How have superheroes influenced you?

[Guest Close allwillbemine]

I thought I'd start this thread off with a question to get you all thinking about the real topic: superheroes who had influenced our lives. I'm sure we all have them, and not all of them are superheroes. I've had a few villainous influences, but not in a bad way.

So to kick start the conversation, I admit, that my idea of manliness is very much based on Wolverine. It started in middle school, but in high school I realized its a little nuts to judge yourself based on a fictional character. However, there are still a few hangovers from my Wolverine-worshiping days. I don't think I'll ever be able to shake them off.

[Limelantern Better than both the Salami and the Bologna combined Find all posts View Profile Close Limelantern]

He's not meant to be a role model.

[Guest Close allwillbemine]

He's not meant to be a role model.

That's not the main topic of the conversation. I was talking about superhero role models in general. Whether or not they're meant to be is rather moot, because anyone can choose anyone else to be their role model whether or not they were mean to be a role model in the first place.

[FrEaKjOkErXXX Torch Bearer Find all posts View Profile Close FrEaKjOkErXXX]

He teaches you to search for the answers and if anyone stands in your way, slice them in half with your metal claws...

so yes!

[The_Mad_Dragon Captain Pervert Find all posts View Profile Close The_Mad_Dragon]

What we SHOULD be teaching the kids is NOT to be so weak of character as to model themsleves off of fictional characters.

[Guest Close allwillbemine]

What we SHOULD be teaching the kids is NOT to be so weak of character as to model themsleves off of fictional characters.

Um, ouch. Really.

You make a good point, and I agree, but in this day and age where kids watch a lot of TV and books don't have a lot of realistic characters, its almost an inevitability that some of them will do so. Besides, how many kids idealized Hercules and Thor before they were comic book characters? King Arthur, Beowulf, and a ton of other literary heroes came before Wolverine, and I know people have idealized them too.

[JohnnyV Pictionary Master Find all posts View Profile Close JohnnyV]

I know it's cocky, but I'm my own role model.

[Old School Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Old School]

wait is wolverine real????????????

I thought he was a fictional character.

now I dont know what to believe

[Bruce Castle Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Bruce Castle]

+ YouTube Video

[Limelantern Better than both the Salami and the Bologna combined Find all posts View Profile Close Limelantern]

That's not the main topic of the conversation. I was talking about superhero role models in general. Whether or not they're meant to be is rather moot, because anyone can choose anyone else to be their role model whether or not they were mean to be a role model in the first place.

That sounds like no one else's problem but the kid who took a comic character as something worth emulating in the first place.

Why are the creators at fault when some kid cannot quite tell the difference between fantasy and reality?

[Guest Close allwillbemine]

Okay, well, this thread has veered off topic.

That sounds like no one else's problem but the kid who took a comic character as something worth emulating in the first place.

Why are the creators at fault when some kid cannot quite tell the difference between fantasy and reality?

But its not always a problem. Fictional characters can have values work emulating.

And I'm not blaming anyone.

Did you even read the first post?

[FrEaKjOkErXXX Torch Bearer Find all posts View Profile Close FrEaKjOkErXXX]

That sounds like no one else's problem but the kid who took a comic character as something worth emulating in the first place.

Why are the creators at fault when some kid cannot quite tell the difference between fantasy and reality?

The point of emulating a superhero isn't too emulate their actions, but their morals and lessons. When I was a kid, I never said;

"Hey, if my parents die, I'm going to start wearing a costume and fight crime."

I took from comics that if something tragic happens, then you fight through it and look to the bright days, instead of the dark.

[Limelantern Better than both the Salami and the Bologna combined Find all posts View Profile Close Limelantern]

Did you even read the first post?

Yes I read your first post, but I have seen this very conversation come up time and time again. Normally in the form of ..

"[BLANK] should be banned/canceled/removed because they teach our kids that fighting is okay" or "Smoking is cool" or "to be sexist, racist,etc.."

When in reality it is not a writer's duty to teach morality to anyone. They are entertainers. The characters they create are meant for entertainment value only, not to be an upstanding role model for emulation by all children across the world. If someone does change their way of thinking based on a fictional character the read somewhere then that is the reader's fault not the writer. They are the ones who chose to model their personalities based on someone they have never met or was not even real.

[Guest Close allwillbemine]

But that's not what I'm interested in talking about!

I was just talking about superheroes and villains who have influenced us. Please don't derail the thread like that.

Of course, everyone else did too. Guess my catchy title is to blame for that.

EDIT: I contacted a mod. The thread title will hopefully be changed.

[Guest Close sj_hawkins]

They do. When you're a kid, you want to be what you find 'cool'. Whether it's Wolverine, Ash from Pokemon, Mr T - you try to emulate them at a younger age as they are deemed to have a higher quality of life that you'd aspire to obtain.

But you do grow out of it. Sorta.