Tag: Myth

“Superhero movies are like fairy tales for older people,” continues Lee, whose voice envelops the listener with a raspy, lilting warmth. “All those things you imagined –if only I could fly or be the strongest — are about wish fulfillment. … And because of that, I don’t think they’ll ever go out of vogue.”

This is from article in today’s WaPo on Stan Lee’s take on super-hero films. The article is, as usual, puerile and unenlightening which is not the author’s fault who I know writes to the general standards of the WaPo that is militantly middle-brow-superficial. Still Lee’s insights say a lot.

Let me parse what he said just a little. First of all “fairy tales” are not just for children. I think it’s been pretty well-proven by now that these tales are the remnants of ancient teaching stories that go back millenia in one for or another. The most obvious of these stories (or collection of stories) are the Mahabharata, the Illiad and Odyssey, and the Bible are stories crafted over time to have resonance with children, average adults, and those that aspire to or have achieved a higher state of consciousness. These themes can be shown to have deep resonance in the human psyche. None of these stories were “wish fulfillment” stories though some contain elements of wish fulfillment. The modern super-hero myth, like the fractured modern version of fairy tales aimed at children, has no depth of wisdom. At best, as Lee later explains in the article the heroes have “personality” i.e., they are just like you and me with the usual life difficulties. This is a device to connect us viscerally with the characters and it works–but it is not wisdom it’s just a device.

IOZ suggests that all this caterwauling about Constitutional issues could be self-deception from a people who historically were born on third and thought they hit a triple.

I have long thought that “American Exceptionalism” could largely be attributed to historical accident, i.e., the convergence of enlightenment thinking, the industrial revolution and a fresh petri dish.  It all must have seemed so manifest, eh?

It is tempting to leave it at that.

On the other hand.

One might further assume that the exactly ambiguous wording of the Constitution, prior English law, the magna carta, etc., were also accidental.  

Then let’s also assume that crying out in pain under the sharp elbows of conspecifics and the “alarm substance” given off by damaged fish scales to fellow schoolers are also accidental nonsense.

All accidental associations by mere contiguity, nothing more than a pitcher wearing his “lucky” socks.  Those fastballs down the tube never really happened.  He never really could throw gas.

Yes, they went there: the LA Times is featuring on its homepage a major story examining a portion of John McCain’s military record:

Mishaps mark John McCain’s record as naval aviator

Here’s the subhead:

Three crashes early in his career led Navy officials to question or fault his judgment. A Times review of his record suggests he was cocky, occasionally cavalier and prone to testing limits.

The once-sacred-cow, the Time Period Of Which We Dare Not Speak, is now fair game for the corporate media.

This cannot be good news for McCain.