Spiderman Acceptance In Popular Culture

Spiderman: Acceptance in Popular Culture and Society

What makes a superhero? There are many superheroes presented in popular culture and each of these heroes has some form of a super power. However, if it was the superpower that makes someone a superhero, then even aliens presented in movies and comics would be super. The purpose of this essay is to argue that the acceptance of the superheroes in American culture is tied to the audience’s ability to connect with the superhero at some level. The superhero considered in the context of this essay is Spiderman. It is how Spiderman is shown to connect with normal people despite his super powers that make him a superhero. A person who is different from the mainstream American culture might be received

In the opinion of many, even in President Johnson’s cabinet, the newly raised minimum wage had made it harder for teenagers to find jobs in the early to mid-1960’s…Peter finally found a job as a freelance photographer, but his pay was frequently terrible, and his boss, Newspaper publisher J. Jonah Jameson, was a nightmare…In one issue, Spider-Man sardonically admonished a villain for destroying a chair because of what the cost of fixing it would be due to inflation” (Bateman, 2015,

Consider the Spiderman before the 1970’s: Spiderman during this time was presented as combatting the issues in current politics. Primarily, the superhero was shown to be fighting against communists as in the case of cold war political issues and most of the heroics associated with Spiderman are reflective of what was happening in that time (Kempton). After Vietnam and The Watergate scandal , as societal focus shifted, it was noted that Spiderman no longer was presented as being involved in those issues, he was now more of a social crusader fighting for the ills of society such as drug trafficking and combatting hate groups. This was a time when the country was no longer involved in wars and thus the role of spider man was reduced to meeting the social ills of society, and yet again people were able to connect with the spider better as the country was indeed focused on internal issues at that time. In the latter part of the 1970’s Spiderman was considered more as an escapist rather than as a super hero because of the way Spiderman was portrayed (Genter). However, elements of the character reflected how Spiderman was actually embodying liberalism of the times. “During the late 60’s and early 70’s, Spider-Man