Art vs. Culture: Where Have All The Heroes Gone?

I want you to imagine something for a moment.


Picture your favorite action movie hero, big gun, coat and hair blowing in the wind, dramatic pose, sunglasses. Confronted by a mob of passionate, angry people, perhaps framed for a crime he did not commit, our Hero is assailed with angry insults and epithets and slurs, many personally directed at him, perhaps some rocks or garbage is thrown at him, because the People have been convinced that he has committed some wrongdoing.


How do you expect your hero to act in these circumstances? Do you expect them to utilize Action Hero-Fu and escape the angry civilian mob with a minimum amount of regrettable force, relying on situational awareness and clever espionage techniques to make his getaway and go after the real bad guys?


Or would you be cool with it if Jason Bourne starts breaking random heads and crippling innocent people to make his getaway? After all, if the cops and paramedics are busy dealing with civilian casualties, it impedes their pursuit of him, right?


How bout if John McClane gets Wrongly Accused of a Crime He Didn't Commit and just starts blasting every NYPD Officer he comes across right in the face?


Why don't Batman and Spider-Man start using Science to chemically lobotomize (and possibly castrate) all the random civilians and private citizens who demonize or speak critically of them? Better yet, why doesn't Bruce Wayne just start buying up TV stations and newspapers and spreading pro-Batman propaganda?


Because Art is supposed to reflect Culture, and our collective culture dictates that Heroes and Good Guys act ethically and morally even under pressure. Characters that allow that morality to slip are called "dark heroes" or "anti-heroes".


Superman stops the missile from hitting the middle of Downtown Metropolis, even if it means Lex Luthor gets away (although in point of fact, with how fast Superman is, he can probably do both. But I digress).


Spider-Man's agony of accidentally killing Gwen Stacy is magnified by the fact that he let the Green Goblin get away in trying to do the Heroic thing and save her. It leads to one of the darker moments of early Spider-Man comics, in which he actually kills Norman Osborne in retaliation and faces YEARS of personal demons in the aftermath of that action.


Batman doesn't use guns, and he doesn't kill. Period. The few times that these rules have been broken have been treated as VERY big deals. Bruce Wayne trained his broken ass back up to top-shape just so he could take down Azrael-Batman after his replacement killed Abattoir.


We expect our heroes to act with discipline and restraint, to make the moral decisions under pressure and ultimately be Guardians. To choose safeguarding the Innocent and protecting People over personal vendettas and selfish pride.


So when did that expectation cease to extend to the real world? When did the Art get disconnected from the Culture?


In the comics, the guy in riot armor beating up unarmed civilians is clearly the bad guy. When Lt. Pike starts pepper spraying students at UC Davis, I would expect Spider-Man to come swooping in on a web, spitting a pepper-spray-based pun as he whups the crap out of the Officer.


In the comics, when riot police and SWAT teams and Sentinels are deployed against Mutant protesters, it's because many of those protesters can shoot lasers from their goddamn eyes and fart gas that can turn your skin inside out. One of the major moral conflicts in the X-Comics has always been the dilemma of equality and civil liberties for a group of people who are essentially always armed with potentially deadly weapons.


In most forms of Art, we idealize and glorify the Rebel, the person or people who break away from the group-think and stand up for what they believe in, no matter the cost. When did this get so badly disconnected from Culture that many people would approve of the corporate-and-right-wing-backed Tea Party while at the same time demonizing and disenfranchising the populist, left-wing Occupy Movement?


Our Hero is Neo, the One who frees us from mental slavery by an oppressive system, sacrificing his life in the process. Our Villain is the dastardly Cypher, who sells out his society to join the Haves.


Our Art places Truth and Rebellion over Lies and Complacency.


Our Hero is The Doctor, the "man who makes people better", creative and curious and ultimately a defensive pacifist, who talks and thinks before resorting to violent action. Our Villain is The Master, a man spawned from the same society as The Doctor but who embraces manipulation and cruelty as his methods.


Our Art places Compassion and Reason over Domination and Oppression.


Our Hero is Superman, the Alien-God who stands for Right and Good, the quintessential Guardian of Equality and Peace. Our Villain is Doomsday, the Alien-God literally evolved through science to be the living embodiment of Destruction and Death.


Our Art places Society and Justice over Chaos and Destruction.


Our Hero is Batman, who patrols the dangerous parts of Gotham City and acts as Protector of the Innocent and Guardian of the People. Our Villain is The Joker, a nihilistic psychopath who treats the world as a joke and watching it burn as the punchline.


Our Art places Peace and Prosperity over Anarchy and Madness.


In the real world, unarmed students are sprayed with noxious, painful chemicals for misdemeanor offenses by men clad in Riot Gear. When did our Culture become so disconnected from our Art?


In the real world, politicians act like real-life supervillains, holding the economy and social prosperity hostage for their personal legislative agendas. When did our Culture becomes so disconnected from our Art?


In the real world, octogenarians and clergymen and children are assaulted with chemical weapons and excessive roughness by the police, and the collective response of the Public is of nervous acceptance of generalized justification instead of outrage. When did our Culture become so disconnected from our Art?


In the real goddamn world, Senator Lindsay Graham says, ON THE RECORD, that people with burned/missing fingers or people who stockpile more than seven days worth of food and supplies in their homes could and should potentially be "suspected terrorists" under NDAA 2012, and the majority of the Country doesn't bat a fucking EYE. When the HELL did our Culture become so disconnected from our Art???


I think the problem is that we've idealized and deified our idea of the Hero archetype to the point of absurdity and unrealistic levels. And that's exactly how the Bad Guys want you to think. If Heroes and World Changers are "special" people, then they're part of an elite group that the Common Man could never hope to reach without significant luck and training and effort.


So why bother? Just be quiet, don't make a fuss, leave the heavy thinking to the smart people with their college degrees and legislative positions. Listen to Authority figures and don't research the issues for yourself. Let those Crazy Radicals get pepper sprayed in the streets for daring to express their opinions. Leave the Heroing to someone else.


Don't worry. I'm sure one will come along eventually.