Superheroes are real!

Amy came home from work after a really bad day. All she wanted to do was to get into the warm, change into her cosy hoodie and veg out on the sofa in front of the TV. That wasn’t going to happen. Harry, her housemate, was home and had already claimed the living room as his territory. His collection of superhero magazines had taken over the room – the sofa, the dining table and the coffee table. Even the floor was not left untouched by the images of some fantastical superhero.

    “Hey Amy, guess what?” Harry looked really excited. “The collection of 1970s superhero comics that I ordered arrived today. I’m just sorting through them and putting them into the right categories in my collection.”

    “That’s great, Harry,” replied Amy, somewhat flatly. Amy wanted to share Harry’s excitement but she was too tired. Besides, she really didn’t understand his fascination with these comics. Sure, Harry had his quirks (ginger people are naturally quirky, right?) but his obsession with superheroes was weird. It was like a childhood interest that he’d clung onto into adulthood reminiscently as security. “I didn’t realise you had so many.”

    “Yeah, I’m sorry, I’ll take them up to my room in a minute. I’m planning a superhero comic project for my low ability year ten classes at school. I’m going to get them to create their own superhero comic!”         

    “Really? That sounds fun.” Is this what secondary school English lessons consist of these days? What has education come to? “Look, take your time. I’m going to have a nice long soak.”

    “Cheers Amy! I hope the kids enjoy it!”

    Amy smiled. She too hoped that Harry’s students would share his passion for superheroes.

*****

Harry came home from work feeling disappointed. His year ten classes hadn’t been particularly receptive to his superhero comic project. Some students seemed amused by the prospect of doing something light-hearted for once, instead of studying Shakespeare or reading war poetry. Some saw it as a chance to mess about and switch off for a few lessons. And some were just disengaged by the idea of doing something suitable for primary students. More worryingly, many of them had not even read a comic in their life.

    “I thought they’d be more interested and enthused by the project,” reflected Harry. Harry was a newly-qualified teacher, and had been in the profession for just under a year. Before that, he’d spent four years practising law. Teaching, in many ways, was more challenging.

     “Don’t get me wrong, Harry, but aren’t they a bit too old to be doing a project on superheroes?” Amy was careful not to offend him. She didn’t want to undermine his professional judgement as a teacher.

    Harry wasn’t surprised at Amy’s question, yet he trusted his instinct. “You’re never too old for superheroes Amy!”

    “Maybe not, but most people grow out of their interest in them after a certain age. Superheroes stop being cool.”

    “You're right. That’s because people stop believing in the fantasy of superheroes. And that’s fair enough. It’s understandable. I mean, everyone stops believing in Santa Claus after the age of six or seven, right?”

    “Exactly.”

    “At that point, they become disinterested in their superhero instead of taking their interest to the next level and delve into their deeper meaning.”

    Amy looked puzzled, unsure whether she could be bothered to have a discussion involving superheroes and deeper meanings.

    “Tell me, who was your favourite superhero when you were little?” asked Harry.

    “Superman, probably.” Amy was comfortable answering that.

    “And why was that?”

    “I don’t know... because he could fly and fight crime and help people and stuff.” This was a bit harder to answer.

    Harry started his teacher lecture. “What do you think of when you think of superheroes? Strong, muscular men wearing capes, tights, boots, obscure pants and masks?”

    “Yeah, I suppose...”

    “Well, of course you do! And what do superheroes do once they are dressed for the part?”

    Amy was about to speak, laboriously. Luckily, Harry carried on.

    “They jet off to fulfill some mission to save the day, or even save the world from something deadly or disastrous. Do you know how they became superheroes? What their origin story was?”

    Amy waited to see if Harry was going to answer his own questions. He was.

    “Perhaps you’ve never really thought about it. You’re content in seeing your superhero accomplish his heroic feat. He can now return to his home and family, if he has one, and you can carry on with your day feeling uplifted and energised. And so the creator of the superhero has fulfilled his task. It’s a nice story, but superheroes aren’t real, are they?”

    “Well of course they’re not real!”

    “Wrong!” Harry looked smug.

    Ok, so she was wrong. But why? Amy knew Harry had opinions on almost everything and often his ideas were a bit out there. It’s not that she didn’t agree with him, sometimes she just didn’t get him. His intelligence was on another level beyond her. She wandered how his students got him. Maybe he was different with them, simpler and less quirky. His lecture on superheroes suggested otherwise.

    “This is the thing, Amy. Every superhero, whether fictional or earthly human, has an origin story. A story that explains why he chose to abandon his normal life and seek to become something out of the ordinary. It’s almost as if he was dissatisfied with his own existence or discontent with something in the world. This motivates him. He sees this as an opportunity to rise above and beyond himself and do some good in the world. To fight crime, to ward off evil, to save the world from a natural disaster, anything.”

    “Hmmm...” Amy was beginning to see some sense in Harry’s rambling. She waited for him to carry on.

    “What’s more is that superheroes don’t seek to earn lots of money or gain materialistic wealth. They carry out their missions for the general moral good of the people. They do it out of altruism, not for praise or rewards.”

    “True,” agreed Amy.

    “The superheroes’ reward is the knowledge that he...”

    “Or she,” corrected Amy.

    “Or she, has bettered people’s life in some way. With that knowledge, they return fulfilled and satisfied.”

    “Wow Harry! I’d never thought of superheroes in that way. That totally makes sense!”

    “Does it?”

    “Definitely! That’s how you should explain superheroes to your students at school.”

    “I think I’ll do that.”

*****

Harry came home the next evening. Amy was eager to hear the update on his superheroes project after yesterday’s enlightening discussion.

    “So, how did it go with your classes?”

    “Not as well as I’d hoped to be honest.” Harry sounded a bit dejected.

    “Why not? Did you explain it in the same way that you explained it to me?”

    “Yeah, but I think it was all still a bit too abstract for them to grasp. It was a pointless lesson. I might just have to scrap the whole thing.”

    “That would be a real shame. I know how much time you’ve spent planning it.”

    “I know, but unless I can get them to see superheroes as anything more than fictitious characters in capes with superhuman powers, then I’ll have no choice.”

    “Come on Harry! Think! You made me see the deeper meaning behind superheroes. You just need to take your explanation to the next level.”

    “But how?”

    Was Harry really asking Amy for teaching advice? She gave it anyway.

    “Haven’t you always said that the best way to get students’ attention and to get them to take you seriously is to make the story personal to you? And to somehow relate it to them individually?”

    “Yeah...” Harry needed more prompting.

    “Well, can’t you like relate superheroes to your own life?”

    Harry thought about Amy’s suggestion as he flicked through some comics.

    Amy continued to probe. “How did superheroes motivate you in your own life? When did you get into superheroes? Why were you fascinated by them? Did your favourite superheroes encourage you or give you hope to achieve something?”

    This could easily turn into an autobiographical account.

    So, Harry was an introvert as a child, an oddball. Kids called him the ginger ninja. He had no real friends but he had a dog that he adored. He never knew his dad. He discovered comics in the school library because hanging out in the playground wasn’t much fun for him. He began to imagine that his dad was a superhero. That maybe he was away on a heroic mission and that he would come back when he had accomplished his task. He was still waiting for that.

    His mum died when he was fourteen. The doctors and nurses that had looked after his mum and supported him were like superheroes. They had supported them both through some really tough times. He lived with foster parents. They cared for him and looked after him like he was one of their own when he was completely lost and alone.

    Teachers helped him through school. They went above and beyond to help him achieve the best that he could. They believed in him. They told him to reach for the stars, he was perfectly capable. His college and university tutors encouraged his academic abilities.

    He qualified as a lawyer, specialising in corporate law. He wanted to achieve great things but he wasn’t enthused by money. Money couldn’t bring his mum back or make his dad want to know him. Material wealth couldn’t fill the void of emptiness and loneliness in him.

    He met a girl. He fell in love with her and they got married. They had a child, a little girl. He finally had a family and life was good. But their happiness was short-lived. Tragically, their daughter died in a road accident. Overcome with grief, the couple drifted apart. Harry threw himself into his work, taking on more cases than he could handle. Six months later, his wife left him.

    His struggles and losses could not be compensated with money. He was single and alone, how much money did he really need? He needed meaning in his life. Working as a corporate lawyer became pointless. He trained to be a teacher. He wanted to inspire young people and help build lives. He wanted to instill hope and ambition in young people as others had done in him. Alongside his teaching he raised money to run youth projects in the community to aspire others to be superheroes.

    “I suppose for me, the legend of the superhero is an actual real living phenomenon. We all have the potential to be superheroes. We are surrounded by them. Sometimes we have to open our eyes and ears to feel and appreciate them.” Harry summarised his theory perfectly.

    Amy fully understood his explanation.

Harry ran his hands across his comics. “These comics provided escapism and gave me hope through stories of heroism. They gave me something to aspire to when I was hopeless. Now, I buy classic comics and sell them at charity auctions to help out others less fortunate and aspire hope in them.”

    Amy looked at Harry. He had just undergone a transformation. He became a superhero right in front of her own eyes.

*****

    Amy heard Harry come home from work. She wanted to know how his lessons had gone. “Hey Harry, how did it go?”

    “It was great!” he sounded really pleased. He took off his coat, grabbed a beer from the fridge and sat down on the sofa.

    “Did you explain the whole superhero idea as something real and actual?”

    “Yes I did.”

    “And?”

    “I got to hear so many stories of how these kids’ lives have been affected by superheroes – by people that have gone over and beyond for them in some way. It needed the concept of the superhero for them to appreciate them and understand how these people have helped them.”

    “What kind of stories did they tell you?”

    “Well, one boy told me that his superhero was his uncle because he took him to football training every weekend and goes to support his team at matches, both at home and away. The boy’s dad suffers from chronic arthritis and is practically housebound. Thanks to his uncle the boy’s been selected for the city’s under sixteens’ squad.”

    “That’s amazing!”

“I know,” said Harry. He recounted more superhero stories from his students. “One girl explained how her superhero was her dance teacher at the community centre because she gave up her time to train the girl before competitions. She also drove her to competition venues out of town because the girl’s parents don’t have much money and don’t have a car. Thanks to her teacher, the girl won the regional amateur dance competition last year. She wants to get into a top dance academy in London when she leaves school.”

    “How fantastic!”

    “Another boy told the class that his superhero was his dog because he fetched things for him, like his phone or the TV remote and he sat next to him to keep him warm.”

    “Awww! How cute!” Listening to these stories made Amy feel fuzzy inside.

    “So, do you believe me now, Amy?”

    “Believe you about what?”

    “That superheroes are real.”

    “Absolutely! Superheroes are real!”