HeroMachine Character Portrait Creator

It’s easy to get caught up in Superman’s many physical powers. He’s got them all — strength, speed, invulnerability, vision powers, super-cold breath, you name it and he’s there.

But what’s always set him apart from any other character is his unwavering sense of personal honor and his code of conduct. Mirroring his physical prowess, he has all of the great virtues — humility, compassion, sincerity, honesty, you name it and he’s there. More than the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound, it’s Superman’s ability to hew to his own high standards that inspires.

It must be tempting, for this son of an alien world, to look down on us mere mortals. And yet he yearns, more than anything, for the same things the least among us does. To be loved. To be human. To be accepted.

He has these enormous powers, and uses them for good. But is that bravery? Or does the fact that he can’t really be hurt sever the very basis of bravery? Cowardice is a refusal to act out of fear for your own safety. But if you are always safe, can cowardice even be a consideration?

On the other hand, how many of us, given those powers, would be as willing to get up every day and fight the latest Lex Luthor-inspired giant robot rampaging through the city, even if we knew we couldn’t be hurt?

In many ways Superman really is the best symbol of 20th Century America, or at least how most Americans want to view themselves. As a mighty nation, impervious to all harm (physical or otherwise), willing to come to the defense of the defenseless, bringing hope and freedom to people desperate for its taste.

I can’t help but wonder, though, how much of that integrity and compassion exists only because of that sense of invulnerability? If he were deeply, grievously hurt, as America was on 9/11, how would he react? Would the code against killing, the honor of steel, withstand the enormous pressure of a wounded pride and heavy heart?

I like to think he would. Even if he went off the deep end, I hope he’d come back to what really makes him a hero. Not his muscles, but his heart. Not his powers, but his ideals. Because really, that’s what makes him super.

Random thought: Is Catwoman essentially a Furry stand-in, and is that why she’s so popular?

Negative corollary: If this were true, Tigra would be more popular, and she’s not.

(Image ©2007, Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc.)

Positive corollary: Catwoman is teh hawtness:

(With apologies to Neal Adams; to make up for my theft of the image go over to his site and buy it!)

Further discussion: Furries have become the designated punching-bags of the geek community. It reminds me of a story a Ph.D. friend of mine told about researching her dissertation. She was interviewing some Star Trek fans, and she asked them, “Do you think you’re geeks?” They said, “Well, yes, but we’re not as bad as those guys over there, who know every line from every show.” So she went over to those guys and asked them the same question, to which they also responded “Well, yes, but we’re not as bad as those guys over there, who go to conventions.” She then asked the convention-goers, who pointed to the people who dress up at conventions, who in turn pointed to … you get the idea.

The point is that people instinctively look for someone lower on the social ladder to make themselves feel more normal. Those of us in the geek culture (and I certainly include myself in that group) have at least some stigma on us, so we dump on people who are even geekier. But look, being different is part of what’s good about being a geek. That reflexive denigration, in my opinion, weakens one of the core pillars that make geekiness attractive, that sense of inclusion and tolerance for — even celebration of! — weirdness and difference.

People make fun of Furries, while at the same time gobbling up Catwoman merchandise like no one’s business. And if you think Playboy Bunnies have rabbit ears and a cotton tail by accident, you’ve got another think coming. And that was thought up by Hugh Freakin’ Heffner, the King of Cool!

So get out there and hug a girl in a cat costume today, you’ll make the world a better place.