Recently my husband and I celebrated our second anniversary. We had lunch and we went and saw The Avengers, again. Afterward I had a wonderful sense of well being and promise and hope. Part of this could be attributed to simply having a good day, but a big chunk of it had to do with the movie. So how did a movie I've seen before boost my mood in such a significant way? Well...I think it has something to do with what is at the heart of superhero movies, and I'll explain.
Superhero movies demonstrate the best of who we are as people. Although the extraordinary abilities and beautiful people using them are fun, that's not what we love about them. What we love is seeing someone evil, someone dedicated to the destruction and oppression of the human species, thoroughly trounced by someone who represents all that is good about us as a species. We rejoice in seeing a person, who is ultimately flawed and still human, put that aside to defend an idea bigger than themselves. Consider what most of us would do if we were suddenly granted super-powers. I think most of us would first think about how we could use those powers to our advantage. Not many of us start out thinking how we could use them for someone else. So to see someone with such an extraordinary gift use it on behalf of people who can never repay them gives us a boost. It says to us: "See, you're worth saving. You matter so much that someone was willing to sacrifice everything they had for you." We like that. We also like seeing the good guys (or girls) come out on top of the bad guy (or girl). This is not an unfamiliar story. It's a human story, and it's a lot of fun to see it writ large with big special effects and beautiful people. This is the story we tell ourselves everyday. That we are inherently worth saving, and that in the end, good always wins.
On to the next train of thought. We're mad at our President because he's not really a superhero. Before the election 4 years ago, I had the privilege of hearing Obama speak in person. I left with the same sense of well being, the same sense of promise, and yes, that scariest of words...hope. I left believing that really, this country could be great, could represent something bigger than a mad scramble for money and power. I voted for that hope and I still believe it is possible. But 4 years of a bad economy, a deeply troubled, and it seems, increasingly violent world, coupled with almost constant bickering and in-fighting in Washington have done a lot to tarnish that image. When we elected Obama I think many of us assumed he would get in there and trounce the bad guys, talk some sense into people, and get us all on the road to a land of peace and prosperity, and we'd be in good shape inside of what...6 months? Throw in a spangly costume and it has all the makings of an excellent movie. But it's not real.
Here's reality as I see it. The last 4 years are a culmination of decades of bad policies, both foreign and domestic. I believe that our President has done the best he can to shape our country and our foreign policies to make us safer and more prosperous. However, the President does not work alone. We were not designed as a monarchy where the weight of all decisions falls on the shoulders of one person. We bear a shared weight. Congress is largely responsible for creating the laws and policies that our nation runs by. The President suggests, proposes, and signs legislation that he (or she..one day...we hope) believes will benefit the country as a whole. And let us not forget the Supreme Court who evaluates those laws and policies to decide if they uphold the Constitution that we are founded upon. So...basic US government review done, back to the point.
We, as a people, are responsible. Because we, as a people, are given the power to decide who represents us and what those people represent. So if you elect a person whose sole interest is in making sure that their bank account gets fatter...guess what, that person isn't really representing you, they're representing themselves. There is a great movie called Megamind (yes, it's a children's movie. I have children, get over it) in which the title character defeats the superhero (!!gasp!!). But afterward he realizes he has no real purpose in life, nobody to fight against, nothing to do. So, brilliant idea, he gifts some poor sap with super powers. And then almost immediately realizes that this guy wants to do nothing more with his super powers than impress the woman he likes. He doesn't want to do the good guy/bad guy dance. He doesn't care about the populace. He's interested in helping himself. Yeah, it doesn't end well for that guy. And yes, I am drawing a parallel between our congressional representatives and our president, and superheroes. We give them extraordinary power. Power to shape and direct this country on our behalf. We elect them to make decisions for us as a nation. And we also expect them to exercise that power responsibly and ethically. To defend us against forces that we alone could not hope to stand against. Of course they do it without wearing a cape or laser vision, but we all have our limitations. My point is that electing one type of person (that would be the wealthy, white, male person, who overwhelmingly makes up the representatives in Congress), does not represent the enormous diversity of who we are as a people. So is it really surprising that the decisions and policies coming out of Washington have almost nothing to do with what will benefit this country as a whole?
Very soon many of us will head out to elect our representatives. I urge everyone who is not registered to vote and who is eligible to do so, to get out there and do it. It's not hard. And then vote. Educate yourself and vote. Who are the candidates? What do they stand for? What is the position on important issues of themselves and of their party? What is important to you? It's so much more important that you might think. Even if you vote for the third-party guy, vote. And if you don't vote, don't bitch.
And on to my final point. If the story I told earlier seemed familiar in some way beyond the typical blow-things-up-save-the-day kind of way, it's because it is. Because that story is thousands of years old and almost everybody knows it. The story of a man who loved us all so much that he was willing to give up everything he had to save us. And that story, that true story, is the reason why no matter what happens this election year, I will still have hope and believe in something greater. Because I have been saved for something better because someone loves me and because I know, in the end, good wins.
