We are the Superheroes we are waiting for…
I have always believed that Superheroes are real and that they operate in the shadows protecting us from the demise of all mankind. However, as my days here on earth gather together to form a more substantial pile of life experiences, I can’t help but contemplate the question of their existence.
The headlines of newspapers, the Internet and TV are screaming with the deafening sound of a civilization plagued with one disaster after another… an explosion in a coal mine, a massive oil spill, a car bomb plot, political corruption, wall street tycoons, nuclear proliferation, war, melting polar ice caps, carbon pollution and the great recession. In 2001, I watched from the roof of my apartment as the World Trade Center fell to dust and I couldn’t help but wonder, “Where are the Superheroes?”
It seems to me that most, if not all, of these disasters could have been repaired or prevented by the existence of Superheroes. Yet, no one has come forward. Is it possible that WE are the Superheroes that are supposed to be protecting mankind? Are we waiting for ourselves to save us? Has the fictionalization of Superheroes in comics and movies led us to believe that they are pretend and not simply exceptional men and women who walk among us? My own brother, for example, is a Superhero who flies an F-18 (similar to the Iron-Man suit) to fight the spread of evil around the world. It is imperative, for the good of all mankind, that each of us harnesses the power within us to make the world a better, safer, place for our children to grow up in… a world with Superheroes.
We all remember Clark Kent had a day-job at a newspaper, but that did not prevent him from saving the world again and again. Batman is just a man who has devoted his life to fight crime after witnessing his parent’s brutal murder. Iron-Man is just a man whose will to survive uncovered an energy source that powers his impenetrable suit.
As we head to the theaters this weekend to see Iron-Man 2, I implore you to join me in remembering that WE are the Superheroes we are waiting for… and we need to get to work!
-Marc Cittadino 05/03/2010
