This may be one of the hastiest posts I’ve made, because I have to get back to writing a story, but I just read Boingboing’s coverage of Philip Zimbardo on The Lucifer Effect in Action at TED, and I want to make some quick observations:
1. I have extremely ambivalent feelings about TED: they do cool things in the service of benevolent hierarchies of greed.
2. Two of Zimbardo’s “7 Social Processes that Grease the Slippery Slope of Evil” apply immediately to the web: “De-individualization of self (anonymity)” and “uncritical conformity to group norms.” The first covers most of the people who are annoying on the web, flamers and trolls and such. But the second covers communities that are quick to identify dissenters as flamers and trolls and exclude them without engaging them.
3. The reviewer says,
Zimbardo offers heroism as the “antidote to evil.” Teach kids to be ready to act heroically when the see evil. We need to give them real role models. Comic book superheroes are bad models, because they have super powers. A hero is the soldier who reported the Abu Ghraib abuses. People wanted to kill him. They threatened to kill his wife and mother, too. He had to go in hiding. Teach kids hero courses, teach them hero skills, make them heroes-in-waiting.
Zimbardo’s both right and wrong about superheroes. The basic metaphor of the superhero is wonderful: work for justice, no matter the odds. The problem with commercial superheroes is that they’re champions of the status quo—superheroes were born in the 1930s, when the struggle with racism was fierce, but the first black superheroes didn’t show up until the late 1960s, when it was clear that fight was being won, and there are still no superheroes that I know of who are true champions of working class people.
Perhaps the problem is that the superhero is inherently hierarchical: a powerful outsider will save you. But an egalitarian superhero would help you save yourself.
I think that’s why I’ve always liked Batman. He was just a guy without superpowers, saving the world. Yes, he had expensive cars & nifty gadgets, but he also had issues.
I blame him for my vigilante leanings, but sometimes you have to break the law to do what’s right.
I’ve casually enjoyed superheroes my whole life, but had no idea how much some men identified with them until recently. In planning our wedding ceremony, he mentioned he wanted his groomsmen to come dressed as their favorite Marvel comic book heroes. My reaction (no surprise, I’m sure) was, “Huh?!?” and “No way.” But strangely enough (to me), when he would mention this to his friends, they would immediately call out their guy. “Wolverine.” “The Silver Surfer.” I was startled when my own brother - without a moment’s hesitation - claimed Spiderman. I was like, “What?” I never had a clue.
The “he” in the sentence “In planning our wedding, he mentioned …” is my husband.
Andrea, I loved the Batman (pathetic fans like the “the”) until I noticed he was a Republican. Maybe I noticed it at the same time I realized that everyone couldn’t make it to the top of a social pyramid. Oddly (or not), my favorite superhero was Captain America, an ordinary guy who got his abilities thanks to hard work and a government program–he’s the closest the industry has to a socialist superhero.
h, guys are pathetic that way. So, if the groomsmen are dressing up, does he have plans for the two of you? I saw a picture not long ago of a Superman marrying a Wonder Woman. It was sweet.
Except for the Green Arrow. He’d be down with the black bloc these days.
B., how did I forget the Denny O’Neal-Neil Adams Green Arrow! A millionaire who lost his fortune! Best liberal superhero ever!
I imagine him walking along with the John Stewart Green Lantern (the black Green Lantern, not the comedian), saying, “Dude, the biggest villain is The Man.” And John Stewart says, “Bro, please stop embarrassing me.”
Imagining Jon Stewart with a power ring is kind of fun, too.
The fellow & girl who play Joker & Harley respectively at Gotham Public Works had an amazing in-character but also IRL wedding. She designed & made her own dress. I’m looking for the wedding photos, but they may not be public. Most of the guests also came in costume.
We went as Joker & Harley for Halloween, but I don’t think I could get my boy to cosplay our wedding. You’re very fortunate!
Oh: moment of clarification: we are *not* doing superhero dress up at our wedding! (We settled on decoder rings for his guys). But alas, then I get preggers and looks like I’d be huge and about to pop around our date, so we put that off. We’re already legally married, so we’ll just probably do a 5 or 10 year anniversary renewal of vows down the line.
Andrea, the halloween pics on your lj were swell.
h, decoder rings are a fine solution. But when the anniversary comes up, remember how the groomsmen leapt at the chance!
Sofia, that sounds like my wife and I. Every time we’ve tried to set up the wedding ceremony and such, she’s gotten pregnant and we’ve put it off until the next time.