Guys, Let's Be Superheroes

It all began way back when I was a young lass. Well, I wasn't really that young. I was like, maybe ten or eleven. It really all began when the Beast begged Dad to rent the first of the X-Men movies. This was several years after the movie had come out- the second one had come out too, and possibly also the third.

But anyway, Dad was persuaded to rent it, and we did, and I liked it because I liked the idea of a school for special children. It reminded me of Harry Potter. I liked Rogue a lot. Back then, my less sophisticated self said it was because she couldn't kiss that boy without screwing it all up. (I was a mean ten-year-old. I thought kissing was gross and nobody should be allowed to do it.) My older and less sophisticated self still agrees with my younger self, but also adds that I was intrigued by the idea of a character whose natural abilities prevent them from being happy. I mean, aren't we all like that? Our weaknesses and stumbling blocks are what prevent us from being happy. Nobody is perfect enough to say that the only things wrong with their lives are what the world does to mess it up.

And then, of course, I saw Hugh Jackman, and he was my first ever celebrity crush and I liked him because he was sassy and handsome and because they didn't make him stupid. Impulsive, yes. Sometimes irrational, yes. But not stupid. (I also really liked the leather jacket. I still really like the leather jacket.)

And for a while, that was the extent of my experience with Marvel, was the X-Men movies. I've never read a comic, partially because it's an expensive habit and I've never had that much money to waste on it and partially because I liked just picturing things in my head. We also had this book, or rather Joe did, and it was one of those doofy little information books that you'll get about "Ocean Climates" or "Abraham Lincoln" but instead it was about "Marvel's X-Men," and I read it over and over because I liked it so much. It basically talked about the original X-Men- Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Angel, and Beast- and Professor X and Magneto and a few others who were important, like Wolverine and Banshee and Rogue and Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch and Emma Frost and Storm. And I really liked the X-Men. I really liked superheroes. And I really liked that there were so many of them.

I watched the first Fantastic Four movie, a long time after it came out. It was okay. Reed Richards was my favorite, which was surprising because a) I didn't find the actor all that attractive (at that point in time, he became much better looking in Amazing Grace) and b) because Reed Richards is admittedly one of the biggest jerks of the Marvel universe and c) he wasn't a lady, and I had a marked preference for the ladies of the superhero films because they were awesome and pretty and they kicked butt and they were smart.

And then there wasn't really anything until we got Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for Playstation 2. I don't remember if the Beast bought it on his own or if our parents bought it for us. Regardless, the Beast played the heck out of it, and since it was a multiplayer game the Beauty and the Prodigy and I could play, too. (The Angel had no interest in large console video games. He was content with his Nintendo DS.) And it was so cool because you could be Iron Man or Captain America or Spiderman or Storm or Wolverine or Human Torch or Deadpool and eventually you unlocked characters like Nick Fury and Blade and Black Panther (who should totally be in the next Avengers movie just sayin) and I was like DUDE WHAT THEY'RE ALL SO COOL and at some point the Beast probably did a lot of Wikipedia research about these guys because as far as I can tell he hasn't read many Marvel comics and he doesn't own any, and he really liked Deadpool and he researched him a lot and soon my brother's favorite was Deadpool. Is there anybody that doesn't love Deadpool? He's sasstastic and he has swords. I mean, really.

And at some point while we played this game Iron Man came out- we had never watched the earlier Incredible Hulk movies because we were too young and I thought it was weird, funnily enough- and I loved Iron Man very quietly because I thought the idea was freaking genius, I mean metal suits you can fly around in? Why hadn't anybody done that yet?

And a few years later Iron Man 2 came out but I didn't see it because I didn't have money or friends who wanted to go and my life at that point was about high school music programs and Harry Potter books and films, and then I finally heard about the Avengers movie and I was really excited but the Beast was way more excited than I was and then they made Thor and Captain America and I watched both of those in due course and then the Avengers came out and the Beast took me to go see it last summer and I was like

alifduhghladjfhdjahsvhbdfjashdfajhdvfajskdhfsjakfdsdkasfhkhDASFHDUHDASFKDUHDSFDYUDHasfkyuhdalfskhgvfkuhdfydvudsfkduhsadfkuajhdfkhdahjdfhkjahfkhdjahdfkhdjhdabhdfkjhadkfddjhakfhdaushdfkdadjhkbfsahdjfkdhkasjfkdhfasjkdhdjfvkdsfadjbfkhdsfahdjfkvsfahdjsfkhdhdjbfvkudfkhdujkafdhsadsfdfbdjsabfhvdkfadukfdvfaudkbfasduafidvsudfsv

No, really, that is literally how I felt about the movie. It was that awesome, and here's why:

1) THE MUSIC. The Avengers has one of the best movie soundtracks ever. No, it's nothing like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, but I would put it up there with Pirates of the Caribbean at least. It's some good quality stuff.

2) THE CHARACTERS. I had had little experience with most of the characters in the film; having not seen Iron Man 2, I promptly fell in love with the Black Widow and Hawkeye and I was among the many who hardcore shipped them at first sight and one of the few who also kind of fell in love with Jeremy Renner, but that was slightly more gradual. Less gradual was my deep and abiding love for Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner. I was actually legitimately upset when I found out that he was married- and then I forgave him when I found out he had kids (because as long as that man is doing his best to contribute to the gene pool the world is in good hands). And I was okay with Thor but mostly I wanted to give him a hug because his brother sucked and I always wanted to give Tony a hug because Tony Stark has daddy issues and needs a hug all the time and I didn't want to even admit to how much I loved Steve because if I did I was afraid I would be removed from polite society and chained up in a tower so that no word of my crazy would get out to humanity. And Maria Hill was awesome and good at being awesome and Nick Fury was equally awesome and COULSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNN (fun fact: the Avengers fandom denied Coulson's death so vehemently and for so long that they're bringing him back to life in a TV show. Whether he'll show up in other movies or not remains to be seen but please pretty please with sugar on top let it be a thing.) And I admired Tom Hiddleston's fantastic acting skills- how he went from being King Henry the Fifth to Loki was utterly beyond me. (And also he was attractive, but everybody in the whole franchise is attractive so I don't see how it's any different.)

3) THE FILMOGRAPHY. They filmed that movie SPECTACULARLY. A++++++++++++++++++ for the cameramen, special effects gurus, makeup artists, and all the behind-the-scenes people who made the movie awesome. It was just a really pretty film all around and there wasn't anything that looked fake, as happens so often in superhero films.

4) THE WRITING. Joss Whedon wrote and directed the movie and everything he does is wonderful- the only example I need give is Firefly and there are no arguments ever. And even if you try to argue I will punch you in the face because Firefly. But the Avengers was witty and well-written and there was nothing that didn't belong and ugh I just want to marry Joss Whedon so he can write movies for me okay. And RDJ improvised three lines and they were all perfect and fit really well with the movie.

And then Superwholockmarauder made me watch Iron Man 2 because it was her favorite and I was like AW YISS MORE NATASHA ROMANOFF and it was very, very good. And then Iron Man 3 came out earlier this year and that was also wonderful, and Thor 2 is coming out this fall and I'm quite excited and then Captain America 2 comes out next year and the year after that we have Avengers 2 and I cannot wait for any of this because it's all so exciting and I'm deeply invested in the characters and what will happen to them and what the writers will decide to do with them.

You might be reading this and shaking your head. "Sarah," you say, with a slightly desperate exasperation in your tone, "why do you care so much about this? Why does it matter to you? Surely there are more important things in your life than movies?"

Well, yes, of course. But the thing is, movies are art, and art is a reflection of humanity.

A few years ago, a lot of movies were about things turning out okay in the end. More recently, we've had books and movies that reflect a post-apocalyptic world and hopeless endings and dark heroes: Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, The Hunger Games, zombie movies like Warm Bodies and World War Z. The message is that we live in dark times and we have to somehow find a little hope in it.

I like the Marvel franchise because to me those superheroes are a reflection of hope. Tony Stark has had a miserable existence, but he's made the best of it and become a millionaire ten times over and has an awesome girlfriend and is super smart. Steve Rogers slept for seventy years in an iceberg, but he still believes that people can be heroes. Thor isn't even human, but he understands that humans aren't inherently bad, something that Loki fails to understand. Natasha Romanoff has seen the underbelly of humanity, the ones who might just be inherently bad, and yet she still works for people who sometimes do nefarious things because she believes they'll do better by the world than others. Clint Barton was brainwashed, but the moment he snapped out of it he was ready to help, to atone for what he did. And Bruce Banner believed that he was beyond redemption- but in helping fight aliens in New York, he saved many more lives than he would have broken.

These characters reflect things that we should keep in mind as we go through life. Life sucks. Sometimes you get kidnapped by Middle Eastern weapons dealers or have to escape from Russian assassin trainers. Sometimes you have a terrible life in the circus or fell asleep for seventy years and everyone you love has died in the interim. Sometimes you lose your powers and are stuck as a really weird human for a while or sometimes you turn into an giant green rage monster. And despite these problems, you keep going. You fight for what's right. You sacrifice your life for those around you so that they don't have to.

That's why I like the Marvel Franchise. Because they remind us that not only are superheroes flawed, but maybe ordinary people are capable of more than they could ever dream. If they can be so normal and human, could we maybe be superheroes? I think so. Guys, let's be superheroes. Let's be willing to sacrifice things for others. Let's be willing to listen, to serve, to help. Let's be superheroes for somebody.