How Do Superheroes Influence American Culture

Adam Hogue, in his article “Why Do Americans Love Superheroes So Much?,” discusses the reasons behind the popularity of the superheroes. Hogue’s purpose is to instill the idea that superheroes are popular due to their static personalities. First, he illustrates his opinion with his anecdote about Captain America: “Sure, there were some slightly different nuances here and there, but for the most part, he was the same man…The superhero is someone we deeply trust” (para 9). Here the author describes how his personal attachment to Captain America was due to his unchanging personality and how the Captain “wasn’t going to be dead forever” (para 9). Not only this, Hogue demonstrates his ideas by using Spiderman as an example: “With

Directions: Choose an element from the list and create a superhero profile. On the next page, you will design a superhero and create a tagline that embodies the characteristics of your element, including the atomic number, symbol, and name. On the page following that, you will tell the origin story of your element. Be creative when telling your element’s story, which may be told in any format you wish, such as a myth or cartoon. A superhero sidekick or nemesis may also be included but you must choose an element that either combines well or has a violent reaction with your chosen element. A rubric for this activity is included at the end of this worksheet.

Superheroes can be defined in many ways by many experts. Clare Pitkethly’s academic background consists of comparative literature, culture and communication as she also speaks and writes comic books and superhero, defines a superhero to be different. In Pitkethly’s article “Straddling a Boundary: The Superhero and the Incorporation of Difference,” talks about

I love comics, especially superhero comics. I have been in love with them since I was seven, when my uncle introduced me to Superman and Batman. I was just so mesmerized by the plot, even if it was repetitive, I was so intrigued that I couldn’t stop. You know the plot, the one where a victim or victims are distressed and the hero swoops in at the right time to save them from any danger. Growing up though, as life got more complicated, so did comics. It wasn’t the same old plot anymore. More casualties occurred in the stories, heroes developed more weaknesses. It was as if the comic book creators were trying to make the readers realize that superheroes and an regular person are not so far apart. I will never be able to see it that way though. Why you ask? It’s because unlike a regular person, superheroes will never be a reality. No one will swoop in to save you in your time of need. The only person that can protect you, is yourself. If you are able to do that, maybe the next step is to protect people that can’t protect themselves.

Gary Engle describes Superman as the ultimate American, “Superman is the greatest American hero” (Engle, 677). After reading three comic books I notice an occurring theme of wanting to protect what is good, even though the comic books chosen span over eleven years. Several distinct things to Superman’s personality are his cape, the respect he has for others, the respect others have for him, his intelligence, his protection of all life and what is right, his origin, and the sacrifices he makes. Superman is considered to be the greatest American hero of all time.

American Heroes were inspired by Greek Tragic Heroes, yet both are very different from each other, but American Heroes have very similar traits to those who are Contemporary Heroes.  An American Hero is a person who seeks justice and always defeats the enemy which results in all people having the justice they deserve.  American Heroes also tends to protect all and has the tendency to fall in love with the “ damsel in distress”.  This type of hero goes about his daily life, just like anyone else would, until it is time to fight, and at that time, their “supernatural” powers shine through in their fighting techniques.  On the other side, all Tragic Heroes possess a flaw that will change their life from a life of happiness to a life of pain and despair.   Ordinarily, Contemporary Heroes have nearly the same traits as American Heroes.  Contemporary Heroes save and protect many individuals from violence and harm and lives a normal life until they have to face another obstacle.  Both American and Contemporary Heroes are able to celebrate their victories, while Tragic Heroes can not do so because they are not victorious.

The portrayal of superheroes in films has changed in terms of their character, appearance, style and strength. Superheroes has been a popular theme in hollywood films since its inception. They are what peoples imagination can only think of. A perfect human being who saves the world .The first time superhero appeared on T.V was “The Adventures of Captain Marvel” in 1941. Superheroes was on the rise within popular comic books in 1930′s to the 1940’s as well in which they were considered the ‘Golden Age of Comic Books’ . Comic books became widespread and popular which translated into making films about them.

Stereotype is the most common issue that people get effect from superheroes. Due to the fact that superheroes are men, boys are the most effective group in the real world. Boys think that they should be “superheroes,” and they should be as strong and powerful as superheroes. In the article “Today's Superheroes Send Wrong Image to Boys, Say Researchers,” Psychologist Sharon Lamb, PhD, distinguished professor of mental health at University of Massachusetts-Boston told the American Psychological Association (APA) news interviewer about the influence of superheroes in boy basic on her survey, “She and her co-authors found that marketers take advantage of boys’ need to forge their identity in adolescence and sell them a narrow version of masculinity.”

During the 1920’s and 1930’s many families immigrating to America were enduring strong abhorrence towards them because of their religion, beliefs, and where they were from. Two of these people experiencing hardship were the creators of Superman, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, whose Jewish parents had immigrated to America before having them. Siegel and Shuster wanted to create a superhero to give immigrants entering the United States a kind of hope since many Americans did not want them there. During this time the Great Depression was going on as well, and many immigrants got bullied because of the fact that they were unwanted in America. Today, superheroes are mainly used to entertain us, so it makes sense that many people do not seem to understand

Veterans are honored yearly with Veterans Day and every day in our hearts. We are very thankful for everything that they do for us and our country. Our veterans go out and risk their lives to give us freedom, they leave their families behind, and they come home with diseases that are horrible. All for our freedom. We are very grateful for all that the veterans do each and every day.

"They were great contributors in restoring hope in America after the Great Depression, and are an effective communication tool of inspirational messages." They revived America, gave them hope and showed them a new way to dream. They helped us find meaning in loss and trauma, discover our strengths and taught us to use them for a good purpose. "Without superheroes, there would be no true depiction of justice, no portrayal of hope - heroism and not a single painting of the good in humanity, and the world would've lost a big part of itself," - Gerard Jones.

Has there ever been a point in your life that you wished you could be a superhero or superhuman? Most, if not all, people’s answer to that question would be a resounding “yes,” including mine. Over the years, more TV shows and movies have begun to incorporate what we would consider to be our “heroes” into them. These shows, or movies, consist of a hero, or heroes, that are typically aided by friends and a team that help them fight evil; two examples of this are Arrow and The Flash. Hero shows, or movies, can be a quite broad category, but it can be broken into smaller categories like superhuman heroes, mortal heroes, dark heroes, or otherworldly heroes. The Flash is a superhuman hero while Green Arrow is a mortal, but dark hero. The two

Through my analyzation of these values, I have assessed the relevance of superheroes in cinema through the impact of American popular culture, the contrast of gender roles, and their impact on children. As a result, society should be gracious toward the immense popularity of superhero films, as they bolster American popular culture and positively impact children from a young age. Although the gender roles might be a bit skewed, many film companies are taking steps to include women in more empowering roles such as Wonder Woman in the DC cinematic universe. Therefore, superheroes in cinema tend to only create and preserve positive characteristics within society, which is glorious in the future of mankind. In closing, I end with the question, “Which superhero best depicts

When you think of a superhero one normally thinks of Spiderman, Batman, or Superman, but there were superheroes long before these characters were created. First one must understand that the basis of this name is hero. What is a hero? A hero is a person who does something special or out of the ordinary in order to help others. It could also be someone who is admired for a characteristic about them, be it physical or mental. They are individuals that normal everyday people can look up to. This being the case, a superhero is nothing more then someone who is a hero, but not just that once and for that one person, but someone who helps many people, or leads them. As time went by the number of people who were true heroes diminished and just

A superhero’s main characteristic is to be able to a unique individual which will separate them from being categorized with the typical other “heroes”. Coogan states that a “superhero” is an individual that exemplifies the three main characteristics mission, power and identity. A unique superhero must have a mission that involves the main motive to save civilians without there being any personal gain from this experience. Coogan states that without this personal mission that this “superhero” would just be a ordinary person that would be an extremely helpful in the event of a dilemma. A unique superhero must posses these extraordinary but mystical powers that reflect their human identity or personality. These powers have been greatly exaggerated