Death of a Hero

Sitting in the magazine section at the local grocery story, I studied the subject of manhood. It was 1959 and I was eight years old. I came here every week on Saturdays while my mother shopped for our family groceries. I always went straight for the magazines, comic books to be exact. I liked a wide variety of comics, but one of my favorites was Superman. He was an exciting and handsome hero. There was mystery, adventure, romance, and rescue. I could trust Superman to do the right thing... always.

There were other magazines in that section that portrayed a different aspect of manhood. I knew they were forbidden but I sneaked a look out of curiosity. They were for bad men, I figured out. I had seen "bad men" when my father, an attorney, took me with him to the county jail. So I had these two, very definitive categories in my mind for men. There were the heros, like my dad and Superman and there were the other kind of men who were scary, bad, untrustworthy.

My ideal of Superman died in the 70's with the remake of the old movie. Superman for the first time in my knowlege did a bad thing. I was a young adult, expectantly watching my old hero in big, bold, color with all the newest film technology. He had everything going for him...and what did this former hero do? He spent the night with Lois Lane. He was still strong and brave and able to stop bullets, but he could not control his passion. He was not self-sacrificing.

Last night, thirty years later, I found out what happened to my former hero. Sad, but true. Having fathered an illegitimate child and leaving his lover, he missed the first five years of his son's life in order to satisfy his desire to find his lost planet. He returns to find Lois living with another lover. Of course, Superman is still in love with her. So then we have this weird triangle where her new lover is really a very nice guy and even helps save Superman's life and Lois loves them both. Superman's little boy stands around looking bewildered.

I'm bewildered too. Because this sordid mess is a reflection of our culture today. Just who do kids look up to when the adults around them have such messed up lives? Well, I guess there is still Spiderman... I can always hope that he does the right thing. Better to marry than burn. I just thought "superman" knew that. The special effects were great anyway.

Rococo