Superheroes Of Our Time. Why Do We Love Fairy Tales Of Supermen? - Self-development

In the last decade, the film market has been so overwhelmed with various versions of superhero adventures that one cannot help but wonder: why are they so popular? Viewers massively vote with their wallet for the pleasure of seeing another superman on the screen. What is the reason for this phenomenon?

It seems that Hollywood not only monopolized the heroic epic of all ancient civilizations, but also created its own version of mythology with invincible spiders, bats, ants and other inhabitants of the suburbs of any decent metropolis. At the same time, traditional mechanisms of psychological attractiveness of such stories are used.

WHY WE ARE INTERESTED

In all ancient and modern mythologies, there are characters with superpowers, starting with the Sumerian Gilgamesh, the Scandinavian Thor, the Greek Hercules, Slavic heroes and ending with the superheroes of modern national mythologies.

Psychologists and ethnographers have long been interested in the fact that the fates of heroic characters of different nations have common biographical features. There have been many attempts to explain this phenomenon. Some researchers argue that all these heroes and not heroes at all, but "forces of nature", others compare them with phenomena of a cosmic order, and still others are inclined towards psychological interpretations. Sigmund Freud's student Otto Rank in his book "The Myth of the Birth of a Hero" explained the uniformity of plots by the common human properties of the psyche, and in particular by the psychoanalytic mechanism of the emergence of neuroses.

YOU ARE NOT LIKE EVERYONE

As a child, everyone needs role models, and identification with superheroes makes it possible to feel “not like everyone else”. The range of roles immediately expands and new opportunities appear. After watching a movie about a superhero, many people gain strength - although you won't fly up, you will definitely wash the dishes.

A person always strives to be successful, and if success is present only in his imagination, then he can carry out his plans by psychologically joining a more successful hero than himself. In the case of superheroes, it's even convenient that this character is fictional - not so offensive for yourself. And at any moment one can refer to the fact that such success and such opportunities are only in fairy tales.

FAST LIKE A DEER

In addition, childhood lives in any of us until death, not all, of course, but in small frames. So, superheroes are one of the most "tasty" parts of it. Indeed, in reality, a person is a rather helpless being, who, moreover, is also aware of his shortcomings. At the same time, we are adjacent to the world of animals, which surpass us in many ways - of course, except for the fact of awareness. No wonder people at all times invented all sorts of magic rituals in order to borrow from our smaller brothers their unique capabilities. After all, for example, the question "why do not people fly like birds" tormented man at the dawn of civilization.

However, in the modern world, there are many ways to gain the courage of a tiger, the strength of a bear, the endurance of a wolf and other inhuman qualities. So the set of "superpowers" possessed by modern Hollywood supermen is surprising only with a stubborn entomological bias.

Lesha the Almighty

From the moment of birth, we endow ourselves with omnipotence (well, if, of course, we believe psychoanalysts). A little later, our parents become omnipotent (remember, the famous "Dad can … anything"). Then, with a fair amount of disappointment, we find out that parents are “just ordinary people,” and for a few moments we appropriate omnipotence for ourselves. But here, as a rule, "real adult life" begins, the whole reality of which boils down to demonstrating our insignificance. And those who do not have this, you can safely diagnose "narcissistic personality disorder", because there is nothing to stand out from the gray mass of their own kind.

The meager percentage that managed to win their right to uniqueness only confirms the gloom of the overall landscape. So fictional omnipotent heroes are practically our salvation.

More about this:

Rank O. The myth of the birth of a hero. Kiev: Vakler; Moscow: Refl-book, 1997.

FOR GOOD AND JUSTICE

We are far from immediately convinced that "good" and "justice" are relative concepts. And having made sure, deep in our hearts, we still continue to believe that our world will change and all people, without exception, will live well. In fact, most of the world's religions are based on this childish performance, and revolutionaries of all stripes even try to project this “paradise” onto the territory of a particular country or region.

Superheroes allow you to watch with delight how justice was done, even in the most exotic way, even if only for a while - until the film ends. But the illusion is created that it is easy and simple to realize everything that does not work out in real life. Hence the unquenchable love for almighty superheroes and stories with a "happy ending".

STORIES IN PICTURES

Most of the superhero films (starting with the classic Superman) are based on comics - a rather specific genre of "stories in pictures", originating from the drawn didactic biblical stories for commoners suffering from a poverty of imagination. For more than a century of comics' existence, the basic requirements for them from the consumer have not changed: the main thing is simplicity of presentation, clarity and clarity. It is these qualities, coupled with hypertrophied entertainment, that provide the wildly popular modern adaptations of these cartoon stories.