Capes, Culture and Power
Not sure if anyone on here will be interested in this, in that case this blog will serve as a way for me to stay motivated and organize my research on the superhero genre through different mediums like comics, manga, film, TV shows and of course peer reviewed articles and books. This specific post will serve as my introduction, what I'm currently looking into, and possibly my ever changing thesis.
I love superheroes, books of all genres, and of course TV and movies. I think they're a really fun way to start to think critically and reflect on ourselves and the society we live in.
Now maybe I am weird and the only one who likes to think about these things but just understand I have my degree in Political Science and English and I'm currently getting my MA in Clinical Psychology with hopes to get my PhD in English after. I'm at really cool intersection of all these things and I want to dissect my favorite characters and stories with these things in mind.
Personally, it really is deep and if we don't critically think about these things then we've lost the plot besties. We have to consume media, even our favorite stories, with this critical lens because it uncovers a whole lot.
CURRENT FOCUS: What is a superhero? What defines the genre? Who gets to be a superhero? Who isn't a superhero? etc
Right now my research questions/ topics are:
What trauma makes a good hero?
It’s a longstanding troupe that all main characters go through some sort of trauma like losing their parents, but why is that? Why is it so interesting for us? Can you have a superhero without this trauma and still be interesting?
Feminism
It’s a fact Wonder Woman paved the way for super heroines, but what did this reflect of society at the time of her creation? What do super heroines say about us now?
I love looking at Black Widow and Captain Marvel for this too. The characters are powerful but Black Widow was first reduced to a sexualized object (in film), and Captain Marvel was received with so much hate.
Are super heroines inherently feminists? Or do they occupy another role?
Masculinity
How do popular superheroes reflect masculinity? I love looking at the shift between Snyder and Gunn’s Superman and the way those films were received.
But even more than that, different super heroes reflect different types of masculinity. What do we as a society deem as masculine?
Superheroes, masculinity, and male loneliness?
Propaganda/Nationalism
The Golden Age of comics started right before WWII and ended in the mid 50’s and it’s very common those comics had themes of patriotism, nationalism, fighting the Nazis etc
But how has this evolved today? What about in films? Everyone loves to note Superman as an immigration story but what about Damian Al Ghul Wayne? Even Jason Todd is a victim of American propaganda
What about the latest Captain America movie? That is a clear example of propaganda if I’ve seen anything. How do these messages reflect our leaders and better yet the wants of the people?
Justice
I’m thinking about this in terms of the Justice League and especially early golden age comics. What do we constitute as ‘justice’? Who deserves justice? What does justice actually mean in the justice league?
I remember there is an episode of the old animated show where Wonder Woman is turned into a pig by Circe and Batman and Zatanna are on a mission to find Circe to turn WW back. They end up going to Lady Justice to try and talk to Medusa but Lady Justice ends up saying something like how the league has done good things for her name which then brings my question again, what is justice? But more specifically how does this depiction of justice reflect our society?
And is this justice ultimately a covert form of propaganda?
LGBTQ+
I’m not super knowledgable about this topic in regards to superheroes and literature. But I don’t think we’ve made as much progress as we should have by now.
I would love to learn more, but my main question is how do superheroes impact our view on the LGBTQ+ communities? Why are these characters always written and shown in *that* way, you know what I’m talking about.
Race
I don’t think I need to explain this one here. And there’s a reason I did this one last because I think it intersects so much of what I want to learn. DC has not had a black main character with an ongoing series in mainline continuity in over a 1000 days. What does that say about us?
Better yet, let’s look at Chadwick Boseman and Black Panther for a moment. When he unfortunately passed, may he rest in peace, there were people saying things like “finally marvel is all white again”
But I also want to look at Namor in the sequel. In a sense this team up with Shuri is a cheap way for Hollywood to send the message that BIPOC can unite and fight AGAINST our oppressors. When in reality this issue is so much more complex and nuanced BEACUSE of our oppressors and one where we need to reach class consciousness to ultimately reach
BIPOC women.
I also argue very strongly for this point I’m about to make because I’ve started to do some digging with it. But although comics have progressed and has changed with the times. At the end of the day, a white man is the arbiter of justice even though he has gone through none of what an oppressed woman has gone through. A little interesting to me
Superheros as a form of colonization
The superhero genre is unique to American culture and from it has spread globally. I think this is really interesting when we look at when superhero media becomes particularly popular, and what message that sends not only to American citizens but globally.
If superheroes (and media) can be a form of colonization, how do superheroes from other countries fight back?
What do superheroes from other countries tell us about this specific society and culture? How do they differ from American superheroes?
So if you're also interested in any of these things, let's chat! Let's ask each other questions, learn and build together! I'd love to hear what other people think about these things and learn. What questions do you guys have?
I just really love analyzing literature, art, film, etc and taking into context history and society to paint this picture about us as humans










