. I wish I had been able to be among the earliest viewers of the movie, to be truly and completely caught off guard when Charlize Theron’s character reveals her power and throws Will Smith’s through the wall, together with the fridge. Even so, it was a great movie, with a lot going for it. The underlying premises are all intriguing – from the idea of a superhero who needs to improve his image (and his attitude), to the notion that what were once called “gods” are now called “superheroes”, to the idea that the gods had the ability to form pairs and become mortal and grow old together, to the notion that someone might choose to give up the one they love in order to allow them to remain immortal.
It is true that the gods and heroes of such stories remain popular in one form or another. We long for a parental figure, or better still an older and stronger sibling, who will stand up for us. Yet how much satisfaction do we really get when the bully or the criminal gets a taste of their own medicine? On the one hand, there is something that seems just – surely if those who are selfish can take what they want if they are strong enough, surely somewhere there must be one who is both stronger and good. On the other hand, it is crucial to our living to find a way to live and be good even if we aren’t always strongest, even if we can’t simply make evil vanish through a show of will and power.
Sooner or later, we realize that such deities do not exist. They are a projection of our deep seated desire for justice, or for power, or for fairness, or for rescue and salvation. But Superman will not show up. And that is as it should be. For ultimately children need to grow up and become independent of their parents. And their parents need to step aside and allow them to do so (can you tell I caught a glimpse of today’s Dr. Phil while flipping through the channels?). And it is our fear at this prospect that causes us to personify the ultimate and reduce it into a superhero. And it is the beneficence of the ultimate that such needs are not satisfied, but rather our deeper, real need to become mature and responsible.
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