I have a meet in English class on Monday regarding to this article.
I'm trying to comprehend all of the information provided here.
I'm a little confused: are superheroes and heroes the same thing? I do not think so, but one of my friend's says it is. In one of my notes, I said that comic heroes often believe in justice while superheroes are to be seen mostly aggressive and barely speaking about the good doing in humanity.


Watching superheroes beat up villains may not be the best image for boys to see if society wants to promote kinder, less stereotypical male behaviors, they claim.

Unlike the comic heroes of the past who often held ordinary day jobs and believed in social justice, the new breed of Hollywood superheroes are aggressive, sarcastic and rarely speak about the virtue of doing good for humanity.

Dr Sharon Lamb, of the University of Massachusetts, said that modern depictions of superheroes like Iron Man are often playboy millionaires who are only ruled by selfish goals.

"There is a big difference in the movie superhero of today and the comic book superhero of yesterday," Dr Lamb told the annual Convention of the American Psychological Association.

"Today's superhero is too much like an action hero who participates in non-stop violence; he's aggressive, sarcastic and rarely speaks to the virtue of doing good for humanity.

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"When not in superhero costume, these men, like Ironman, exploit women, flaunt bling and convey their manhood with high-powered guns."
The comic book heroes of the past did fight criminals, she said, "but these were heroes boys could look up to and learn from because outside of their costumes, they were real people with real problems and many vulnerabilities," she said.
To understand how the media and marketing managers package masculinity to boys, Lamb surveyed 674 boys age 4 to 18, walked through malls and talked to sales clerks and came to understand what boys were reading and watching on television and at the movies.
She and her co-authors found that marketing managers take advantage of boys' need to forge their identity in adolescence and sell them a narrow version of masculinity.
They can either be a "player" or a "slacker" – the guy who never even tries – to save face.
"In today's media, superheroes and slackers are the only two options boys have," said Dr Lamb. "Boys are told, if you can't be a superhero, you can always be a slacker.
"Slackers are funny, but slackers are not what boys should strive to be; slackers don't like school and they shirk responsibility.
"We wonder if the messages boys get about saving face through glorified slacking could be affecting their performance in school."
She said that original superheroes like Superman who was a reporter by day and the Green Lantern, who was a railroad engineer, were invented to fight for social justice and were a reaction to the rise of fascism.
But the new breed of superheroes only thought about themselves.
She said boys need to be taught from an early age to distance themselves from these images and encouraging them into finding the lies in the messages can help.

THANKS IN ADVANCE!

No. Hero's and superhero's are not the same thing.

You have read the opinion of another, what's your take on this? I think the important distinction is REAL life, and the more creative ones that may reflect one's views on real life. Fact or fiction?

Well, the article that followed my question was the article that we will be discussing in class. And like I said, I made a comment about how both of them are perceived. Of course I had to use evidence, but before proceeding I needed to make sure that was I was saying was right to even begin. I am trying to figure out the meaning to everything in the article.

I can't agree completely with that article...In fact, I can't agree with much of it at all. The way Superheros are portrayed on film may go that way for some but not all are selfish. Batman, is a millionaire who uses his fortune to fight crime and try to clean up Gotham for the people. He is selfless, giving everything he has, including his health, to try to save Gotham. The current version of Batman as seen in film is based on the Dark Knight as re-invented by Frank Miller years ago. A more vicious, dark, and brooding version of Batman but a version that still has the core beliefs.

Look at Captain America also...you don't get any more clean and wholesome and do-good than him. He flaunts nothing, he gives himself for the greater good. If you've seen the newest Captain America film, you will see a perfect example...he stands for what he believes is right for the people of the world.

Iron Man is a poor example...he is an egotistical millionaire that uses his money to help people but at the same time, to feed his ego. But...he has been this way even back in the comics. On the other hand, he really asks for nothing in return either...he uses what he has to help. He was even willing to sacrifice his life in the original Avengers film to save the world.

Spiderman...a kid with powers realizes that with power comes responsibility. He is not rich. He does not flaunt anything. He tries to help people with his powers.

Wolverine...given powers he didn't really want, is not rich, does not exploit anyone or anything.

Really, I could go on about this stuff all day as I am not only a comic dork but a film dork as well. But there is no need for me to go on and on as I think I have given you enough to start with and consider. I do say that the article makes you think what it says is true...that is until you actually think about this. Consider this though, one of the first lines in that article..."exploit women, flaunt bling and convey their manhood with high-powered guns."....Nobody I mentioned here uses guns. Nobody I mentioned here exploits women except in the case of the one Dark Knight film where it called for him to do that to make people think poorly of him. None of them flaunt bling. In fact, Peter Parker has no bling as he is a kid trying to make a living. Bruce Wayne is rich but in most cases, does not show it off. Steve Rogers also has no bling to show off. The closest you can get to that is Tony Stark. The article, the way I read it, is full of crap and designed to get you to see their opinion on how society is messed up because of kids watching and reading about Superheros.

Our heroes are the ones who died, and some lived, in the first and second world wars. You should visit a cenotaph and read names, ages when they enlisted. OH, come to think of it, they could have been super heroes living and dying for their countries, US UK, France... I could go on and on. Some Canadian boys in late 1800s enlisted at 12 and 13, falsified their information and were accepted because they HAD to save their country. I am very sure it was the same in the US.

Superheros, yes we have had many. In my town the veterans have a poppy on their license plate. Can you tell me how they signify that in US R 31211?

Have these men and boys sent you the wrong message ? Would you have had enough guts at your young age to do what they did not knowing if they would die on some distant beach and never see their mom and dad again ?

Oh god, and then there was vietnam and afgantistan......stop me....

Odinn7: Thank you very much for taking the time to explain things to me. It means a lot! I comprehend more of it now, so thank you again! You made many good points.

And as to Tickle, thank you too! Made me think as well.

I'll definitely be considering those comments on Monday!