way around. The "heroes" would most likely be villians in the public spotlight, but the villians would be the first to go to work for the Government.

Batman would always be a villigante. Hero to the people and enemy to the Police.

I do belive not everyone would take the easy path of using their powers for profit.

I think the real failing of, and resulting loss in popularity of, Super Heroes in our modern age is our maturity as a society.

To have a HERO you need to have a VILLAIN that is his equal on at least some level.

In the time the "Heroes" gained their popularity there was no real question about who the bad guys were. WWII had the Axis with Hitler as a figurehead. The 50's had Communism and Spys sneaking into Governemnt. But all through that time the bad guys were clear cut and indesputible.

Today Saddam turned out to be an innefective moster hiding in a bunker. Bin Laden is the closest thing we have to a "Super Villian" running neck and neck with Kim Jong-il, ruler of North Korea.

At best these are manufactered villians.

Our real super villians are all Lex Luthors without the name recognition.

They buy off our elected officials or buy their own puppets sport AS our elected officials. They don't take our freedoms by direct fear and force, but by subversion. They get US to give them our freedom for safe keeping and then we enforce our rule on ouselves.

What super power COULD stop that kind of menace?

The age where some one with a enough power can save us from things out of our control is over.

Our modern Superheroes would HAVE to be villians to our leaders and there fore to us publically.

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On a different track, ever read John Byrne's Next Men? That was a pretty cool series, I wish he'd kept going with it. What makes it relevent here is that he took a fairly realistic approach to superpowers. The superstrong guy had to wear a special harness to help restrain his stength, and obviously intimate relations were pretty much out of the question, he'd pulp his partner. And there was a girl who was invulnerable to harm, but as you'd expect that had a lot of downsides. She basically couldn't feel, be it heat, cold, or the touch of another person, obviously she couldn't cut her hair or nails, etc.

Being super might not actually be all that great. I think every power would have a downside that never makes the comics.

And then there's collateral damage. I'd imagine that every time Magneto uses his powers he erases every cassette and trashes every computer in the area. :wink:

And imagine if your significant other could literally read your mind?

outofmymind · Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2005 9:15 am Post subject:

X2K, one cynic to another, I love your observations....they're so dark

But...

If YOU had the power to FORCE your will on someone, would you do it? If you had the ability to read your significant other's mind, would you? If you could vaporize people at will, would you?

Something tells me that you would not.

Lord Acton's strict aphorism aside, power has the capacity to corrupt. That's a given. But only based on evidence at hand. We can't comment on the absolute corruption of the all-powerful John Brown living in Terra Haute, because although he's aware of his own vast power, he has never chosen to reveal it to mankind. My point being, we are only aware of great power when it is made evident. You imply that yourself saying "The trick has always been finding someone who doesn't become corrupted by the power, and so far, that's never happened.". Perhaps its never happened because only those people attracted to power and control (and thus perhaps least deserving of it) are the ones to step up to the plate. In the U.S. we draw from the pool of those who present themselves as willing to handle the reigns of power. If I was handing out power (that I was not allowed to use personally), I swear I would NOT have open auditions! The last people I would choose would be the ones who wanted it.

Disregarding fantastical superpowers, there are plenty of conventional means of displaying power that are kept in check. Nuclear weapons have been in existence for 60 years, but there have been only two detonations for the express purpose of killing people (that i'm aware of). The vast majority of civilians who own and carry handguns have never shot a soul. My strength, in contrast to a child is immense, yet I have never forced children to do my bidding (Okay, once. But I REALLY wanted that candy). I assume the same for most people. And there are scores of other examples of humanity's capacity to control itself. But drama is what sells books, news, etc. No one is interested in stories about "The Guy Who Behaved Himself".

This syllogism just occurred to me:
Francis Bacon said "Knowledge is power".
Lord Acton said "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". So, if knowledge is power, and power corrupts, than absolute knowledge corrupts absolutely.

OOMM

Hasdrubal

Actually I can think of 3 great stories of "Men Who Behaved Themselves".

Cincinnatus was a Roman general who refused to become a dictator when offered the position.

George Washington refused to become a dictator when offered the position.

The Marquis de' Lafayette refused the position of Marshal of France rather than serve Napoleon's tyranny, or to position himself with the next government of France.

They're all worth reading about.

outofmymind · Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 7:18 am Post subject:

"They're all worth reading about."

True. I stand corrected. I amend my statement to "Few are interested in stories about "The Guy Who Behaved Himself".

Those are good examples of courageous men who were capable of resisting power that was within their reach. However, I believe Washington wasn't exactly offered the role of dictator, but rather there was a desire on behalf of his officers to declare him king, which he refused. And Cincinnatus actually DID act as dictator for 16 days, after which he returned to his farm. And many years after that he acted as dictator for a temporary period yet again. We sure could use more men like that. As for Lafayette, I think your information is inaccurate. Lafayette was indeed Marshal of France, but he declined to accept a position in Napoleon's regime as well as Naploeon's offer of the Legion of Honor.

Did you know that Lafayatte was an honorary American citizen? This guy LOVED America! He actually returned to France with barrels of American soil, which was placed around his casket. He's buried in Le Jardin de Picpus cemetery, Paris, with an American flag on his grave site since after WWI. It remained there, undisturbed, during the German occupation in WWII. Amazing.