I wrote an article about Superheroes as a kind of brainstorm for my superhero section. I thought you guys might be interested.
http://thejessejack.blogspot.com/2009/03/caped-critiquer-my-analysis-of-american.html
or on the Brooklyn College Excelsior Website:
– Jesse
Hey Jesse,
I must say I really liked reading your article and your very interesting criticisms, albeit sometimes very harsh, of some of the our most popular and admired super heroes. I was forewarned about your criticisms about Superman since I read your foreword in class. But your writing style is a mixture of humor and at times self derisive (towards the end where you say you might be overly critical only because you have no super power of your own) which we can all relate to, particularly your dissection of the “nastiness” of spiders, for the lack of better word.
I also agree with your critique that it is silly to think no one can identify the similarities between Clark Kent and Superman which should be obvious to anyone who has been in contact with both of them. But I also think that while there might be physical similarities between the two characters (minus the glasses) the personalities they present to the world is so distinct that no one can fathom that they could be the same person. Everyone thinks of Clark Kent as a nerdy, conscientious journalist with no social grace. While Superman is the epitome of every woman’s dream- a natural do-gooder out to save the world, good looking, muscularly built, etc. So I suppose it is hard to reconcile the two characters.
But like I said, I really enjoyed reading the article. You have a certain flair for writing that makes it easy to read and follow your argument. And of course, the topic is very ‘kool’. I would love to read your section on super heroes when you are done with it. So, hope you do make it available on the blog.
Good luck.
-Nandini
Not every woman’s dream!
Agree, not every woman’s dream but perhaps the stereotypical dream of supposedly every woman.
Yes, I totally agree with that clarification–and that every woman is supposed to have that dream.