In class the other day, we engaged in a rousing conversation (well, others engaged, I listened intently) about what our reactions would be if Batman was real. Besides the fact that I don't usually get to discuss my DC and Marvel interests during class time (with permission) it was a really eye opening experience for one main reason:
I realized that if I were to walk down the street and come across Batman or Superman or Spider-Man or Captain America or, oh god, the Hulk, I would freak the fuck out.
I don't mean freak out in that excited fan-girlish way that we witness outside One Direction concerts, I mean I would want to run away screaming in panic and the only reason I wouldn't is that I knew the supposed hero had the potential to catch and snap me in half before I could make it to the next sidewalk square if they really wanted to. The thing is, while the idea of a superhero to help keep the streets clean is very appealing, the reality is much less so. Do you really want someone who seems to be extremely powerful, seemingly uncontrollable and untouchable, walking around? Especially if part of their powerful-ness is special magic-type shiz you've never seen or been introduced to before? Especially if their only weakness is something like Kryptonite, which you can't even get on this planet meaning you're most likely royally screwed? Oh, AND they like to wear tights around just for fun?
You'd think most people would be freaked out.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing on superheroes or anything, they are one of my hidden addictions; I'm kinda in love with Steve Rogers (he becomes so much more bad-ass in Cap 2) and I have a not-so-hidden, not-so-healthy obsession with Harry Potter. The fact that I have read all of the books 20-30 times each, read and write HP fanfiction for fun, have a dedicated Harry Potter shelf in my room for the books, spin-offs, my wand and other HP artifacts, and also based my blog title off of it (thanks Hermione) should be enough proof of that. All I'm trying to say is that if any of the superheroes were to exist in real life we would not know their back stories, or what they do while not in overly-gaudy garb, or who broke their heart back in the seventh grade. The only thing we would be aware of was that they were strong and we were not and thus we would be defenseless in comparison. This may not be the best example, but think Syndrome from the Incredibles; for all we know the superhero could just as easily be evil. And then we would be out of luck. Which would be extremely unfortunate.
I know that isn't really fair to the superhero if all they were really tying to do was help us, but that's just how it is. In fact, now that I'm thinking about it, the writers for all of these superhero books and movies and cartoons seem to know that the public would not be the most welcoming to them. In the Avengers, the Avengers are blamed by the media for the destruction of New York post-battle, despite the fact that they just saved the human race from an alien invasion. In Harry Potter, Harry suffers from the Daily Prophet dragging his name through the mud. In Spider-Man (the cartoons at least) the paper bashes him over and over again because they don't think him being a vigilante in that way is good. That also happens in one of the newer Spider-Man movies with Andrew Garfield (whom I love, by the way) except I know the police have a lot to say about him and not so much the newspaper. I can't think of any specific other examples off the top of my head at the moment, but it is is a very common theme because it is human nature to be wary of those who are not the same as us.
Alas, I guess that although in my head having superheroes around would be super cool, the reality of the situation would not be nearly so pleasant.
