Superheroes and Philosophy
Iron Man: Ladies and the gents in the room, I
guess. Welcome to the topic at hand. Superheroes and philosophy. We’ve got the
big dogs from DC, Superman himself and the dark, brooding knight. (heroes wave)
And for Marvel, we have an Avenger…oh wait, it’s Spider-Man, never mind. And
representing the X-men, Wolverine! Let’s get things started with Q1. Did the
death of a loved one effect how you use your powers?
Wolverine: It’s made me realize there’s more
to life than just myself. I’ve seen plenty of death, it all blends in after a
while. Sure it sucks, but I’m used to it, bub.
Superman: With the loss of my home world and living on Earth,
it’s made me realize how important each life is. I want to use my powers for
those unable to fight; everyone deserves peace.
Batman: I don’t want to talk about
it, but no one should have to lose their family, that’s all there is.
Spider-Man: “With great power comes great
responsibility.” Those were the last words that my Uncle Ben told me. I try to
honor those words every day, some days better than others, but I try.
Wolverine: Kid, there’s more to life than
taking responsibility for things that you have no control over.
Batman: You are only responsible for
what you are in control of: your thoughts and feelings. Your uncle’s death was
not your fault, you have to learn to control your emotions.
Spider-Man: I just don’t agree on that, how can
you do that?
Wolverine: You just learn to not feel as much,
you get better at it in time.
Iron Man: Well, on that lovely note, let’s go
to Q2!
Q2. Why do you fight crime?
Batman: Everything I do, I do for
Gotham. The filth, crime, corruption, I slowly put a stop to it so innocents
don’t suffer.
Wolverine: Yeah, I can relate to that sense of
duty, I’ve fought many wars in my life and I feel like I have to fight because
I can.
Superman: I understand that in my life as
well. I have to fight because I have all these powers, and sure, I may be
scared in a battle sometimes, but I overcome that fear and conquer the moment
at hand. That is why I fight, to protect those who cannot protect themselves.
Spider-Man: Well, I know how they all feel
about duty. I made some crappy moves when I got my powers and I need to take
responsibility for them. I want to make my family proud.
Batman: We all have our reasons to
fight, but we fight to protect those that matter.
Superman: Which is everyone, good or bad,
everyone is still a person we try to protect to our greatest ability.
Iron Man: And with that uplifting discussion,
I present a follow up question.
Q3: Do you think you could ever stop fighting crime?
Superman: I have hope that one day my powers
will not be needed since we would have peace, but for now I will fight until
that becomes a reality.
Wolverine: I don’t know about you, bub, but I’m
tired of fighting. I’m tired of the suffering in my life, I avoid pain whenever
I can, but I’m not happy with how things are. So yeah, I’d stop, but I’d come
back if I needed to.
Batman: That’s not the case for me; I
will always fight, so long as there is evil in this world, especially in
Gotham.
Spider-Man: You honestly can’t live forever,
one day you’ll have to stop.
Batman: Even when I’m gone, Batman
will remain by those around me.
Superman: It seems like we have that in common,
we may be swayed to end our own fights, but we have a sense of duty to the
people we serve.
Iron Man: Touching, as always and we’ll be
moving things along with our next question!
Q4: Will there always be good and evil? Can one exist
without the other?
Spider-Man: I think I can say this for everyone,
but yes, there will always be good in this world, along with evil. Sad as that
may be, but it’s the truth.
Batman: Conflict
is necessary in life, it’s what challenges us and pushes us to the unknown.
Superman: There will be times when we will be
tempted to give in to our darker side, but we won’t. That’s what makes us
Superheroes.
Wolverine: I deal with good and evil every day,
I have to decide what is right, not only for myself, but for the kids I teach.
Spider-Man: Wait, you teach?
Wolverine: Yeah, art.
Superman: (ignores previous banter, pauses) Dealing
with the Justice League has made me realize how badly I long for peace, but
Batman is right, there will always be conflict. We cannot have one without the
other.
Iron Man: Yeah, that whole Ying and Yang
thing. I could seriously go for some Chinese.
Batman: Back to Ying and Yang, that is the point; if there was a world of
peace, there would be corruption at some point.
Spider-Man: Yeah, good things do not last for
long, but bad things will ultimately end up to positive outlooks.
Iron Man: Interesting, at least enough to keep
me awake. And now we have come to the sad part, our final question of the day.
Q5. Why do you think that what you do is ethical?
Wolverine: Well, I’m going to go and keep it
simple. I’m doing the right thing because I get things done. I do whatever it
takes to achieve my goals.
Superman: So you would murder someone, if they
were standing in your way?
Wolverine: I’ve killed many people in my past,
and I’ll probably end up killing a few in my future. So long as us Mutants
aren’t being killed off by ignorant humans, I’d say that’s a good day’s work.
Spider-Man: I don’t know if I could live in your
world then. I couldn’t kill someone.
Batman: We don’t kill people, ever.
End of story.
Iron Man: why don’t we hear someone else’s
opinion on the matter, though Wolverine does have some points, wouldn’t count
them as good, perhaps? Good team effort though!
Superman: I believe in the opposite of
Wolverine. I draw my line at killing, I hold myself back all day every day in
hopes to protect the people of Earth.
Batman:
I don’t do this job for the glory or myself, but for the people of Gotham. If their wellbeing is safe, then I’m
satisfied.
Spider-Man: could you say happy, even?
Batman: Your words, not mine.
Spider-Man: I agree mostly with Batman and
Superman on this, I think going to the point of murder is a little too far.
Villains need help too!
Superman: Once you cross that road, it’s hard
to be God. We need to comprehend that these are lives we are talking about.
Wolverine: It may not be your cup of joe, it’s
just something that I’ve done. I’m just willing to try things outside the box,
ok bub?
Iron Man: So most agree that killing is going
a little too far while Wolverine says that’s how far he’s willing to go if it’s
necessary. (Wolverine nods) Well, an interesting way to end the discussion, I
will say so myself. Anyone like to add something? (waits for ad libs to finish)
Well then, that concludes today’s discussion. Hope you go away with something,
if not, think again!
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