Philosophy of a Superhero

The Dark Knight.

SQUEAL!

Heath Ledger looks absolutely terrifying. So much so, I'm thinking I shouldn't go to this one alone. Not only is it going to frighten me, but it will make me extremely depressed. His life ended far too soon, and I was genuinely sad when he passed.

Is that weird? To be sad about someone I didn't even know? But that's the thing about this profession: the idea is to touch people in a way that affects their hearts and minds. It's about sharing a part of yourself with your audience, almost like your souls bump together for a bit, then separate, now changed in some subtle way. It's an exchange of energy, and if it's done right, it makes us better people than we were before. We come away with some lesson or idea that helps us view the world a little differently. That connection with the characters on the stage or on the screen brings you closer to the whole human race, reminding you that you are not alone, that there are other beings who think and feel and that we should be kinder to them because we're all part of this earth.

Not that the Joker is really a character I'd like to bump souls with, but he represents the chaos in the world, the things you can't control, and then we are offered a hero who defeats this demon showing us that we, too, have the strength to defeat our own demons; that with logic and reason and applied ass-kicking techniques, we can take control of the chaos and reign it in, even if it's only the chaos of our own scattered lives. We all have a Batman inside of us, someone who is trying to make sense of the darkness in the world, and fighting to eliminate it both in ourselves and in the people around us.

And now I'm going on about the philosophy of superheros...could I be any stranger?

But seriously, I'm reading Final Crisis right now ( I think I've mentioned it only five hundred times) and Grant Morrison (the author) was talking about the idea that there is a feeling of fear in the western world, right now. Everyone is a little on edge, a little unsure about the future. There is darkness in the world, and since 9/11 we've started to realize that the darkness can touch us. America was so certain of it's own power that we never dreamed an attack like that could happen, and then it did. And now it feels like everyone is afraid. Afraid and waiting. Waiting for what, I don't know. Waiting for another attack? Waiting for mother nature to finally take a swing at us and say "Hey! NO. No. Bad humans. I've had just about enough of you!"?

Off topic.

So, Morrison was saying that he wanted to reflect that fear in the comics, and that he wanted to present the idea that evil has already won. That it slipped in, past all the heroes, and no one even realized it. And, of course, how do the heroes deal with that? That's what makes comics interesting. We have these super-powered beings and a world full of problems. How would they solve those problems? Can they solve those problems? Are they, actually, any more qualified to solve those problems than we are? How, in the absence of super-heroes, can we solve those problems? Can we, perhaps, learn something from the way they would solve...you get the idea.

My goodness, what DO they put IN that popcorn?

So, I can't wait to see Dark Knight.

This was supposed to be an entry about false accusations. And then I was going to tell you about my recent discoveries on the idea that if you have problems and are upset, that maybe it would help if you, you know, TALKED to someone. Rachel and I had a whole conversation about the way we tend to push people away when we're sad. It's only recently occurred to me that instead of crawling into my little hole with all the high impenetrable walls when I'm sad, that I might call a friend and tell him/her about my troubles, and that maybe that person could say something that would make me feel better, or just allow me to rant until I feel better all on my own. This shouldn't be a radical concept. GAH. Okay, next time, I promise.

And, hopefully, I'll have finished my video by then.

I'm actually doing really well, right now, so, who knows why I got all serious and ranty on you up there. I'm a strange girl.

Later,
Jules