I was recently in Detroit and during my visit I got a chance to see Tiger stadium. While we were there I had the pleasure of meeting a local who was janitor there by the name Jacky. Now Jacky was a retired GM employee and picked up this job because he’s a true diehard Tigers fan. So of course our conversation began to center around one of the greatest baseball moments. It was 1984, and as he tells it, he was 10 rows back from the dugout watching Kurt Gibson walk up to home plate. It was game 5 of the World Series and the Tigers were playing the padres. So they are up by 1 and 2 men on. Jacky says that everyone knew that he should not be pitched to but be walked and put on base and the pitcher should pitch to the next guy. So the legendary Sparky …show more content…
Anderson the mangers of the tigers at the time (according to Jacky) looked at Gibson and held up four fingers. Pretty much saying, “hey gibby, they are going walk ya” and Gibson looked back at sparky holding up 10 fingers to say “Hey I bet you 10 dollars they will pitch to me”. Not two minutes later Kurt Gibson did not only win a 10 dollar bet but he lofted a three run homer into the upper deck ultimately winning the game and then going on to win the world series. And then Jacky shows me papers posted all over his office of the next day’s images. The party in the stadium leaked out into the streets and began to flip cop cars over, looting businesses. Essentially a riot actually broke out. He tells it like it happened yesterday. Now I am from Willow Street Pennsylvania and so I do not have much experience with riots, but I do remember 1994 and what happened to Rodney King with those police offers. A central figure that essential blow LA up. LA pretty much set itself on fire and even though this was pretty much as far away from me as you can get and still be in America I still felt this sense of fear and confusion around that. And riots aren’t really going away in the news are they? We have had riots in the Arab Spring and if you can remember the London riots, or the riots that took place after Obama’s election and now the riots that took place in and around Fergison. These images keep popping up. People riot. That just seems to be a reality that has been going on for 2,000 plus years. So the question for me is why? Why do people riot? Now in the gospels and in acts there is a repetitive theme about riots. I want to look at this theme and see how it connects to our text today because I think it provides some insight for us. Why is it that people riot? It seems to be this release point. Celebrating the World Series and reacting to what happened in Ferguson are two different things but it seems to be this collective release point. That people seem to band together, but why? Toni Higgins is a Columbia University professor and he studies among other things motivations.
So he researches why people do what they do and he as done some work on what I would call the psychology of a rioter. In his work he ultimately found what motivates a rioter to riot. Which is essentially the feeling that you’re not in control of your own life. That rioters band together around feelings of powerlessness that primarily is what drives people to riot. It’s this sense that my life is out of control. I cannot control my life and that makes me feel powerless. And so when you band together with a bunch of people it regains this sense of power. So there is this reality that this seems to be the root of the riot. This sense of powerlessness that our life is out of control. …show more content…
(pause) Now lets go back to scripture. If this idea of riots is hanging in the air. I mean if you look within these stories when riots occur they come in a response to sermons for crying out loud. That Jesus, the disciples in acts, and Paul (particularly) cause riots from simple sermons about their message of Jesus and the nature of the message in the world. ¬¬ Now I am asking you kindly that anything I say to you today that is not pleasing to you. That you would refrain from going out to the parking lot and flipping anyone’s car over and lighting it on fire. If we can all stack our hands on that as a community I think it could be a good thing. Being riot free is a good thing. So what is going on within the Jesus message that people were so upset that they started to riot? If we would boil it down the central message is pretty much that Jesus is the messiah and because of that he had to suffer, die and rise. This was the main angle the early church took in arguing for Jesus. This is where our gospel text and Jesus’ encounter with Peter really speaks. Now I think that this has to be a confusing afternoon for our friend Peter. Lets be honest if you have to assume if someone asked how peter’s day was going he would probably say “well….I am kind of getting mixed messages from Jesus. I can’t tell if I’m one of his favorites or if he thinks I am Satan because he is telling me both” This passage is so fascinating to me. Jesus says who am I? Peter says that you are the Messiah. And Jesus says Peter you are absolutely right and you want to know what that means? It means I am going to have to walk this road. It means I am going to have to suffer, die and I will rise again. It means death and resurrection. That is what it means for me to be the messiah. And poor Peter says take it easy Jesus with all the dying and suffering. And Jesus looks at him and says Peter…get out of the way (pause) The actual literal meaning of Satan is this: an advisory, one who apposes us in the accomplishment of our designs. That Peter in this moment is standing opposed to Jesus. He is standing anti-Christ. I would put it this way-Peter has become the angry mob of one against Jesus and this story of death and suffering, death and resurrection. Peter is like this is out of control! This is powerlessness! This is ridiculous! And you know what makes it worse? Jesus goes on and says Peter p.s. this is what I’m calling you into-this is the life, this is what it means to follow me. This is the way of Jesus. To lay yourself down To deny yourself To give yourself away…. that is what it is to follow me. It’s no wonder why people riot against this message. It sounds like a total loss of control. It sounds like powerlessness. We are being asked to give it away, to let go, to give something up, and we push… back…. against it. (pause) What do we want our savior to look like? Who do we want to be our king? So if we looked up the top 10 opening weekend grossing films of all time 6 out of the top 10 are super hero movies and this is something that happened in the last ten years. We are crazy about super hero movies. Which leads me to the ask; What does this say about us? It’s not just that we like these movies but there is something about these stories that strike something in us. Grant Morrision is the premier comic book writer of our time. He is the one who is writing a lot of the backstory for these characters and movies. He had a book that came out a few years ago. (I highly suggest it by the way) Essentially it’s a sociological book that tries to answer why on earth superhero stories are so popular right now. Because for a long time these characters like green lantern or silver surfer were only known by comic book geeks but now in recent years as Morrision wants to argue are in our “frontal lobe” for American and western culture. So why do we care? What is the point? Morison writes, “We live into the stories we tell ourselves.
In a secular, scientific rational culture lacking in any convincing spiritual leadership, superhero stories speak loudly and boldly to our greatest fears, deepest longings, and highest aspirations. They’re not afraid to be hopeful, not embarrassed to be optimistic, and utterly fearless in the dark. They’re about as far from social realism as you can get, but the best superhero stories deal directly with mythic elements of human experience that we can all relate to, in ways that are imaginative, profound, funny, and provocative. They exist to solve problems of all kinds and can always be counted on to find a way to save the day. At their best, they help us to confront and resolve even the deepest existential crises. “
p.s. he called the book SuperGods.
These are the primary stories of our moment. We are throwing our cash at these movies at a blinding speed. We love these stories. Morrision is saying that this is happening because currently humanity is finding itself in a story where we are afraid.
We want to be protected.
We want to be told that it will be ok.
We want to be told that everything will turn out all right.
In an increasingly cynical world we are desperate for optimism we are desperate for help.
We want a savior.
We want a king.
And Super hero stories are providing them for us and we are eating them up.
There is an interesting little side note, almost but I think it is a center point in Morrision’s
book, “In a world where wealth and celebrity are the measures of accomplishment, it’s no surprise that the most popular superhero characters today-Batman and Iron Man-are both handsome tycoons.” (pg 26) (Show Pictures of Batman and Iron Man) Ladies and gentleman I present to you our Gods. . . Bruce Wyane and Tony Stark They are hansom billionaires who have a healthy dose of arrogance, and are quite tech savvy. The two characters that we seem to be obsessed with collectively are centered around the same figure. They are mirror images of themselves. Its two stories with the same alter ego. . . Power, wealth, celebrity, and technologies. ..here in lies the things we find our hope. (Pause) Ok if we walk back into this moment with Peter and Jesus. If this is the main story we are telling ourselves and as Morrison says we live into the stories we tell ourselves. If these are the stories we are living out of and you encounter this messiah this king. Who says this is the way it is; It’s about self-denial Its’ about sacrifice It’s about death and resurrection It’s about suffering and rising Its no wonder we riot against that story because it is so countercultural to the story we are telling ourselves. Superheroes are not counter cultural they are super cultural. Bruce and Stark are us writing the story we are trying to live as big as we can write it saying “yes! If we can do it big enough it will work! They will take care of us! It will be ok! And like Peter we run into Jesus who says that he is the King the Messiah. Who is so radically different than that and goes even further and says we are actually supposed to live that story too. And this is what I find so difficult. I would love for that to be Jesus’ story we probably wouldn’t riot against that but when we realize that this is suppose to be our story too that’s where it starts to be more difficult. As we figure out what it looks like for us to enter into these stories to enter into this pattern of living. In professing Jesus as the Messiah and finding our own story within his-our world becomes flipped on its head. Doesn’t it feel like that? That Jesus is trying to reorient Peter and us to help us understand that the world is actually flipped upside down. And what we are called to do as an extension of what Jesus is doing is to flip the world upside right. The world is upside down and Jesus as the Messiah comes to flip it right side up. To follow Jesus is to see that the world is upside down and to join him in the flipping. As a community I think we do this beautify as a collective. I think it is why as a community we participate in the malaria campaign. We see that people are dying from a preventable disease and there is something we can do about it and that feels upside down. We have seen that as an injustice. For what it is and we work with God to flip it upside right. Its also why collectively we stand with refugees through Lutheran Immigration and refugee services to collectively come around them and help flip things upside right as they experience an absolute upside down world. I think that it is difficult when it becomes about us when we as an individual seeing the world well and were the ones perpetuating this upside down reality. When were the ones struggling and fighting against-when we are the ones standing anti-Christ and riot against this pattern of living that Jesus is calling us into. This self-denial and sacrifice, of lying down, and letting it go. That it feels like powerlessness. It feels like our life is out of control that in certain relationships and in certain spaces in our life we become the angry mob of one. Rioting against they way the world is suppose to be. In closing I want us to consider these places in your life. What are these relationships where in fact you are the angry mob of one? That you are the one perpetuating this upside down reality and in that place where hear this simple yet profound and deeply life changing story of the one who suffers and rises, whose self denial and sacrifice, and whose death and resurrection flipped our world upside right.. That God in God’s limitless grace does this for us and we are called to respond.
Although not every hero shouts “Avengers Assemble” before a worthy deed, heroism is shown in all aspects of the everyday world. Webster Dictionary has exactly 5 definitions under the word hero and still no two people explain heroism the same. Superman and Captain America are a glimpse of the fictional characters society titles a hero. Firefighters and Military portray heroism each day in the lives of every civilian. As Sullivan and Venter stated “individuals are referred to as ‘heroes’ for seemingly different reasons” and even through endless studies the adjectives referring heroes is ever changing. Among the various ideas of what it means to be a hero, boldness and valiance capture the essence of heroism.
Superheroes are typically perceived as those who persevere through conflict by acting compassionately and courageously to save society. In reality, however, conflict reveals the adverse behaviours of individuals, including the use of selfish and violent means to protect oneself. The Wars, by Timothy Findley, shows that the worst aspects of humanity are exploited during war and are the cause of the destruction of all forms of life. First, the corruption of the pure elements highlights how individuals lose their innocence and act carelessly and viciously when faced with conflict. Second, the foil and mirror characters accentuate how it is impossible to hang onto purity, since humanity’s wicked tendencies result in a hopeless devastation for
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
To conclude, the graphic novel Watchmen presents the non-fantastic representation of a superhero, implying that not all heroes are like Superman. This notion is explored within the novel by mentioning the realistic motives of the characters choosing to become superheroes, by Rorschach’s representation and through the heroic reactions of the New Yorkers to a street crime. These elements all contribute to Watchmen’s uniqueness and complexity as a superhero comic.
Hughes, Jamie A. "Who Watches the Watchmen?: Ideology and 'Real World' Superheroes." Journal of Popular Culture39.4 (2006): 546-557. SPORTDiscus with Full Text. EBSCO. Web. 25 Feb. 2010
Everyone dreams of being a hero however the path is narrow. The mantle of responsibility is important aspects and the presence of the heroic traits must be shown in some form. However, there will always be outliers and deemed delusional who attempt to be heroes. In Watchmen, Moore creates an omnipotent hero who lacks humanity in the portrayal of the Dr. Manhattan as a psychopathic anti-hero.
Mason Ruiz, in his speech entitled “Looking for Superheroes,” had a clear purpose in mind when delivering his message. Throughout his speech, he aimed to inspire and motivate his audience to embrace their potential to be everyday heroes. By focusing on the theme of superheroes, Ruiz effectively conveyed his message through his chosen topic, word choice, and tone, ultimately revealing the intended audience for his speech. First, Ruiz’s choice of a topic, superheroes, immediately captured the attention of his audience.
To the vast majority of society, the traits of a hero parallel the modern day superhero: flying men clothed in spandex suits and caps, rescuing the girl, and high-fiving his sidekick. Heroes must be tall, handsome, mysterious, humble, and, generally, rise above a very unstable childhood. Sensationalized on every product imaginable, today’s heroes appear in movies, in cartoons, on t-shirts, on lunch boxes, on backpacks, and every other merchandising opportunity. The legends of heroes have been present in human society since the beginning of time; however, the past’s tales of brave men did not contain characters with the same traits of today’s heroes. The protagonists of classic heroic tales, stories created long before our modern conceptions,
The superhero genre is so popular and influential that many studies have been done on its depictions of the groups and the impact it has on a large part of society how it has “become a staple on film, television, and in video games” (http://salempress.com/pdf/cigraphicnovel_samplepgs.pdf). The genre is so influential in fact, that it dates back all the way to the Ancient Greeks, and possibly even further (http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150819-before-marvel-and-dc-superheroes-of-the-ancient-world). Every group in history has had their mythologies and epic tales of crime fighters, they just did not call them superheroes. For example, Achilles only had one weakness (his heel) and was
Comic books have been used as a source of entertainment for years. Comics create an opportunity for its readers to witness the storylines of fictional characters and to experience these characters through their hardships and triumphs. Relating to the story is a big part of a comic book’s success. Whether the main character is an alien or a superhero that can fly, the reader must feel connected and understand the protagonist’s personal struggles. Writers of these comic books usually use real world issues as inspiration to create these relatable story lines.
In the last 70 years, many things about America have changed. Yet every week since the 1940s, Americans still run to their nearest comic book shop to buy stories about the characters that they love and look up to. Many superheroes have barely changed since mid-19th century, but the industry as a whole has changed us as Americans and as citizens across the globe. Comic book characters have provided a sense of comfort to us, giving us someone to root for and as an escape into a fantasyland of powers and abilities. They have been used as propaganda and also to advance movements amongst the people such as the Civil Rights and Feminist movements. Also, the shift in our real world has changed the tone of comics, such as terrorism becoming a main idea of many comics following 9/11. Now, the movie industry has brought comics to life and has made some of the highest grossing film franchises which pull in billions upon billions of dollars. But this industry has had its ups and downs. Many have subjected it to harsh criticisms about the unrealism they show and the way they depict certain groups. Regardless, comics have changed the course of American history and shaped our culture.
Captain America. Wonder woman. Superman. Nightshade. All superheroes immortalized in graphic novels. All masked vigilantes charged with saving humankind from danger and from themselves. We perceive them as god-like creatures, ethereal beings who literally hold the power of life and death in their hands. It is what draws us to them, the idea that there is something larger than us…someone tangible and of pure intention and heart to constantly defend the rights of the persecuted and forgotten. One who would gladly give up their own lives to save ours.
It’s important to recognize the cultural significance of certain superheroes due to the reactionary nature of comics. [PERIODICAL STYLE OF PUBLICATION] Heroes like Superman and Captain American are largely based on the Jewish folklore clay-beings, Golems. Following the mythology of the “Golem of Prague,” these creatures were mindless, anthromorphic matter formed through magic to protect and defend the people of Jewish fate suffering from the injustices of anti-Semitism that permeated global society (Bilefsky). The connection becomes more apparent when it’s recognized that “superheroes” function in generally the same way as a Golem; unquestioning in protecting those who cannot protect themselves. Characters like Superman and Captain America are the comic equivalent of those saviors created from the manifestation of the rise of the Third Reich.
Everyone has a favorite superhero they want be like and have their special abilities. Superheroes save innocent lives and influenced many people to do good by displaying courage, morality, and resilience. Their Superhero qualities help them gain confidence to remain as Superheroes. Also, they utilize their super abilities or super-gadgets with relish.
Rosenberg, R. S. (2010, March 11). The Superheroes. Retrieved January 01, 2014, from Sussex Directories, Inc.: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-superheroes/201003/what-is-superhero