My Superhero Story

These days, superheroes are a massive thing. Big-budget movie (and TV) franchises that are big hits revolve around these superheroes. As someone who grew up in times when these superheroes were only in comic books and cartoons (or in live-action movies and shows that had less than impressive special effects), it is awe-inspiring to see how today’s technology has made these heroes come to life in ways that we never imagined in the past. Today they can make all these fictional worlds and people (and super beings) come to life so well that it seems believable for these characters to blend into the real world as they do in movies and TV. It gives children even bigger inspiration to dream of being heroes themselves.

Image by Kathrynne from Pixabay

I grew up being a fan of Wonder Woman. I remember watching Lynda Carter’s old show and loved how she portrayed Diana Prince/Wonder Woman. She was both feminine and empowered/strong at the same time. She was a good role model during my younger years. I credit my being a fan of hers back then to the fact that I started to veer toward strong female characters in the books I read, and in the shows/films that I watch. I would like to think that this helped me to grow up stronger and more empowered as a woman as well. 

As far as the whole Marvel vs. DC thing goes, as I have mentioned in the Fandesals Podcast (episode embedded below), I am more of a DC fan than Marvel. While I am not a fan of Batman, I am a Superman fan and I have been more interested in heroes from the DC universe than I have in Marvel. As my close friends know, I was also a huge fan of the TV version of Arrow that starred Stephen Amell. That was a show that I watched loyally from the premiere to the finale. 

By saying that I am a DC fan that does not mean that I am not a fan of the Marvel movies, because I am. I have watched all the movies in the franchise, and I enjoyed every single one. The main difference is that with Marvel I love the heroes as a group, while with DC I am more into individual heroes. 

Aside from Marvel and DC heroes, I was also a fan of Japanese heroes when I was a kid. I was not that into Voltes V, but I was into the live-action show Bio Man, which had a concept like Voltes V. I remember watching that show every weekend when I was younger and playing pretend with my cousins that we were those heroes ourselves. 

I was also a fan of the show Captain Planet, the one where the kids wearing these rings would come together to form the titular superhero to help save the day. I must give credit to that show because it made me more aware of taking care of the environment and its resources, something that I carry with me now as an adult.

Superhero stories will always be popular. Having these strong individuals for young people to look up to as they do the right thing and save the day is something that viewers want. In these days of tragedies, war, crime, climate change, and natural disasters, we all need and want to hope for people who will come and save us from these things (and sometimes, from ourselves), even if they are just imaginary ones. Having something positive to look up to, something to hope for, someone to root for, and someone to emulate is a concept that I hope will never get old. We all need that positivity in our lives these days. 

Deep down, we all want heroes there for us to save the day. I think that what we must realize is that there are a lot of heroes in our lives. They just do not wear capes or have superpowers, but they still do their part to save the day for someone somewhere out there. Or we could be the heroes in someone else’s life, and we just do not know it. 

Do you need a hero? Look around, you just might find one. Who knows? That hero might even be you.