The world loves a good superhero. Since the release of Iron Man in 2008, the Marvel Universe and its epic gang of superheroes have raked in billions of dollars worldwide. These numbers don’t even include the DC Universe. (You can only choose one.) The market is flooded with superhero movies, TV shows, and cartoons. You would think we might get tired of seeing Black Panther or Black Widow save the day. But we don’t. Hollywood keeps churning out movies, and we keep paying to watch them.
I’ve heard children ask, “Are they real?” Just recently, I joked with a little boy who walked into a spider’s web that he just might get lucky if the spider bit him and it was radioactive. I turned to him, grinning, only to see an earnestly hopeful face staring right back at me. He took me seriously, telling me he would call me if he woke up the next morning with superhuman strength and the ability to cling to the ceiling.
The pull of superheroes is real. It is amazing how children love these characters. They admire them. They want to be them.
Miles Scott, a five-year-old leukemia survivor, had a wish come true a few years back. The Make-A-Wish Foundation transformed downtown San Francisco into Gotham City and welcomed him as Batkid. Everyone from the local news to the police department got in on it.
A call went out on social media for volunteers to show up downtown and help cheer Batkid on. Make-A-Wish expected 200 volunteers…25,000 answered the call. With the help of actor Eric Johnson playing Batman, Batkid saved a damsel in distress, threw Riddler in jail, and trounced Penguin.
When he was presented the key to the city at City Hall by Mayor Ed Lee, the crowds went crazy. President Obama called to congratulate him. The world was cheering him on. Batkid saved the day!
Superhero Mythology Is the Great Escape
We’re not that different from Miles. We would like to be superheroes, or at least have their powers—for a day…or even an hour. Who wouldn’t love to leave their day job and fly into outer space? Who wouldn’t want to have their nemesis shudder at the mention of their name?
Every year, hundreds of thousands of fans dress up as their favorite characters at hundreds of superhero and fantasy conventions across the globe. For a few days, they get hyped up about upcoming movies and shows. They meet their favorite actors. They pretend they are the heroes they wish they could be. And they buy loads of merch. Because we all love merch. But fun costumes aside, where does this great appeal for playing “superhero” come from?
Superhero mythology is a great escape.
Today’s Great Escape – Social Media
Let’s face it. We may or may not be facing a life-threatening illness like Miles, but Americans are pretty stressed out. In good times and bad, we always rank as one of the world’s most stressed nations. We are stressed about politics. Money. Pandemics. Relationships. Our health. Not only are we stressed out, but we are angry and sad. No wonder we want to escape.
Life can be difficult. No one gets through without a struggle. Challenges at home and at work are hard to overcome. We want to break free from the stress of real life and imagine a different scenario.
You may be thinking, I couldn’t care less about Comic-Con. But superhero tales aren’t the only method we use to escape. Social media is one of the main ways that we escape reality. The average American spends 4.5 hours on digital media per day.
If you can’t be a superhero, at least you can escape your problems by creating a “super” avatar. Your “super you” calls you to escape with as much force as that latest blockbuster in theaters.
Of course, confidence doesn’t come from social media likes, and fulfillment doesn’t come from being viewed a certain way by others. But the siren song of social media lures us into thinking that maintaining a superhero look is easier than developing “super” character.
If you’re sad, why not post a carefully curated story to Instagram to get Instalikes? Or if you’re anxious, just lose yourself on Facebook for an hour. Or seven. If you are feeling overwhelmed by life or overlooked by others, why not just watch YouTube videos on auto-play? The endless stream of entertainment will keep your mind occupied and free from stress. Until they stop. And you actually have to live your real life and face your real problems.
While it is fun to escape, real peace doesn’t come from escaping our problems. Hope doesn’t come from pretending you are someone else, no matter how cool your cape is.
The Hero Lens
Looking through rose-colored glasses is a Pollyannaish way to look at the world. Everything is good. Everything will work out. There are no insurmountable problems. As we all know, that isn’t real life. The opposite take is viewing life with dark, morbid glasses and a critical lens. Everything is bad. Nothing will work out. There is no solution to my problems. Both lenses are bad optics. Neither one reveals the truth of the situation.
Israel’s first king—Saul—lived his entire life going from one lens to the other. At first, he actually believed all the accolades people were heaping on him and made sure all the social media of the day reinforced his superhero status with the people. However, after young David killed the giant, Goliath, and knocked King Saul off the cover of GQ magazine, Saul removed his spectacular spectacles and replaced them with the gloomy glasses that he would then wear for the rest of his life.
Here’s the thing. Authentic heroes don’t look at life with rose-colored glasses or a defeatist view. They see the problems and issues in front of them as being very real, but they have a lens of hope. They face trials head-on. They aren’t looking for a way to escape. They look for a way into the battle of good versus evil. They aren’t concerned with looking good; they are concerned with doing good.
Real heroes don’t worry about the optics. Mostly. After all, the optics are usually bad for heroes, right? Doom? Gloom? The end of life as we know it? The day that David faced Goliath, his optics were looking pretty grim. Lucky for him, he wasn’t into optics.
If you want to dive deeper into optics, joy, authentic love, and more, grab a copy of my book, Overliked: Finding Direction, Courage, and Meaningful Relationships in a Society Crippled by Social Media, where you’ll find ways to get beyond the fake optics to the incredible love God wants you to have!
Until next time,
Pastor Rob
aka P-Ro