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5.11.2008

21st Century Mythology: The Best Hero is Flawed, 2-Sided

Recently read this great article and it sparked some interesting ideas. Superheros are only identifiably heroic when they can connect to other humans! Otherwise, they're just alien. The most secure way of making that connection, honestly, is flaws. Batman's troubles over his dead parents, Ironman's drinking problems, Maxwell Smart's stupidity and bumbling, all those flaws make their great deeds identifiably humanly heroic. Cool stuff. Otherwise they're just mythological!

Yeah, that's awesome. Superheroes who are perfect without flawed are just myth. The stories of Neptune and Jupiter from Ancient Rome helped Romans understand their mysterious world and answer some of the questions that could only be answered with scientific breakthroughs millenias to come. Same goes for the Zeus, Posieden, Athena stories from greece. Those mythologies embodied flawless, "inhuman heros". A star contrast from the very human and flawed, but exceptionally heroic characters in many of todays films.

Maybe we have re-invented mythology into a global flawed mythological superhuman superhero. The kind that is a little bit closer to us than Zeus on Mount Olympia, or Neptune beneath the sea. Modern culture has crafted "gods" (superheros) that blends the myth into our reality because we recognize elements of each of us in the our 21st century heroes.Link

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