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Superheroes and comics effect on society
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Growing Diversity in Comics There have been major changes to the superhero archetype in comics in these recent years as compared to the past. Along with that arises controversy on the subjects like the new female Thor or a black kid as Spiderman. Many are zealously against such changes for reasons like sexism or racism. While many others are fervently behind such changes because they use it to empower their own political views on today’s topics. These topics are important to today’s society however they should not be so important in comic books because comic books should be value-neutral and gender, ethnicity, sexuality and things of this nature should not matter. Let’s discuss a little bit of comic book history for starters. The most iconic superhero in all of American comic book history has got to be Superman. He was created near the beginning of superhero comic books and debuted in Action Comics #1 in 1938[1]. He would remain as the blueprint for many superheroes for years to come as the atypical white American male. But as the years go by there were comic book heroes that came out that go against this archetype such as Wonder …show more content…
These characters may bring up these topics as their stories are being written but at the end of every single story above all the controversy surrounding the characters and all the hate those superheroes still end up saving the day. Why? It is because they depict themselves rising above these insignificant issues to deal with much larger problems at hand. Comic book superheroes that people are addressing as female Thor, black Spiderman, or black Captain America are completely wrong when they do this and is insulting these iconic names by doing so and should address these characters appropriately as Thor, Spiderman, and Captain
First and foremost Steinem begins to exhibit how females were left to feel inferior by only having male super-heroes in comic books that perpetually gave women the minor task to help, feelings of gratefulness for
To your average white American kid, a comic book is cheap entertainment— a leisure, a novelty. Your run of the mill issue of "Superman," perhaps the most generic superhero of all, is something to be read once, maybe even merely skimmed, while in the bathroom or the doctors' office. When finished with it gets thrown away mindlessly or tossed aside to join a mounting stack of similarly abandoned stories of fantastical heroism. However in the eyes of the young Indian boy, Sherman Alexie, as depicted in his essay, "Superman and Me," a tattered comic found in a donation bin was much more than that— it was a life line.
The authors title “What to do when you’re not the hero anymore” is directed at a group of people who aren’t the likely audience for this essay. Penny explains how since the recent movement in the media particularly white males have been raging with anger that their lead roles are being taking over. Prior to reading the essay it is common to have heard of female lead roles becoming a universal theme. While it is not so common to hear of how white men “have been expressing rage loudly and violently over the idea that they might find themselves identifying with characters who are not white men.” Penny
The world went insane when the news broke that Thor was going to be a female now. A lot of people did not quite like the Avengers turning into an all-female group either. It 's on the different spectrum than ethnicity, but it is on a spectrum nonetheless. More so because these females characters are being swapped from men, now feminists would argue why do they have to come after men. Why can 't they have their own characters? I know you 're trying to adapt to the diversity, but why cannot they be their own character? On one hand, that is true. Thor was created from a historical context, Thor was meant to be male. What is the effect of changing Thor to a female? Even the effect of a female Captain
There are many superheroes in the world with many different abilities. Many people would argue that many heroes are connected by some point or another. Though it is true that there are several correlations between the hero Beowulf and Superman, also known as Clark Kent, there are also quite a few differences. Beowulf is the hero of the of an old English epic passed down form word of mouth. On the other hand, Superman is a comic character in the DC universe. Even though Beowulf and Superman’s stories vary drastically they are similar in their travels and abilities.
The difference between a superhero, as we know from movies and comics, and a traditional hero is rather unclear for many people.. In modern times, a superhero is often a being with supernatural abilities. For example, the movies depict them as individuals with super strength, night vision, the ability to climb walls, and so on. The majority of audiences have been spoiled with these unrealistic depictions and are unable to recall the real or “traditional” hero. In the texts, The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Book of Job, and Bhagavad Gita, heroes are not “as seen on television”, but something more. The heroes in these stories carry great strengths such as wisdom, patience, and pride. To illustrate these characteristics, the protagonists themselves
...ort the same element that this graphic novel supports. These people rushing to the aid of the woman (Moore and Gibbons XI, 25, panel 7) suggest that a true hero is not always in a costume, and does not always cover his/her face, however heroes are ordinary citizens that put their own issues aside just to help others.
Although we have taken monumental strides in the past fifty years towards racial equality and diversity, it is still commonly argued that popular culture lacks some sort of racial representation. In the United States, the people who live here are vastly diverse when it comes to race and culture, yet in the media people of color get marginalized and stereotyped everyday in film, music, and etc.
In a state of nostalgia,I was that black little boy again telling everyone that I was Superman on Halloween. To my dismay they responded, “You can’t be Superman, you're black!” In that case, being any well-known superhero was out of the question, unless I possess a pigment that was not composed of high amounts of melanin. The only exception was the Green Lantern, but we all know he was replaced with a whiter individual. This scenes of whiteness, where people who have a lighter complexion of skin have a certain privilege or benefit in the comic world, isn’t entirely new to me. Being a black individual, I have lived with it my whole life and experience it every single day. Just like every black person, I suppress it and act like it doesn’t bother me. Once I picked up the action figure, it reminded me of how society thinks I am less of a human and unable to do things as well as a whiter person. It made me think of all the black little boys, whom are being subjected to idea that they can’t accomplish anything or in this case save the world from villains. It says that we are the
Every child in the United States has heard or read the Marvel and DC comics books. If you have not then you have probably have heard of their characters like the famous star spangled hero, Captain America, or the Dark Knight himself, Batman. Both Marvel and DC has influenced the children and adults of American in its darkest times. The great wars affected many by its poisonous grasps, and its victims sought comfort with the antidote provided by the marvelous illustrators and writers of comic books. Now their cinematic counterparts are here to inspire the 21st century. The Marvel and DC cinematic universes have similar content, they both have unique characteristics that set them apart.
Being a hero means that one can show courage when it comes to facing a problem. It is a person who helps others in many ways, such as a person in danger. In the modern era, the creation of superheroes have become popular when it comes to producing films. Viewers can choose their favorite heroes due to the idea that there a many of them. However, most fans argue which superheroes are better. Two of the most popular superheroes are DC’s Batman and Marvel’s Iron Man. Although Batman and Iron Man are loved by many viewers because of how they help people in danger, they still demonstrate imperfections which can cause viewers to dislike them. However, both superheroes share similarities and differences between themselves. Batman and Iron Man have
When you think of a superhero one normally thinks of Spiderman, Batman, or Superman, but there were superheroes long before these characters were created. First one must understand that the basis of this name is hero. What is a hero? A hero is a person who does something special or out of the ordinary in order to help others. It could also be someone who is admired for a characteristic about them, be it physical or mental. They are individuals that normal everyday people can look up to. This being the case, a superhero is nothing more then someone who is a hero, but not just that once and for that one person, but someone who helps many people, or leads them. As time went by the number of people who were true heroes diminished and just doing something for someone was no longer big news. There had to be something more to make them stand out. The American culture needed someone or something to admire and that is where our common day superheroes come into play. It gave them a goal which could never be reached in hopes that people would never stop trying.
Whether you were born in the 60’s or the 90’s, Marvel and DC comics have crossed your path in one way or another. You know the superheroes, even if you don’t religiously watch the movies or read the comic books. You hear about them all over the internet and when a new movie releases, the world screams in gratitude. You know the stories of how your favorites originated and how they came to their demise… again and again and again. When it comes down to it, you ultimately have a favorite. When you were a child, you declared a superhero yours. It could’ve been Spiderman or even Batman, or maybe you liked the Incredible Hulk as much as you liked Wonder Woman. With that being said, superheroes fight super villains all the time, but have you ever thought about who would win if Marvel and DC ever got into a fight? Not physically, but mentally; meaning, the story arcs, the art, the imagination and even the character development in the series.’ I mean, you have the Avengers against X-Men, I’m talking the Incredible Hulk against Superman. This is the ultimate battle of comic heads and I’m on the winning side.
Literature has learned to grow and progress over the years, but still till this day graphic novels are having trouble with being accepted as literature. Good literature is a piece of work that can incorporate writing and illustrations that pulls the reader in and leads them throughout the book. After reading a couple of graphic novels I have to disagree with the scholars who believe that they aren’t a piece of literature. Each graphic novel tells a story just like “regular” novels do. They each capture your imagination and keep you interested. They may look childish to some, but you should never judge a book by its cover. “Graphic novels that succeed as literature escape the norm and invite critical discussion, analysis, and, often, comparison with text-only books featuring similar situations, climactic crises, or aesthetics” (Goldsmith). Graphic novels tell a story, draw in a different audience, and expands a reader’s imagination, so with that said, they should be considered as literature.
The Lone Ranger, Zorro, Batman, Superman are some of the characters that we stereotypically constitute as heroes. They are known to fight with courage without fear of death. They destroy the enemy within a blink of an eye. They fight using their own body strength, superpower, or some kind of weapon. They come to the rescue miraculously and leave without a trace. They are mysterious. We are unable to identify who they are underneath the masks and disguises. Yet, we praise them and ignore the real heroes that surround us regularly, ordinarily. “All of us …like to believe that in a moral emergency we will behave like the heroes of our youth, bravely and forthrightly, without thought of personal loss or discredit” (O’Brien 39). In other words, we are quite oblivious to the ordinary people of the world that are, in fact, the true heroes.