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We All Like Heroes
"With great power comes great responsibility." His Uncle Ben spoke those words to Peter Parker. But being a nerdy and irresponsible teenager, those wise words didn’t mean much. While growing up as a youth, I consumed a steady diet of marvel comics. Therefore, when X-Men made it to the big screen, the kid in me was draw to the action. And except for a couple of unnecessary obscenities, it delivered the action. But when the previews for the web slinging wall crawler hit the papers, a least one ticket was sold. It has been many years since I’ve actually read a Marvel comic. The costumes have changed, the themes are dark and gruesome, and the violence is excessive. The X-men are now called uncanny, which is another way of saying "weird", but at least Spider-man has kept his sense of humor. The story is about the life of Peter Parker, a science wiz who accidentally gets bitten by a genetically altered radioactive spider. He wakes up the next morning to discover he doesn’t need glasses anymore, and he has lightning quick reflexes and superhuman strength. He can also climb walls, feel danger approaching (spider sense), and shoot web from his wrist. With all the added features, it seems like life should immediately improve for this teen. Not so. Living a double life is never easy. For example, Peter has to keep his identity a secret from all his close friends and relatives, even the girl next door who he has admired all his life. He gets a great opportunity to roommate with his best friend, but it turns out that his friend’s dad is his enemy, "The Green Goblin". We all have problems to deal with, and sometimes there are no easy solutions. We all like heroes, because they are special. We think they are above the problems we face because they are super strong and can do super things. We need to remember that if we can’t be happy with whom we are in everyday life, we can’t be happy crawling walls and spinning web. If you would like to discover something wonderful, then seek and find the hero inside of you. |