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If you look at some of the most popular television shows, movies, books, games and even myths, there is one common thread - abilities or skills greater than the average person. Its probably an evolutionary thing, while we as humans have cerainly evolved mentally, physically, we're hardly a formidable species, if you locked an unarmed human in a room with a tiger, then its pretty obvious who would fare better. To be honest chances are, if you locked an unarmed human in the room with a badger, the badger might come out victorious. As a species we are kind of physically lame, so might we seek characters that are more than we can be physically.
How many people do you think came out of watching a film with, say, Dustin Hoffman in, and say 'I wish I could be as smart as he was'. I'd bet there are very few. Or watch the West Wing, and remark when a character comes up with a brilliantly worded quip about 'how cool' the character is for coming up with such a snappy joke. Not as many as came out of Karate Kid going 'I want to learn karate' or wish they could beat people up like Buffy can. Its so common, there must be a reason for it in human nature.
Its not just modern society that has fantasised about having powers and abilities that make them 'superior' to others. The Greeks had a lot of myths, from the minotor, to Hurcules, to the Gods. A common theme among them all is that they are superior to humans physically, but often have character flaws that the lowly human can manipulate. Pehaps that is their attempt to redress the balance, and still feel good about themselves, but the fact remains that they worshipped and looked up to these entities.
From the early 20th century onwards, comic books were immensely popular, with the best selling ones featuring super heroes and villans, engaging in epic battles, with the hero often fighting to protect the civillians. Its possible that for many people the idea of someone looking out for the good and battling with evil comforted them, in a time where crime and violence was a part of life. But I believe that the main appeal was that the reader lived the adventures vicariously through the comic. Reading about the adventures of their chosen hero, imagining themselves beneath their mask, utilizing their special abilities, wishing that real life was like that.
The trend continued with films, and while it took a while for superhero films to become common, there have always been movie monsters and heroes. For Dracula there was Van Helsing, but if you asked most people who out of the two characters they would rather be if it was possible, most of them would have chosen Dracula. The reasons simple, he's got special powers. More support for the theory that we would rather be physically superior rather than intelectually superior? If it is, it would suggest that we would even sacrafice our morals and all ethical concerns in return for some physical edge.
Fast forward to the eighties and the trend continues still, action films featuring 'actors' the calibre of Arnold Schwarzenneger, Sylvester Stallone and (sic)Jean Claude Van Damme. Was it their acting 'talents' that made them stars? No. It was their bodies, and a large chunk of the audience who were avid fans of those films probably thought, if I could look like that Id get all the women and be as hard as he is. All the while downing a six pack and a curry adding to an already enormous gut. But in their mind, they're thinking that if they went to the gym they'd be able to play the hero and save the world, they just don't want to.
The ongoing popularity of superheroes and fantasy epics like Lord Of The Rings and the Star Wars saga show that even our modern, more sophisticated audience like to escape into a world where they can be the hero and experience situations that they would never face in real life. I know for one that I have had pretend light sabre fights, and wished that I could shoot Sith lightning out of my fingertips. As sad and pathetic as that looks written down, Im pretty sure that a lot of you have had similar experiences whether you'd like to admit it or not. With the popularity of Spiderman and Lord Of The Rings with the knee high audience seems to suggest that this phenomenon with continue for some time to come.
And finally onto videogames, where the idea of reality means photo quality graphics, but with an extensive knowledge of martial arts and stealth techniques as standard for the characters. Even games like Tony Hawks that are supposed to be realistic, allow even Big Boy Barry the 300lb couch potato to perform 720 flips and land jumps perfectly, where in reality he may not even be able to stand on a skateboard. videogames give the gamer the chance to experience what its like to have abilitie that they would never have in real life. Amusingly, a persons ability to play games is sometimes respected, it may be their superpower. But much like the 'Highly Trained Athletes' that compete in darts, their special abilities have very little real world use. But who needs the real world, in the gaming/movie/television/book world you can have superpowers. Even if your a mere human.
How many people do you think came out of watching a film with, say, Dustin Hoffman in, and say 'I wish I could be as smart as he was'. I'd bet there are very few. Or watch the West Wing, and remark when a character comes up with a brilliantly worded quip about 'how cool' the character is for coming up with such a snappy joke. Not as many as came out of Karate Kid going 'I want to learn karate' or wish they could beat people up like Buffy can. Its so common, there must be a reason for it in human nature.
Its not just modern society that has fantasised about having powers and abilities that make them 'superior' to others. The Greeks had a lot of myths, from the minotor, to Hurcules, to the Gods. A common theme among them all is that they are superior to humans physically, but often have character flaws that the lowly human can manipulate. Pehaps that is their attempt to redress the balance, and still feel good about themselves, but the fact remains that they worshipped and looked up to these entities.
From the early 20th century onwards, comic books were immensely popular, with the best selling ones featuring super heroes and villans, engaging in epic battles, with the hero often fighting to protect the civillians. Its possible that for many people the idea of someone looking out for the good and battling with evil comforted them, in a time where crime and violence was a part of life. But I believe that the main appeal was that the reader lived the adventures vicariously through the comic. Reading about the adventures of their chosen hero, imagining themselves beneath their mask, utilizing their special abilities, wishing that real life was like that.
The trend continued with films, and while it took a while for superhero films to become common, there have always been movie monsters and heroes. For Dracula there was Van Helsing, but if you asked most people who out of the two characters they would rather be if it was possible, most of them would have chosen Dracula. The reasons simple, he's got special powers. More support for the theory that we would rather be physically superior rather than intelectually superior? If it is, it would suggest that we would even sacrafice our morals and all ethical concerns in return for some physical edge.
Fast forward to the eighties and the trend continues still, action films featuring 'actors' the calibre of Arnold Schwarzenneger, Sylvester Stallone and (sic)Jean Claude Van Damme. Was it their acting 'talents' that made them stars? No. It was their bodies, and a large chunk of the audience who were avid fans of those films probably thought, if I could look like that Id get all the women and be as hard as he is. All the while downing a six pack and a curry adding to an already enormous gut. But in their mind, they're thinking that if they went to the gym they'd be able to play the hero and save the world, they just don't want to.
The ongoing popularity of superheroes and fantasy epics like Lord Of The Rings and the Star Wars saga show that even our modern, more sophisticated audience like to escape into a world where they can be the hero and experience situations that they would never face in real life. I know for one that I have had pretend light sabre fights, and wished that I could shoot Sith lightning out of my fingertips. As sad and pathetic as that looks written down, Im pretty sure that a lot of you have had similar experiences whether you'd like to admit it or not. With the popularity of Spiderman and Lord Of The Rings with the knee high audience seems to suggest that this phenomenon with continue for some time to come.
And finally onto videogames, where the idea of reality means photo quality graphics, but with an extensive knowledge of martial arts and stealth techniques as standard for the characters. Even games like Tony Hawks that are supposed to be realistic, allow even Big Boy Barry the 300lb couch potato to perform 720 flips and land jumps perfectly, where in reality he may not even be able to stand on a skateboard. videogames give the gamer the chance to experience what its like to have abilitie that they would never have in real life. Amusingly, a persons ability to play games is sometimes respected, it may be their superpower. But much like the 'Highly Trained Athletes' that compete in darts, their special abilities have very little real world use. But who needs the real world, in the gaming/movie/television/book world you can have superpowers. Even if your a mere human.
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Dustin Hoffman? Smart? Same Dustin Hoffman? Internet sarcasm is tres hard to convey.
And just to summarise...
I want superpowers. Other people have superpowers.
Good thread! :-)
I want superpowers. Other people have superpowers.
Good thread! :-)
If you look at some of the most popular television shows, movies, books, games and even myths, there is one common thread - abilities or skills greater than the average person. Its probably an evolutionary thing, while we as humans have cerainly evolved mentally, physically, we're hardly a formidable species, if you locked an unarmed human in a room with a tiger, then its pretty obvious who would fare better. To be honest chances are, if you locked an unarmed human in the room with a badger, the badger might come out victorious. As a species we are kind of physically lame, so might we seek characters that are more than we can be physically.
How many people do you think came out of watching a film with, say, Dustin Hoffman in, and say 'I wish I could be as smart as he was'. I'd bet there are very few. Or watch the West Wing, and remark when a character comes up with a brilliantly worded quip about 'how cool' the character is for coming up with such a snappy joke. Not as many as came out of Karate Kid going 'I want to learn karate' or wish they could beat people up like Buffy can. Its so common, there must be a reason for it in human nature.
Its not just modern society that has fantasised about having powers and abilities that make them 'superior' to others. The Greeks had a lot of myths, from the minotor, to Hurcules, to the Gods. A common theme among them all is that they are superior to humans physically, but often have character flaws that the lowly human can manipulate. Pehaps that is their attempt to redress the balance, and still feel good about themselves, but the fact remains that they worshipped and looked up to these entities.
From the early 20th century onwards, comic books were immensely popular, with the best selling ones featuring super heroes and villans, engaging in epic battles, with the hero often fighting to protect the civillians. Its possible that for many people the idea of someone looking out for the good and battling with evil comforted them, in a time where crime and violence was a part of life. But I believe that the main appeal was that the reader lived the adventures vicariously through the comic. Reading about the adventures of their chosen hero, imagining themselves beneath their mask, utilizing their special abilities, wishing that real life was like that.
The trend continued with films, and while it took a while for superhero films to become common, there have always been movie monsters and heroes. For Dracula there was Van Helsing, but if you asked most people who out of the two characters they would rather be if it was possible, most of them would have chosen Dracula. The reasons simple, he's got special powers. More support for the theory that we would rather be physically superior rather than intelectually superior? If it is, it would suggest that we would even sacrafice our morals and all ethical concerns in return for some physical edge.
Fast forward to the eighties and the trend continues still, action films featuring 'actors' the calibre of Arnold Schwarzenneger, Sylvester Stallone and (sic)Jean Claude Van Damme. Was it their acting 'talents' that made them stars? No. It was their bodies, and a large chunk of the audience who were avid fans of those films probably thought, if I could look like that Id get all the women and be as hard as he is. All the while downing a six pack and a curry adding to an already enormous gut. But in their mind, they're thinking that if they went to the gym they'd be able to play the hero and save the world, they just don't want to.
The ongoing popularity of superheroes and fantasy epics like Lord Of The Rings and the Star Wars saga show that even our modern, more sophisticated audience like to escape into a world where they can be the hero and experience situations that they would never face in real life. I know for one that I have had pretend light sabre fights, and wished that I could shoot Sith lightning out of my fingertips. As sad and pathetic as that looks written down, Im pretty sure that a lot of you have had similar experiences whether you'd like to admit it or not. With the popularity of Spiderman and Lord Of The Rings with the knee high audience seems to suggest that this phenomenon with continue for some time to come.
And finally onto videogames, where the idea of reality means photo quality graphics, but with an extensive knowledge of martial arts and stealth techniques as standard for the characters. Even games like Tony Hawks that are supposed to be realistic, allow even Big Boy Barry the 300lb couch potato to perform 720 flips and land jumps perfectly, where in reality he may not even be able to stand on a skateboard. videogames give the gamer the chance to experience what its like to have abilitie that they would never have in real life. Amusingly, a persons ability to play games is sometimes respected, it may be their superpower. But much like the 'Highly Trained Athletes' that compete in darts, their special abilities have very little real world use. But who needs the real world, in the gaming/movie/television/book world you can have superpowers. Even if your a mere human.
How many people do you think came out of watching a film with, say, Dustin Hoffman in, and say 'I wish I could be as smart as he was'. I'd bet there are very few. Or watch the West Wing, and remark when a character comes up with a brilliantly worded quip about 'how cool' the character is for coming up with such a snappy joke. Not as many as came out of Karate Kid going 'I want to learn karate' or wish they could beat people up like Buffy can. Its so common, there must be a reason for it in human nature.
Its not just modern society that has fantasised about having powers and abilities that make them 'superior' to others. The Greeks had a lot of myths, from the minotor, to Hurcules, to the Gods. A common theme among them all is that they are superior to humans physically, but often have character flaws that the lowly human can manipulate. Pehaps that is their attempt to redress the balance, and still feel good about themselves, but the fact remains that they worshipped and looked up to these entities.
From the early 20th century onwards, comic books were immensely popular, with the best selling ones featuring super heroes and villans, engaging in epic battles, with the hero often fighting to protect the civillians. Its possible that for many people the idea of someone looking out for the good and battling with evil comforted them, in a time where crime and violence was a part of life. But I believe that the main appeal was that the reader lived the adventures vicariously through the comic. Reading about the adventures of their chosen hero, imagining themselves beneath their mask, utilizing their special abilities, wishing that real life was like that.
The trend continued with films, and while it took a while for superhero films to become common, there have always been movie monsters and heroes. For Dracula there was Van Helsing, but if you asked most people who out of the two characters they would rather be if it was possible, most of them would have chosen Dracula. The reasons simple, he's got special powers. More support for the theory that we would rather be physically superior rather than intelectually superior? If it is, it would suggest that we would even sacrafice our morals and all ethical concerns in return for some physical edge.
Fast forward to the eighties and the trend continues still, action films featuring 'actors' the calibre of Arnold Schwarzenneger, Sylvester Stallone and (sic)Jean Claude Van Damme. Was it their acting 'talents' that made them stars? No. It was their bodies, and a large chunk of the audience who were avid fans of those films probably thought, if I could look like that Id get all the women and be as hard as he is. All the while downing a six pack and a curry adding to an already enormous gut. But in their mind, they're thinking that if they went to the gym they'd be able to play the hero and save the world, they just don't want to.
The ongoing popularity of superheroes and fantasy epics like Lord Of The Rings and the Star Wars saga show that even our modern, more sophisticated audience like to escape into a world where they can be the hero and experience situations that they would never face in real life. I know for one that I have had pretend light sabre fights, and wished that I could shoot Sith lightning out of my fingertips. As sad and pathetic as that looks written down, Im pretty sure that a lot of you have had similar experiences whether you'd like to admit it or not. With the popularity of Spiderman and Lord Of The Rings with the knee high audience seems to suggest that this phenomenon with continue for some time to come.
And finally onto videogames, where the idea of reality means photo quality graphics, but with an extensive knowledge of martial arts and stealth techniques as standard for the characters. Even games like Tony Hawks that are supposed to be realistic, allow even Big Boy Barry the 300lb couch potato to perform 720 flips and land jumps perfectly, where in reality he may not even be able to stand on a skateboard. videogames give the gamer the chance to experience what its like to have abilitie that they would never have in real life. Amusingly, a persons ability to play games is sometimes respected, it may be their superpower. But much like the 'Highly Trained Athletes' that compete in darts, their special abilities have very little real world use. But who needs the real world, in the gaming/movie/television/book world you can have superpowers. Even if your a mere human.
Page: