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A superhero? Who? Me?
Reflections
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| By KAREN OSBORNE
6 July, 2008 |
Superheroes are big these days. They’ve superseded the comic books that spawned them and have hit the mainstream, drawing millions of people to multiplex movie theatres all over the world.
Iron Man, Batman, the Hulk, Hellboy – they’re all lining up for their guaranteed million-dollar paydays.
What used to be the exclusive province of nerds and geeks is now everyone’s playground.
What makes superheroes so appealing?
The obvious reason is the power that they have, power we puny humans would love to have.
They can read minds, control the weather, move things without touching them and fly great distances in a single bound.
In short, they have the ability to control the things that can’t be controlled, to dominate the environment that dominates us.
Another facet of their appeal is that they very rarely live their outer lives as superheroes.
Superman was a “mild-mannered” reporter when he wasn’t sweeping through the skies in blue tights; Batman, a venture capitalist; and Spiderman, a college student and newspaper photographer.
They walk around as regular as you and me, their secret power just waiting to be unleashed.
I’m not sure what superpower I’d want as a veiled hero.
Every time I think invisibility is a good idea, I think back to when I felt invisible in school, and it doesn’t sound so great.
What about mind-reading, or being able to know the truth about what everyone says about you?
I once wished to know the truth of what this one girl was saying about me, and regretted it once I found out.
Super strength?
Can you imagine what would happen if my friends found out that I could bench press four times my weight?
They’d call me whenever they needed to move something heavy.
So being a superhero isn’t just about having powers; it’s about bravery, standing strong in the face of great evil.
It’s about being true to yourself and those you love.
The problem is that you really can’t be a superhero unless you have an arch enemy.
That’s pretty much why superheroes exist – to combat the villains that threaten the lives and hopes of the people on the main marquee of the superhero’s life.
Can you become a superhero? Sure you can!
Don’t pick a power right away. Instead, think of the mindset.
Believe you can win over every evil that comes your way despite your faults and having to hide behind a secret identity.
You already have an archenemy; everybody does. Maybe it’s not a person.
Maybe it’s low self-esteem.
Maybe it’s a fear of speaking out against a bully. Maybe it’s a fear of math class.
Whatever it is, it might look humongous and insurmountable.
It might have minions by the thousands and a impregnable mountain base – or its school-based equivalent.
None of that is important.
The superhero in you has to go forward anyway, fighting the good fight and taking the moral high ground to save the day.
In the end, possessing some superpower doesn’t matter; that’s not the focus of the hero’s story.
What matters is the content of the superhero’s heart, and the bravery and forward motion of his or her goals.
So don’t be afraid.
Be that superhero. Besides, in the end the superhero usually wins.
That’s the way it goes in the movies, and it can be that way in your own life as well.
You may not land a multi-million-dollar movie pay cheque, but the emotional payoff will have a far greater value.
Karen Osborne is a CNS columnist.
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