My 13 year old and I had one of our more interesting talks the other day. My kids had dragged me to a movie they love, full of multiverses of heroes and artful animation. Not my usual movie choice, but I enjoyed it. Afterwards, we talked about the ‘good guys’ and the ‘bad guys’ (actually we didn’t use the word ‘guys’ at all, but that’s another essay). We talked about how, with a multiverse of heroes with different personalities and stories, it was hard to understand them all as classically “good,” yet they were.
And what did they think about that?
In the past fifteen years or so, it seems for a hero to be believable, they must have a flaw, preferably several, with a leaning to some darker psychological traits too. No more simple Kryptonite for Superman, we now have heroes who have more nuanced challenges. And the best superheroes are also cynical, pesky, troubled, Wiley, punk or anti-authority.
Goodness is understood, not because the hero is smiling and saving the day with fans fainting grateful thanks, but because they wrestle with confusing stuff, and still have someone to hang with.
The inverse seems more and more true too: the villains always have a backstory of why they are the way they are, and many are downright relatable. Often they are sympathetic to the end, with some members of the audience hoping they’ll make one decent choice and turn it all around ??♀️. They don’t.
My 13 year old talked about the characters in terms of being “hero-coded” vs. “villain-coded” instead of “good” and “bad,” which was fascinating in and of itself.
These critical identities used programming language, but still left space for personal choice and seemingly quantum knowledge of multiple paths existing at once. Funny, how it’s so natural to understand oneself in this expanded way – as one of many! Together, as we went through the characters’ interactions, we drew some conclusions that I feel are true in real life too.
“Hero Coded” (HC) characters had super powers
“Villain Coded” (VC) characters had super powers
HC’s often try to do magnanimous behaviors, and sometimes fail, or are misunderstood, or use their powers for selfish gain (to get the girl or guy)
The VC characters, at one time wanted to help humanity, but stayed angry about their failings and focused on revenging a perceived slight.
HCs – despite their fears or inabilities – helped their friends. They had community.
VCs – denied their fears and inabilities, and usually acted alone.
Selfishness was present in both HC and VC, but heroes had forgiveness of self and others, while villains did not.
I think this definition of super hero is much closer to the reality of being human. We ARE in fact programmed, we are also powerful, and we have the ability to do things that are magnanimous and selfish – across the universe. And none of this is what defines us as ‘good people’ or ‘bad people.’ To be super, is only
to be: forgiving vs. vengeful
and to
trust flawed friends
* Spiderman Across the Spiderverse (© 2023 Sony Pictures Animation Inc. MARVEL and all related character names: © & ™ 2023 MARVEL.
