I despise the very concept of superheroes

[TomWiley]

What I dislike about superhero movies is that they always portray the police as; at best, incompetent fools, and at worst, corrupt and evil. Apparently, an armed force with years of tactical training can't do anything right while some dude who just happened to step in radioactive waste, get bit by a spider or be insanely rich is next to flawless.

Not to mention that superheroes always seem to have a mandate to stand above the law, often breaking international laws and violating civil rights because, apparently, only they know what's best for the public. They can't do it because their depicted as stronger and smarter, so obviously they don't have to be bound by silly things like laws and restrictions. That's a horrible message for any movie to convey to it's audience.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Alright let me cover this one bit at a time.

The first. the whole point of the genre is a power fantasy, not some horrible propaganda.

Secondly. every comic producing company has several "normal" characters working as equals the abnormally blessed ones. I distinctly remember batman being in the justice league. This is specifically to subvert the whole "ubermensch" thing.

point the third. real life isn't fair. why should fiction be?

Point the fourth.. Most "superhero" comics implicitly if not explicitly are about the types of ways people respond to having power. People need to have power in order for this to work.

agree with all this.

i can't believe the butthurt going on with some of these posts...ironman and batman single handedly destroy "supers" time and time again, hell besides the flash and i think plasticman, doesn't batman have a plan/way to defeat every single super out there?

 

[Hagi]

Heh, it continues to amuse me to no end how Batman and Iron Man are seen as having no superpowers.

They have the greatest power of them all, plot power. The plot requires them to be equal to those heroes with amazing powers yet at the same time requires them to have no formal superpowers of their own. In the end this means that they're always capable of providing a significant contribution, but lacking a formal description of their superpowers they suffer from no limitations whatsoever.

In just about every Justice League Batman is punched by beings powerful enough to make Superman, someone who's completely immune to bullets, bleed. The worst he usually gets, if anything at all, is a few broken ribs. Those are punches that impact with more force than bullets. The only logical conclusion is that not only does Batman have infinite money, superhuman intelligence but he's also got super toughness.

The exact same thing goes for Iron Man, probably even more so since he seems to frequently crash from extreme heights. The impact of that would kill any normal being, even those wearing metal suits of armor. Those wearing metal suits of armor would only be hurt more. The logical conclusion? Iron Man possesses super toughness.

They've got many more super powers. Their adventures see them do stuff that's completely superhuman every day. Which is completely fine, they're awesome adventures. But those guys are superheroes with superpowers, the power to have whatever superpower the plot demands without actually calling it a superpower.

 

[Galletea]

Generally the whole idea of superheroes is to build them up and then exploit their weaknesses to show them as being very human and vulnerable. I don't really get your reasoning for not liking the idea of superheroes, since it is no more unrealistic than anything else in fiction. Being super strong or able to fly is not that far removed from being super rich and a genius at the same time, or able to craft ridiculous gadgetry, or being incredibly observant.

 

[Kanatatsu]

holy hell, OP needs to relax and understand escapist fantasy for what it is.

 

[JPArbiter]

Best Super Hero for the OP is Captain America. 'Merica took a weakling Girly Man and made him into the pinnacle of human evolution.

AMERICA MADE IT'S OWN HERO!

 

[Strazdas]

The reason people like superheroes is egoistic wish fulfilment. When i watch a sueprhero movie i dream of what i woudl do with this power. many others do so as well. Its the reason why Dragon Ball was so popular as well. altrough i guess he technically can be a superhero too.

I dont go gglorifying them, i dont reald the comic books, i dont dress up like one or anything the sort, but i do enjoy watching a good movie with superpowers.
Heck, you dont need superheroes. Watch Chronicle, despite its (actually inventative way) of doing handcam effect, it is essiantely a regular jock turned suerperhero movie. You cant imagine how much im willing to give to be that guy and how differently i would have acted with this power.

 

[Ieyke]

When one looks at superhero franchises like Superman and X-Men, or fantasy works like Harry Potter, the common characteristic is the existence of a super-human class with genetic and innate traits that make them superior to regular humans. In all of these works of fiction, humans are at the complete mercy of these Ubermensch to save us because we are too weak to do it ourselves. And what's more, human attempts to level the playing field with technology are generally rendered ineffective because most superheroes and supervillains are conveniently immune to human weapons.

How can works of fiction that exist primarily to celebrate the innate superiority of one group of persons over the rest of humanity be so popular? What does this say about us? In the 19th century, some intellectuals subscribed to the flawed theory that the bulk of human progress could be attributed to the efforts a small number of "super men" through history. This worldview is related to eugenics, Social Darwinism, Randian thought, and all kinds of other superiority theories. I don't consider that crap to be much different than superhero worship.

There are no super men. Although there have been standout examples of great people through history, all of them were assisted in innumerable ways by other people. Human progress is the product of human collaboration, and not the product of a few.

The only superheroes I can abide are those who gain their powers through technology, such as Batman and Ironman. Screw Superman.

- A proud Muggle and Non-Mutant

I'm sorry you don't know how to understand awesome. You should clearly see a specialist.