Study: Superheroes Might Not Be Such Super Role Models
By
Bitt_Player,
Posted on: 2010-08-18 12:56 in Comic and Hero-Villain Culture
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Don�t say things. What you are stands over you the while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary. - R.W. Emerson |
YUMMY Low-Hanging Fruit for BASE LUV
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ROTFL! I was just thinking of putting up a link to the Bats-Joker "Boner" exchange, but you beat me to it! On the "Superdickery" site, many examples of shocking superhero behaviour abound, from Wonder Woman in bondage to Robin suggestively astride a giant cannon to Superman being, well, uh, a complete dick. Everyone should see the "Archie Meets The Punisher" one-shot cover, which was not photoshopped, but actually exists, though I never saw a copy at Mac's. Perhaps Frank found out that Mr. Lodge was laundering money for Colombian drug lords and busted a cap in his a$$. There's also plenty of good old-fashioned hilarious wartime Japanazi racism, and a great deal of just plain strange stuff on "Superdickery". Every fanboy & girl and pop culture ubergeek owes it to themselves to visit this strange & wonderful site!
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Originally Posted by Innovator
Well...
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I Superdickery safe these days? At one point I was getting a virus warning from it (probably from an ad). That was over a year ago though.
She seems to be at odds with her own mindset. On one hand, she says heroes aren't as heroic any more, and sadly, as more of a Silver Age fan myself, I think there's some truth to that. On the other hand, she seems to be against aggression in a very "let's join hands and sing kumbaya," PC kind of way (and IMHO, a lot of what man has carved out for himself has been due to our dynamic, aggressive nature, rather than this notion of "can't we all just get along").
I just hope that none of this silliness was funded by Uncle Sucker...
Troy Hickman - So proud to have contributed to and played in this wonderful CoH universe
Story: And link http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movi...le-models.html
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What's that you say? A rogue vigilante, who dons a mask at night to fight crime while using illegal weapons, with no endorsement from local law enforcement authorities, may not be a good role model for young boys?
Incredulity aside, it turns out that even some of the "nicer" comic-book heroes might not be so good for the kids. That's the conclusion of a new study of current superhero movie characters (how does one apply for this job?). The researchers behind the study shared their findings at the American Psychological Association convention this past Sunday. What's most surprising about the results of the study is that it doesn't necessarily vilify all of these powerful characters -- just modern-day superheroes. The superheroes your parents watched and read many moons ago? Those guys were just fine.
Sharon Lamb from the University of Massachusetts-Boston, who spoke on behalf of the study, explained: "Today's superhero is too much like an action hero who participates in non-stop violence; he's aggressive, sarcastic, and rarely speaks to the virtue of doing good for humanity. When not in superhero costume, these men, like Iron Man, exploit women, flaunt bling, and convey their manhood with high-powered guns."
Iron Man, Lamb's example of a modern-day superhero, debuted in March of 1963 in issue number 39 of "Tales of Suspense." In 1979, the Iron Man story went through an arc known as "Demon in a Bottle," which portrayed Tony Stark's (Iron Man's true identity) battle with alcoholism. That storyline was later loosely adapted into the two "Iron Man" movies.
Photos: Movie stills from 'Iron Man 2'
There is a valid point within the research that young boys who don't have real-life role models may turn to their movie idols to compensate for their lack of guidance. Especially considering that a slew of these comic-book demigods -- Peter Parker as Spider-Man; The X-Men -- are themselves considered outsiders in their personal lives. The problem is, of course, that real-life humans haven't been bitten by radioactive spiders or developed mutant powers. As the researchers discovered, this leads to problems when movie marketing can "take advantage of boys' need to forge their identity in adolescence and sell them a narrow version of masculinity."
Lamb's research concluded there are only two types of personalities that today's boys have the option to aspire to: the aforementioned superhero or the cracking-wise slacker. (What, no vampires?)
Doing her best to channel the character of John Bender's dad from "The Breakfast Club," Lamb explains her findings about on-screen slackers thusly: "Boys are told, 'if you can't be a superhero, you can always be a slacker.' Slackers are funny, but slackers are not what boys should strive to be; slackers don't like school and they shirk responsibility. We wonder if the messages boys get about saving face through glorified slacking could be affecting their performance in school. (/quote)
Why can't people let boys be boys and enjoy comic superheroes?
Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.