(Super) Heroes

Some of Marvel's most popular Superheroes.

The Pilot of  "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" premiered on ABC, Tuesday night. I have to say that I’m a huge fan of superhero movies, and after I heard about the show, I couldn’t wait for the series premiere.  With a total of 12.2 million viewers, ABC said that the show had the "best ratings of any new drama in four years.” After Marvel’s big hit with “The Avengers” last year, it’s no surprise that so many people were anticipating “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” With all the rave about super hero movies in the past couple of years, I've realized that people are extremely attached to the idea of "superheroes."

What is a uperhero? "Oxford American Dictionaries" states that a superhero is "a benevolent fictional character with superhuman powers, such as Superman." I think that society uses superheroes as people or things that are greater than society. With justice on their side, they save the people from the evil villain. To people, superheroes are what they want to be, even though they know it will never happen. Marvel says that they're wrong. 

In the Pilot of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D," the episode starts off with a low income man, working hard for his son. A building explodes and the man leaves his son in order to save others. Within minutes of the episode, viewers realize that he has supernatural powers. Viewers want this character to succeed because he's a superhero. As the episode goes on, viewers realize that a doctor put serum into his body in order for the man to gain these powers. The serum turns the hero into a monster. He has the same appearance, but he becomes brainwashed because everything in his life still went wrong after becoming a superhero. By the end of the episode, S.H.I.E.L.D. injects a cure into the man and gives him a better life. He says that "he can be a hero too," even as a normal person. 

I find it interesting how the superhero goes from good, to bad, and back to good. I believe that Marvel is trying to tell people that heroes come in many forms and sizes, that heroes don't need to have to have super powers or fancy outfits. As a society, we need to let go of this idea that heroes must have special abilities in order to fight crime and symbolize goodness. Heroes are everywhere.

What do you think a hero is? Who has been a hero to you? How does the idea of "superheroes" affect society? Should society stick to greater than life "superheroes" or "heroes in everyday life? 

This or that?

Amidst listening to the radio, 94.3 was talking about a video that went viral because of one young man’s good deed. I read more about the story on here. Joey Prusak, Dairy Queen manager in Minneapolis, was going about his work when he saw a $20 bill fall from a blind customer. A woman eyed the bill and quietly slipped it into her purse. Prusak witnessed everything and demanded the woman to give the blind man his money back. She refused and Prusak gave $20 out of his own pocket to restore the blind man’s lost bill. I was drawn back by this 19 year old’s immense kindness but also this woman’s pure selfishness.

This story really opened my eyes to the “freedom” that we Americans have in everyday life. Our duty is to use that freedom to promote what is right. We have the choice to choose right from wrong. Prusak could have pretended not to see the woman take the money, but he chose to speak up and gave his own earnings to the blind man. The woman also had a choice to return the $20 back to the man, but she decided to keep it for herself. What I found even more horrible was that she didn’t give the money back to the man after Prusak called her out. Not only did she make a morally wrong choice, but she didn’t feel embarrassed enough to return the money.

One could say that this woman was just a “bad person” but maybe she wasn’t taught wrong from right. Maybe she just learned to take what she could in order to survive. Is this just one of the few “bad people” in America, or is she simply morally uneducated? What is America teaching its people? From whom are Americans learning morality? How are Americans being influenced to do this or that?

Trust. Do we need it?

On September 14, 2013 the North Carolina police stated that a tragic event was merely “unfortunate.” Jonathan Ferrell crashed his car on Saturday morning in Charlotte, NC. He repeatedly knocked on a nearby homeowner’s door to get help, but the woman called 911 because she thought he was trying to “break” into her house.  When the police came, Ferrell ran toward them to receive assistance for his wrecked car. After matching the description with the running man, an officer shot at him. Missing once, Officer Randall Kerrick shot again multiple times and killed Ferrell instantly. CNN’s Jessica King and AnneClaire Stapleton reported that he was unarmed (Charlotte Police Kill Unarmed Man).

The term “unfortunate” is a definite understatement of the situation. A 24 year old man lost his life, for what? No good reason. He was unarmed, seeking help. Officer Kerrick could have shot Ferrell once in an area that would have wounded him. Instead, he shot Ferrell several times and killed him in a flash. In the past, people had a stronger sense of security. They didn’t fear new faces in their neighborhoods, especially to the point of calling the police. As time goes on, Americans have been molded by the horrific events that the U.S. has faced: Columbine High School Shooting, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting, etc… Trust that Americans had in each other has deteriorated. Reactions to fear, such as this incident, create more reasons to doubt the security of homes, schools, neighborhoods, and people. People now guard themselves against the bad in others instead of looking for their goodness.

How do we get back to that place where people were open to new faces, hostility was limited, and trust was freely given? Can we even get back to that place? Will our loss of trust in others destroy American society? Do we need it?

Leave your comments and thoughts below!

Cultivating America's Values

Some of the goodies I got from the Cultivate Fest.

Last weekend I went to the Cultivate Fest in Lincoln Park, Chicago. Created by Chipotle, the festival sells food and has activities to spread information about their cause. Their mission: “help fund initiatives that support sustainable agriculture, family farming, and culinary education” (www.cultivatefoundation.org). Through their festivals, they raise money to donate to their partner organizations like Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, Veggie U, and Farm Aid. To read more about the Cultivate Foundation, click on this link.

More than the food and activities, the foundation itself struck me. Their dream for the future gave me hope for a better America. A group of individual people came together with a common value. Through this organization, I saw people putting others before themselves. In history, corporations have focused on profit and personal gain. For example, many competitors in the meat industry have lied about the origin and the impact of their products. Heading a different direction, the Cultivate Foundation is being a responsible corporate citizen. Corporations like this are undoing the damage done by past foundations. From being exposed to this organization, I see change in values. Instead of focusing on “I” and the present, their actions focus on “we” and the future. They are using their resources to educate "future farmers" on how to cultivate America. History has made us believe that we must pass with something significant to our name. Instead, the Cultivate Foundation and its partners are pursuing to leave America in a better state before they pass.

So is this foundation a model for what Americans should start to value, or is this just a cover up to gain profit and promote Chipotle? Will our values ever consider others, or are we too deep into history's mindset of personal gain? Leave your comments and thoughts below!