I've been thinking a bit about heroes this morning, partially on account of having watched part of 1978's Superman again. The trend in modern films is of course the anti-hero, so instead of watching stories about good versus evil, we watch stories about different factions of evil battling for control of hell — aptly echoed in modern American politics in this upcoming election. I almost think that modern story telling and modern politics deserve each other (and maybe created each other).
The scene in Superman when Jonathan Kent dies always makes me sad… Maybe I'm crazy or behind the times, but I really believe in working hard, doing the right thing, and helping others. Why do so few people seem to believe in truth, justice, and the American* way? The idea has almost become farcical — you'd have to be some kind of “silly idealist” to behave like that (or even a “hippy” or whatever derisive term is in vogue)… Of course, Superman was always painted as a nerdy Dudley-Do-Right type character, so maybe I'm just blabbing about nothing.
In any case, when I'm watching a movie or otherwise being told a piece of mythology, I want to look up to my heroes — I don't want to relate to them or identify with them, or think they're “cool” because they're bad-ass in some way. I want them to represent goodness. I want them to be good. That's the whole point, at least from my point of view — the purpose of storytelling should be to guide humanity to goodness, not just carnal entertainment (not that there's not space for a little lust — the Bible's got tons of sex in it of course).
In my own weird way, I suppose that's why I've kept slogging at BME the way I do instead of running it like a “real business” like I probably should… because I believe that body modification can help people find that good in their lives and I feel I have a duty to help on account of having been at the right time at the right place to start the site (and having been helped by it myself).
"0 truant muse, what shall be thy
amends for thy neglect of truth
in beauty dy'd?"
The sad thing is that if you look at the mythologies of dying cultures — examine the artwork and literature of the Roman empire (given the technology of the time, a far more successful empire politically than what we have now), you see the same trends and themes playing out… Basically for most of human history storytelling has been about “goodness” — but when societies collapse and become corrupt and disillusioned, they start churning out artwork that upholds depravity as worthy of great tales — perhaps an attempt to justify the decay in the society itself. The Nazis were right to point out the dangers in degenerate art, but I'm not entirely convinced they understood the issues either since their own end product was fundamentally unsustainable.
What people don't “get” is that “goodness” comes from inside people, a single person at a time — it's why American Transcendentalism was such a pure and beautiful movement. Goodness not an artificial construct or an “addition” to truth. “Evil” is a mistake, a lie. “Good” is the natural state. So why so much evil? Maybe it's as simple as original sin. Humans are fucked up, but luckily we're smart enough to overcome that. Why do human babies cry so much more than puppies wimper? Because humans have designed a life of misery, and it takes babies a few years to build up the tolerance. The Inuit believe that if a child cries, it is universally the parents' fault, but maybe that's a primitive idea? Well, God's calling and I've got an Ark to build. See y'all after the flood.
Vade retro, Earthgirl! I know you don't really exist.
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* The American way as espoused by Superman and the spirit of the American people, not foreign dictators like Bush!
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