Saturday, January 13, 2007
Reminiscence time
Since childhood, my heroes have been models of virtue and goodness like no other... Heck, we are talking about "honest-to-God-goodness" here - goodness that goes above and way beyond the call of duty, as far as being "basically and fundamentally good" goes!
CAPTAIN AMERICA displayed that in the most convincing way during what was to be his very last mano-a-mano with his arch-nemesis Red Skull... Both survived (quite improbably too) through the many decades that separate us from the end of World War II. Actually, the gap is narrower - this being a story dating from the late eighties that I am recalling here - but it is still a good 40 years that have not taken their toll as they should have on Cap and his foe... Both benefited from an ever-ballooning period of time spent in "suspended animation" as time goes by; such is the "Marvel way"... Red Skull is, at that point, just a little older - and that is still in way too good a shape to be deemed "realistic" in any way! A mere semblance of realism is achieved -for once- with the absence of over-the-top action though... And so, in this final confrontation, we have no fisticuffs but only tough talk. One-sided tough talk, as it is - as Red Skull is the one doing all the talking here. He spews out all the hatred he has in his heart still, in most over-dramatic fashion (he is subbing for Hitler, after all...) and, at the end of the distasteful diatribe, he is highly disturbed but not surprised one bit to see a very telling expression on the Captain's face; one of sadness and pity - not hatred, at all. "And so you win one final victory over me," says Red Skull at the sight of this...
How much more saintly can one get, in the land of super-heroics, to not hate one's hateful enemy and actually feel sorry for him as he is still spouting out all of his venom in your face? That's my kind of hero - the one who, even if unconsciously, does as Jesus says - love your enemies, for if you love your friends, what's the merit in that? Loving one's enemies is a true accomplishment - and I will admit right here and now that I seldom accomplish it. But I have, sometimes...
AQUAMAN did one better though by forgiving his very own murderous wretched half-brother. There is nothing worse than your own flesh-and-blood turning out to be your most mortal enemy of all... This is, verily, the ultimate betrayal and the type of adversary that can and even should instill in you the most bitter feelings that lead to wishes of exacting revenge and setting the score "right"... Again, that is Biblical - God Told us that "man's enemy will be his own family - those closer to him". In this case, the enemy has for a name "Orm Marius"; and he is a true worm indeed - in order to get on par with his Sea King bro, he dabbles in the occult and becomes the "Ocean Master" more than in name only, finally, if only because these are ancient Atlantean magicks that we are talking about here... He truly becomes an abomination, that is what he becomes! On par with something H.P. Lovecraft would affectionate, maybe... Nothing more than that, I tell you! But I digress...
Aquaman had previously underestimated the "threat" that his hateful half-brother represented - even though, now, in revisionistic fashion, it is known that "Atlantis will always be fought over by two brothers" - it is both the destiny and the curse that befalls those born with ties to the fabled continent (at least, in this fictional take on the myth here, it is...!)
And at the height of their epic conflict, Aquaman recognizes in his heart that he does still have love for his half-brother, somewhere stashed away in the recesses of a forgotten childhood - Orm being in many ways the only family he has anymore. And it is that brotherly love that defeats the magic spun forth by the wicked Orm in a horrid attempt to destroy his own half-brother, the only family he too has anymore... That is indeed even better than Captain America's saintly behaviour in the face of utter hatred - this is lyricism in action and all-encompassing forgiveness!
How can I be expected to behave likewise - how can anybody "real" be expected to? In real life, it simply is never as easy as that...
Fictional characters have advantages that we do not wield, and those are not super powers either! Quite obviously, they can do "the right thing" with far greater ease than any one of us possibly can...
Nowadays, heroes like this are perceived as "passé" - they are labeled as "whitebread" and bland. Everyone wants to see a hero "with an edge" instead - who makes no quarters and asks for none. Both of these heroes have actually followed that trend - they toughened up, to keep pace with the competition; the Wolverines, Batmen and other weirdoes like them, out there...
Only that arachnid guy is allowed to be such a sappy loser behind the mask - the coolness of his mask and costume off-shoot any adverse effects that his having a CONSCIENCE might have on sales, success and overall popularity!
Arachnid guy lost his dear beloved Aunt May too - I do believe! Unless the auntie has been resurrected, through some foreseeable, totally unrealistic "retcon" - the likes of which only occur in soap-operas, comic-books and bad nighttime/primetime dramas!
In real life, you lose someone, it is done - final.
Until O Dia Do Juiz that is - it is done.
We will never again see that person in the same context as before - we will only see them again on that Day - when we will all see each other again...
Each day that goes by, we get closer to that Day - and yes, we shall see if there will be such a Day or not -soon enough- unbelievers! ;)
For the believers among you - there can be no doubt.
And there isn't any for me.
That is why I welcome any new bit of evidence that comes my way as CONFIRMATION of what I already knew before...
Not as anything else!
Check out the link supplied here today...
Let it be the beginning of a process that leads to BELIEVING, at last, for the unbelievers out there who might chance upon this...
See you all in 24! ;)
Link
CAPTAIN AMERICA displayed that in the most convincing way during what was to be his very last mano-a-mano with his arch-nemesis Red Skull... Both survived (quite improbably too) through the many decades that separate us from the end of World War II. Actually, the gap is narrower - this being a story dating from the late eighties that I am recalling here - but it is still a good 40 years that have not taken their toll as they should have on Cap and his foe... Both benefited from an ever-ballooning period of time spent in "suspended animation" as time goes by; such is the "Marvel way"... Red Skull is, at that point, just a little older - and that is still in way too good a shape to be deemed "realistic" in any way! A mere semblance of realism is achieved -for once- with the absence of over-the-top action though... And so, in this final confrontation, we have no fisticuffs but only tough talk. One-sided tough talk, as it is - as Red Skull is the one doing all the talking here. He spews out all the hatred he has in his heart still, in most over-dramatic fashion (he is subbing for Hitler, after all...) and, at the end of the distasteful diatribe, he is highly disturbed but not surprised one bit to see a very telling expression on the Captain's face; one of sadness and pity - not hatred, at all. "And so you win one final victory over me," says Red Skull at the sight of this...
How much more saintly can one get, in the land of super-heroics, to not hate one's hateful enemy and actually feel sorry for him as he is still spouting out all of his venom in your face? That's my kind of hero - the one who, even if unconsciously, does as Jesus says - love your enemies, for if you love your friends, what's the merit in that? Loving one's enemies is a true accomplishment - and I will admit right here and now that I seldom accomplish it. But I have, sometimes...
AQUAMAN did one better though by forgiving his very own murderous wretched half-brother. There is nothing worse than your own flesh-and-blood turning out to be your most mortal enemy of all... This is, verily, the ultimate betrayal and the type of adversary that can and even should instill in you the most bitter feelings that lead to wishes of exacting revenge and setting the score "right"... Again, that is Biblical - God Told us that "man's enemy will be his own family - those closer to him". In this case, the enemy has for a name "Orm Marius"; and he is a true worm indeed - in order to get on par with his Sea King bro, he dabbles in the occult and becomes the "Ocean Master" more than in name only, finally, if only because these are ancient Atlantean magicks that we are talking about here... He truly becomes an abomination, that is what he becomes! On par with something H.P. Lovecraft would affectionate, maybe... Nothing more than that, I tell you! But I digress...
Aquaman had previously underestimated the "threat" that his hateful half-brother represented - even though, now, in revisionistic fashion, it is known that "Atlantis will always be fought over by two brothers" - it is both the destiny and the curse that befalls those born with ties to the fabled continent (at least, in this fictional take on the myth here, it is...!)
And at the height of their epic conflict, Aquaman recognizes in his heart that he does still have love for his half-brother, somewhere stashed away in the recesses of a forgotten childhood - Orm being in many ways the only family he has anymore. And it is that brotherly love that defeats the magic spun forth by the wicked Orm in a horrid attempt to destroy his own half-brother, the only family he too has anymore... That is indeed even better than Captain America's saintly behaviour in the face of utter hatred - this is lyricism in action and all-encompassing forgiveness!
How can I be expected to behave likewise - how can anybody "real" be expected to? In real life, it simply is never as easy as that...
Fictional characters have advantages that we do not wield, and those are not super powers either! Quite obviously, they can do "the right thing" with far greater ease than any one of us possibly can...
Nowadays, heroes like this are perceived as "passé" - they are labeled as "whitebread" and bland. Everyone wants to see a hero "with an edge" instead - who makes no quarters and asks for none. Both of these heroes have actually followed that trend - they toughened up, to keep pace with the competition; the Wolverines, Batmen and other weirdoes like them, out there...
Only that arachnid guy is allowed to be such a sappy loser behind the mask - the coolness of his mask and costume off-shoot any adverse effects that his having a CONSCIENCE might have on sales, success and overall popularity!
Arachnid guy lost his dear beloved Aunt May too - I do believe! Unless the auntie has been resurrected, through some foreseeable, totally unrealistic "retcon" - the likes of which only occur in soap-operas, comic-books and bad nighttime/primetime dramas!
In real life, you lose someone, it is done - final.
Until O Dia Do Juiz that is - it is done.
We will never again see that person in the same context as before - we will only see them again on that Day - when we will all see each other again...
Each day that goes by, we get closer to that Day - and yes, we shall see if there will be such a Day or not -soon enough- unbelievers! ;)
For the believers among you - there can be no doubt.
And there isn't any for me.
That is why I welcome any new bit of evidence that comes my way as CONFIRMATION of what I already knew before...
Not as anything else!
Check out the link supplied here today...
Let it be the beginning of a process that leads to BELIEVING, at last, for the unbelievers out there who might chance upon this...
See you all in 24! ;)
Link
