Capes, Masks, and Ordinary Heroes

January 14, 2011 by Joseph Susanka

Continued from Page 1

And if he is so willing, should he be?

Despite these concerns, there is something both insightful and heartening in the show's fundamental message, one that has been reinforced before our eyes in recent days: We humans are capable of incredible heroism and self-sacrifice.

Without discounting the notion that heroes can be motivated by beneficent principles or lofty ideals, it is safe to say that examples of this sort of heroism is most often found in the spectacular unreality of Superman's realm, rather than in the darkness and suffering of our ordinary, everyday reality. We frail human beings are far more likely to be driven to feats of heroic virtue by our desire to protect those nearest and dearest to us. As Farady says in one of the show's all-too-brief moments of insight: "My family is not my weakness; it's my strength."

Amidst the horror of the Tucson shootings, Dorwan Stoddard threw his body over his wife's to shield her from Jared Loughner's bullets, selflessly giving his life so that his beloved might live.

In the small farming town of Nokesville, Virginia, Thomas Vander Woude fearlessly jumped into the septic tank whose roof had collapsed under his 20-year-old son, holding him above the muck until rescuers could arrive, and giving his own life in the process.

On the deck of the rapidly-sinking U.S.A.T. Dorchester, Rabbi Alexander Goode, Father John Washington, Reverend George Fox, and Reverend Clark Poling cheerfully gave up their life jackets to a quartet of young American servicemen, forfeiting their own chance at survival through their act of extraordinary generosity.

Recognizing the heroic actions of these few—and countless other humans just like them—will serve us far better than the tallest stack of comic books.

Idealized superhero stories are certainly not without value; a surprising amount of depth and insight can be found within the pages of these small, brightly colored newsstand pamphlets. Yet we must not forget that it is the "ordinary" heroes among us—heroes plagued by the same fears, weaknesses, sufferings, and sins that plague us—that will always serve as our truest and greatest inspirations.

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About Joseph Susanka

Joseph Susanka has been doing development work for institutions of Catholic higher education since his graduation from Thomas Aquinas College in 1999. He blogs at Crisis Magazine, where he also contributes feature articles on a variety of topics.

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