How Box Office Superheroes Reveal American Spiritual Beliefs

All those box office superheroes wouldn't seem to have a strong connection to American spirituality, would they? Aren't those silly movies simply the big-screen realization of the adolescent fantasies of adult men?

Well, maybe they are. But as a Vanity Fair blog (not linked due to content) recently suggested, perhaps there's more of a spiritual edge to this cultural trend than one might think. Here's what a couple of hugely influential figures, writer Frank Miller and director Guillermo Del Toro, had to say about this trend:

“Every great civilization has its superheroes,” says Miller. “America is just a much, much younger civilization… You couldn’t find a better version, in America, of the Pantheon of ancient Greece [than superheroes],” which could be why they’re such an enduring draw.

Del Toro seconds the point: “There is still a longing for mythos, for a spiritual Pantheon. And in an era where we have enshrined materialism to such a degree and we have killed off every conceit that seems to be weak and based on religion—New Age, all those types of things—the only sort of acceptable mythology, I think, is superhero mythology.”

That may sound like comic-book-nerd hyperbole, but the comparison with Greek mythology is actually relevant, to a point. For one thing, to the ancients, preposterous tales of heroic feats were not to be taken literally. “It’s not that they were ‘believed,’” says Harvard Classics Professor Gregory Nagy. “That is a Christian concept. Rather, myths about heroes were accepted as valid narratives about moral truths that helped explain life.”

There's something here, I think. There's a certain slice of American society that wants little part of traditional religion. The idea of God as a sovereign being is less attractive than a picture of divinity that emphasizes humanness. Aside from the massive explosions, cool graphics, and technological gadgetry, one reason that so many people may be flocking to superhero films is that they tap into a current of American spirituality. People want heroes who are unlike them--heroes who can vanquish their enemies--and yet they also want heroes who are like them, who have real flaws and weaknesses and battles. The Greek gods fit this mold millenia ago, and the American comic book superheroes fit it today.

What does this mean for the Christian church? It's fairly obvious, I suppose. While teaching unbelievers about our sovereign God, we need to keep in mind that people are looking for a person who is both like them and not like them. In other words, Jesus Christ fits well with this current of spirituality. This is not to say that Christ had flaws or sins--He did not. However, He did take on human flesh, embrace the difficulties of an authentic human existence, and face terrible temptation, suffering, and pain, just as we all do, even as He was powerful to an extent that confounds the imagination (another point to raise with the lost). The doctrine of Christ's humanity is not a theological afterthought, a footnote to the more majestic stuff. It is a strange, mysterious and quite moving aspect of the faith we claim. As the little poster says on the door of TEDS professor John Woodbridge's door, "History is filled with men who would be gods...but only one God who would be man."

In your conversations with unbelievers, particularly those who might be drawn to superheroes (and that's a pretty sizeable populace, given current box office numbers), make sure that you share about both the divine and human aspects of our Lord. Though we may not fully comprehend the wonder of it all, Jesus became like us in order to save us (see Hebrews 2, 4). He is a majestic Lord, and He will return to this world in flaming majesty to judge it in a level of spectacle no movie can present. Yet He was also a human being, one who wept and hurt and bled. He knows the sorrows of this earth, having become intimately acquainted with them in His incarnation.

The people around us do not need an Iron-man, or a Batman, or any other superhero--they need a Christ, a Messiah, and the good news is that He has come, and died, and He waits to receive the broken, the weak, the lost, and to give them His life, His strength, His love.

The Week-est Link, May 9, 2008: The Dark Knight, a Theology of Rap, and More

1. Westminster professor Bill Edgar gave a lecture on the theology of rap music a few years back. My friend Andy Naselli tipped me to the lecture, and I think that you will find it positively engrossing and illuminating. Dr. Edgar, simply put, is one of the neatest theologians out there--he tackles topics that other theologians won't touch, and he does so with generosity, clarity, and a bit of appreciation that makes him really interesting to listen to. I've learned a good deal from him, and I think you'll enjoy his material.

2. The preview for the upcoming Batman movie, 'The Dark Knight," is out. This movie looks incredibly dark and cool and enjoyable. Pardon the language on the webpage where the link is found--I don't endorse it, but I do endorse the watching of really cool Batman movies...

3. CJ Mahaney has been publishing helpful words on women and modesty on the Sovereign Grace blog. Read his words--he has some of the most helpful, practical counsel you'll find on matters like this, and he anchors it in stout theology. This is an incredibly thorny issue nowadays, what with the proliferation of tight women's clothing and plunging necklines, and CJ wants to help. Let him.

4. Have you heard about the New Attitude conference? It sounds tremendous. It's evolved into a mini-Together for the Gospel deal. If you're single or a young married couple, truck over to Louisville in a few weeks for the conference, and be prepared to come away knowing a great deal more about how to live a holy life in a darkened world. Speakers include Josh Harris, Mark Dever, John Piper, and Al Mohler.

Have a grace-filled weekend.

Vanity Fair on the New Indiana Jones Movie

Don't try to pretend that you're not checking for the next Indy movie. We all are.

Vanity Fair has a long and interesting chronicle of the process that has led to the filming of the fourth "Indiana Jones" movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, due out in the coming year. If you like cinema, there's alot to chew on--and the photos are gorgeous--but the aspect of the article I found most interesting was a discussion of the evolving nature of action films. Here's what the writer, Jim Windolf, has to say about this matter:

"At the same time, action movies went through a major evolution. A bald monk flew. So did Keanu. Jackie Chan chopped necks while moving like Astaire. Travolta wiped blood off a windshield. Spidey killed baddies between bouts of emo-boy angst. Batman got the Christian Bale treatment (thin, dark, intense), and a computer-generated Yoda battled Palpatine. Jason Bourne crunched the bones of his pursuers in films that came out great despite looking as if they had been edited in a Cuisinart. In this atmosphere, can Indy compete?"

The reason I find this interesting is because action movies relate closely to masculinity, as it is most often men who are the protagonists of action movies. To study action movies, then, is to study men--both in terms of character depiction and audience reaction. As noted in the above quotation, the last few years have marked a major shift in action movies as the Jason Bourne films have proven wildly popular. I've blogged about them before, but I want to note quickly that Bourne's ascendance marked the fall of the fantastically empowered superhero (excepting fantasy action movies). Bourne is lethally strong and agile, but he is still a man. He bleeds. He fights human criminals, not ghosts and demons. We thus observe something going on in the culture. Action-film devotees are not as intrigued by ghoulish mystery as they used to be. The films they like seem to be shifting in tone, such that grimness, sobriety, and struggle characterize the standard action film nowadays, or at least the blockbusters. I Am Legend certainly fits this bill, for example. We don't seem to want our action heroes to beat up the bad guys and then crack wise about them. We want them to take their actions seriously, to question themselves, to turn a bit spiritual in the midst of it all.

What does all this mean, then? I'm not exactly sure. I can say that our age seems to be a little less convinced of the omnipotence of man, and a little less prone to hubris relative to our foes. Perhaps we'll see amidst the action and comedy of the fourth Indiana Jones movie a recognition of the limits of man. Perhaps with this shift in cinematic anthropology we'll see pockets of openness in the culture to discuss the limits of humanity and the limitation-destroying person and work of the Savior, Jesus Christ. Perhaps not, but we should look for the opportunity just the same.