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#1 & #2: Coming into this course, I thought I knew a lot about my Batman. I grew up with this superhero; dressing up as him for Halloween, playing with my Batman action figures, watching the cartoons, and the movies. This class has shown me the dense Batman universe that I was oblivious to when I was younger. I would have never thought about all the different side stories in comics, especially Arkham Asylum, which now is one of my favorite Batman comics. I did not pay attention to the different versions of Batman either, let alone take their meanings seriously. I always thought that the Adam West Batman tv series was some sort of joke and a comedic take on a comic, but it perfectly resembles the campy and corny period of superheroes in the late 1960s. And of course we have the first wave of Batman films from the 80s and 90s that I remember watching when I was a kid and thought they were the coolest thing in the world! Looking back at them, I can see the awkward masculinity in their costumes and I question myself how I did not notice it before! Of course, now we have the Christian Bale Batman films which really bring back the idea of “The Dark Knight.” But, out of all my favorite Batman shows, I would have to say Batman Beyond was the BEST Batman cartoon ever, because it was a dark, futuristic take on a retired Batman handing down the rains to a younger generation.

#3: After reading the superhero book Hero, I realized that I have a lot of things going for me. All the main characters in that book had some sort of social handicap or, in Scarlett’s case cancer. They lived day by day with the social restraints and abuse from their peers because they were different and stood out in a crowd. The way that people treated some of the characters really made me think that I am truly grateful for what I have today. No matter how stressed or how cheated I may feel, I know that I am still better off than others and I should be happy for that. But, that does not mean I stay out of the fight, because I have plenty of friends and brothers who fall under this category of social handicapping, and I stand by them every step of the way to help show others that just because they are different means you have to treat them as lesser beings. Hero was a great novel, and I would recommend that you continue to use it.

#4: There isn’t a topic I would like to go into more detail about, but rather a group of superheroes. We did not spend much time on the X-men super mutant group. Next to Batman, this comic series is another one of my favorites, and I feel like there are several deeper meanings we could look into by searching through some of the comics. When I wrote my analytical paper on the X-men: Last Stand¸ I could have wrote so much more on various themes that were submerged into the conflict between the mutants and humans. But, just like the Watchman¸ you could spend weeks just on one hero or superhero teams.

#5: I feel I have just solidified my views on life in general because of this course. When we watched the documentary on real life superheroes, I saw people just like me who really cared about the betterment of society. However, I wouldn’t necessarily put a costume on if I was going to go around parts of town handing out care packages to the homeless. That takes courage to do that, and I give them my respect, no matter how crazy some of them may be. And I don’t mean crazy in a bad way, rather, I feel that some of the superheroes in the documentary are on the extreme side of the spectrum, where I find myself more in the middle. As for the hero that best fits in as a good citizen, I would have to pick Thom. He is an average kid with not so average abilities, lives in a real life scenario, plays basketball, has a hard working father, and many other things that tie him in with an average citizen. But, he also has a heart; a very big one in fact. Despite being gay and taking the social criticism from others, Thom gives all his heart to helping others through his actions and his superpowers. He make mistakes, just like all of us do, making him just like you and me.

Reflections #11

Obviously, the coach tells tome he can no longer play on the team because of his seizures, because they would be a liability issue if he were to get seriously hurt on the court. I have not been in this situation before, but I may have reacted the same way Thom did; I would be extremely pissed because people would be denying me a chance to do something I love due to the fact that I have something that I cannot fully control. My parents would react in the same way I did and would be furious with my coach. Or, at least I would hope that my parents would stand by me on this.

What Ruth told Thom is pretty much what my mom told me when I was a freshman in high school. I was slipping in my grades, playing nothing but video games, and generally doing nothing with my life. My mom came up to me one day and told me to get off my butt and to do something with my life, because nothing was going to magically come to me. It took me awhile to realize that I was going to be just a bum living in my parents’ house if I did not get my focus back and find something to do with my life. I knew I wanted to go to college, so I kicked it into gear and brought my grades back up, applied for schools, got in, and picked this college. I am in charge of my happiness by getting good grades, getting involved on campus, and meeting new people. I have been able to have amazing experiences here at this school and in Washington D.C when I was studying off-campus for a semester. Ruth essentially was telling Thom to be in charge of his happiness and that life does not just come to him on a silver platter, he has to work for it.

I feel that everyone has a moment when people cheer them on for something. It can be anything from writing a paper or winning a gold medal in the Olympics. And everyone is important to someone in this universe. I have been cheered on before for a handful of things, including running for a position in my fraternity, a sport, a band concert, and just random pickup games of some sport during daycare when I was little. Everyone can gain a bit of self-confidence when they hear people cheer their name and here they yell encouraging words.

Well, I do not remember my first kiss so I can’t really comment on that, because it was in grade school. The “perfect first kiss” would probably not involve slobber and all that gross junk. But it isn’t perfect until you find someone that you truly love and care about, because then you no its real. I would say my only celebrity crush was on Olivia Wilde, but I honestly do not have a “crushes” on celebrities. Crushes give us something to dream about and wish we have, so in return, we work towards getting something similar to it.

The Real Superhero?

After reading and watching the Watchmen, I began to really think about the whole idea of being a superhero. In my mind originally, I pictured superheroes as the greatest version of oneself; super abilities, morally straightforward, and fighting for the sake of mankind. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman all possess these traits, but are they really superheroes? They live in a imaginative world, with no real life scenarios that take place that we, as readers, can reflect and find connections with these make believe heroes. Sure, writers and artists reflect what they create on the times at hand, by incorporating global events like Vietnam and the Cold War. But these superheroes are still fictional characters living in an almost perfect world, were the good guy trumps the bad guy, and the good versus evil aspect always ends with good on top. Now, when I look at Watchman, I see what a “real life” superhero is. These are not even heroes, but just your average Joe bored with their lives and saw putting on a costume as a way to better themselves and to find their identity. Their world is much like our world, where rape, drugs, violence, and corruption fuels society. The society that they “help” rejects them and sees them as outcasts, officially banning them of their duties by an act created by the United State government. The only true “superhero” in the story is Dr. Manhattan, but he so disconnected with humanity that he really just acts as a robot working for the government. Overall, what I am trying to say is that this graphic novel is incredible. As weird as it sounds, I want to see more novels like this. I enjoy reading books and things related that the characters in the story face problems and actually fail them. I HATE happy endings, because not every story has a good guy win in the end. I apologize if I offend anyone’s love for superheroes, but this is just how I feel  about the concept. 

Reflection 9

If I was told that I had to construct a costume to wear on my nightly adventures to help the streets of Carol Stream, I would make sure not to wear any spandex or tights. I feel that the average superhero costume almost puts off a negative image to the public that “this guy is crazy for wearing a speedo over some red tights.” I think a more practical outfit would be a uniform that is similar to a police officer, but make it more "civilianized." What I am imagining right now is like an outfit for the neighbor watch, but with body armor, civilian grade utilities to both defend and scare off predators. Under the uniform would be a bullet proof vest, just for safety precautions, and the back of the uniform would have a neighborhood watch symbol, but obviously it would be more “badass” looking. The uniform would be all black, with protective vest reflectors on the front and back so when I was walking the streets, people could see where I was and not run me off. This could be a disadvantage, but it would be smarter than wearing all black. The material used for the uniform should be Kevlar, so I would not have to worry about knifes tearing into my skin if I was attack and I would  be double protected from a gunshot with both the bullet proof vest and the Kevlar uniform. And lastly, I would make sure to have a walkie-talkie that would go directly to the police station in case I needed back up or to call in a civilian arrest. Most importantly, my name would be "Nightwatch."

My general work would consist of paroling the streets, checking on houses where the owners had left for vacation, helping drunk people get home from the bars, and prevent sexual predators from kidnapping kids. I would drive around on a nice Yamaha motor cycle, jet black, so I could chase after robbers fleeing the scene of a crime and to also drive people to safety. There has been recent development in the older parts of Carol Stream where younger children are attempting to establish “gangs.” I use the term “gang” loosely, but I would make sure to prevent conflict between other gangs and crimes associated with gangs from increasing. There is also a problem with families not getting enough food on the table for their families, so I would also make sure to develop food drives for the less privileged, but I would make sure to keep it year round and not just on special occasions.

In the documentary, I identify most with Zetaman and the New York Initiative, because they have more legitimate forms of combating problems on the streets. For the New York Initiative, they bait criminals on their rounds around the city, which I think is a great idea because it pulls out the creeps and prevents them from attacking a bystander walking home from work or to a friend’s house. But they also helped people out, like we saw in the movie, when the man had his foot ran over and they made sure to help him out and ultimately get him home safely. As for Zetaman, he went around and gave out care packages to the people living on the streets, out of his own money, and regularly.