Wind In My Head: Of Superheroes and Mere Mortals
Wind In My Head
Thursday, January 06, 2005
Of Superheroes and Mere Mortals
Over dinner last night, we got into a discussion about how superheroes never got married. The ones that were married were married to other superheroes or were married before they became superheroes. But superheroes never seem to be able to stay married to mere mortals. Like Superman and Lois Lane. They got married but it crashed and burned and apparently she died. So that's depressing. And Bat Man just had a string of women.The reason they don't marry, the conclusion we came to anyway, was that they couldn't save humanity as well as have to upkeep those marriage vows. Plus, what wife wouldn't feel a tad neglected by her husband when he drops everything he's doing everytime that Bat Signal came on. And she would spend the nights worrying that the Joker, Mr Freeze or Lex Luther or even Kryptonite got the better of her husband.
It is also often is the plot of many superhero stories. Save your love and let humanity die or save humanity but the Missus meets a painful and horrific death. So, to make it easier, they never marry. They often have women around, to heighten the sexual tension but often not many marriages. Even James Bond, only got married once in the 60's and I think she died too.
So the conclusion is that in reality, one can't do both. One can't be a superhero or do superhero things and be a good husband or wife at the same time. And it's sad that often one has to choose. The choice then is usually not the choice of the superhero himself but actually by a collective majority that harps on domestic obligation. The outcome then is a reluctant person, donning normal clothes and a normal job instead of being out there being where he is needed most of all. In the movies, it is always portrayed by an unsatisfied, unfulfilled character who finds some outlet to vent. Unfortunately, it's never as innocent in real life and it can be a recipe of disaster in itself.
And that, never bodes well for the mere mortal and unfortunately, that's what we all are.
Ondine tossed this thought in at 10:13
7 thoughts...
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At 2:44 pm
Tym said... I seem to recall that even Knight Rider had a wife for like, one episode --- and then she died. So even non-superhero heroes get it too.
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At 10:25 am
Packrat said...
OK...speculation...unfortunately we had no hard evidence. Apologies to the DC fans out there. :)
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At 11:35 am
Ondine said...
Well, after Lois and Clark got married on well, Lois and Clark, the television adventures of Superman, the series crashed and burned badly. One of the many reasons given was because they got married...
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At 12:08 am
Terz said...
Well, ok, at least I know this one: Spiderman, Gwen Stacey.
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At 12:12 am
Irving said...
okay, maybe not such a strong point, but how about Mr Incredible and Elastigirl?
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At 9:00 am
Ondine said...
They fall into the category of being superheroes first. And thank goodness the recent animation didn't require him to choose between being a superhero or a father/husband.
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At 9:33 am
Yuhui said...
To Ediris:
"Kingdom Come" is an Elseworlds story, i.e. it takes place in a reality alternate to the current DC continuity.
Yes, there were attempts to reconcile it with the current continuity, e.g. through the concept known as Hypertime, but I think DC Comics (the company) has abandoned that.