Superman isn’t real!
Growing up in America, Hollywood has raised us on a very specific idea of the villain. Close your eyes and you can easily picture this weird, strange-looking, super-rich, non-caring, usually pretty much psychotic character that becomes the temporary downfall of the Ethan Hunts, James Bonds, and Bruce Waynes of film fantasy. We watch on the edge of our seats, all the while knowing in our heart of hearts that good will win. Harry Potter was always destined to vanquish Voldemort.
Well, here is a sad truth! That idea, where good always wins, that is what makes it a Hollywood fantasy. We live in a world where we have not only witnessed the birth of these villains in real life, but some have elevated them to the actual hero status. Let’s take the first who come to mind: the hideous two Americans that literally would fit better in the scripts of an Austin Powers sequel, however they sadly exists in actual reality. Seriously, where outside of Hollywood would some super-rich, villainous asshole psycho actually buy a billion-dollar company and spend more than a year tanking it because the company made him follow rules? Spout off to the press, create disention at every chance and get voted out of your own company because you are off your rocker! It sounds like a movie plot.
Open the pages of any graphic novel and you will find a villainous world leader who gets away with treason, gets in pissing contests with media and late-night talk show hosts, and calls court clerks names in social media during court. I seriously keep waiting for the Boondocks Saints to kick the door down and pull off some grandiose public execution. Of course It does not end with these extremes; villains seem to be the new heroes. You can find them in corporations, running other countries, in Hollywood for real, and all over social media oh yeah! Also running social media and, oh, let’s not forget, there is no Harry Potter and no Batman coming to save us. It’s just the villains, and it does not matter what side you are on; they are everywhere on all sides. As a Democrat or a Republican, we should still be capable of seeing these monsters intentionally aligning themselves with the extremes in each party. They are the living embodiment of social media algorithms, pitching the extremes at all costs, fanning the flames of justice, injustice, race, racism, gay agenda, homophobia. Why do they do this? For me It is easy to see. A scared and whipped-up public is easy to control. However, it is such a shitty, tired old script.
We, the people, are now actually playing the part of the hollow-faced, meaningless extras in the role of bullet-riddled cannon fodder. It is utterly ridiculous that the events of these hideous lunatics get played and played and then played again, and none of it means a thing. We continue to be too distracted to focus on humanity, and it has opened the door for families to hate families, friends to stop loving friends, parents and children being split apart. If you wrote this shit in a book, no one would believe it. Some of the most amazing people I know think differently than I do. We have fundamental differences in our beliefs about God, our views on humanity, guns, abortion – sometimes one or two differences, and sometimes all of them. I love these people. I failed when I tried to insulate myself from differences in an effort to shame it.
I do not want to live in a world where everyone thinks the same. I love debating, I love influencing, and I love being influenced. The villains of which I write are the bullhorn-waving, dare I say Nazi-like humans that will shun every difference in you. The shame in those small moments when you do not align with your hero becomes a seed of doubt which grows into insecurity and creates the perfect place for you to quietly lower your head and submit. Batman, Superman, and even Harry Potter, they are not coming! What we love in them, what we see in them, why they become heroes, that lives inside each of us. That surely must resonate! We have within us the ability to see the monsters and come together to save ourselves. We have the idea of truth, justice, and balance woven into the fundamental nature of human beings! Throughout all time, stories are told of the oppressed and those who rose up. Some things in life are wrong, challenging, and inherently ugly. Villainous monsters will always have a fleet of followers, those who cannot find the good or the balance. The other millions of us cannot afford to stand idle while these money-grubbing, fucking criminals fleece us with our eyes wide open.
