What Makes a (Super)Hero?

This last week the kids and I have been talking a lot about superheroes. Tater of course, being a 5-year-old boy, is obsessed with superheroes, but the girls like them, too, and they all love to pretend that they have various superpowers and are out to save the world and beat the bad guys! Our library opened again to limited hours this week, and we were all excited to be able to go and borrow new books and movies once more. So we checked out some books and six movies--Captain Marvel, Captain America, Wonder Woman, Thor, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, and a Barbie movie. It occurred to me this morning that all of these movies (with perhaps the exception of the Barbie movie) had the same theme: superheroes. (You might be wondering what Mister Rogers has to do with being a superhero--trust me, I'll explain.)

When we watch these kinds of movies/shows, the kids always want to know: what makes this or that person a superhero? I've noticed that all the heroes, real or made-up, in these movies share common traits, and I'd like to share my thoughts with you.

The first trait that makes a superhero is self-discipline. Every superhero has to exhibit this to some degree, just to control his or her amazing abilities and not hurt those around them, but even everyday heroes need self-discipline in order to succeed. Fred Rogers demonstrated this quality superbly: he rose every morning at 5:30 a.m., swam every single day, watched what he ate and drank in order to maintain his health and weight, and went to bed every night at 9:30 p.m.--every single day of his adult life. He had figured out that taking care of his body enabled him to better accomplish his goals, and since his goals were important to him, he disciplined himself so that he could stay at his best.

Self-discipline is not easy--it means saying "no" to the things that you really want to do instead of giving in to your desires, good or bad. It's also not popular in today's "do-whatever-you-want, get-whatever-you-want" society, but maybe that's why people who practice it stand out so much. It's certainly impossible to get much of anything done if you don't have the self-discipline to make yourself do things even if you don't want to (exhibit A--cleaning my house 🙋).

The second quality that superheroes have is humility--they're not convinced of their superiority or striving to push their own agenda at the expense of others. Captain America and Thor are excellent examples of this--the former positive, the latter negative, at least at first. Steve Rogers was chosen to be Captain America because of his humility. But Thor had to learn humility; his origin story is all about how he goes from being a spoiled, selfish prince who thinks the world and those in it are his to do with as he pleases to being a humble man willing to sacrifice himself to save others. Thor learned that he was not the most important being in the universe, something every one of us has to learn in order to live a healthy, rewarding life.

A third quality (already mentioned) is self-sacrifice. This one is absolutely important for any hero to possess. The willingness to expend yourself to save others is at the core of what makes a (super)hero a (super)hero. This is the one I stress the most to my kids. Yes, it's cool to have all of those awesome abilities, but if you only use them to benefit yourself, you're not a superhero; you're a super villain! This character trait goes hand in hand with humility, because a humble man or woman counts his or her own life as less important than the lives of those around them who are perhaps not as well-equipped to fight whatever is threatening the public. It is this self-sacrifice that makes firefighters, policemen, soldiers, and doctors and nurses just as much of heroes as our favorite super-powered beings.

Next on the list is courage. Superheroes get scared--sometimes they're terrified--but they're able to move beyond their fear to do what needs to be done. They refuse to let fear control them, and so they are able to overcome fear, and that's half the battle. This is amply illustrated in the movie Justice League (which my kids have not seen--too scary!). The monsters the heroes must fight can smell fear and are attracted to it. In order to defeat them, Batman and all of his friends had to face their fears and overcome them. Doing what's right in spite of your fear is the very definition of courage.

This ties directly into the character trait of perseverance. When things become difficult for heroes, they don't even think of giving up, but just keep trying until they accomplish their goal(s). There's this moment in Captain Marvel that I love where the villain is showing Carol Danvers all the times she wasn't strong enough to do what she wanted, all the times she was laughed at or pushed down just because she was a girl, all the times she failed, and Carol (who has been slowly regaining her memory) suddenly remembers what happened next after each of those times--she got back up on her feet and tried again. She refused to give up, and she refused to be held back by her own limitations. Instead, she kept trying until she succeeded. It's at that moment when she realizes this that she comes into her full powers as a superhero and is finally able to defeat the bad guys. Facing your fears and not giving up just because something is hard enables you to do incredible things!

The next two character traits common to heroes are a deep sense of justice and a specific mission. When heroes see something wrong, they feel compelled to do something about it and make it right. Sitting on the sidelines is not an option for them; they must do what they can to fix the problem. It doesn't matter if it's standing up to a bully on the playground, chasing a terrorist, healing the sick or saving the world from aliens--true heroes always step forward to take on a problem, protect the innocent and save the day.

I think it's important to say here that in movies as in real life the hero doesn't always win. Sometimes they lose. They might ultimately win the war, but inevitably they will lose some battles on the way. They might lose friends or family, their home, their job, their reputation, sometimes even their mental or physical health in the battle to fight evil, right wrongs and stand up for their fellow man. It is this loss that makes them human, that makes them just like the rest of us average joes who maybe don't have the courage to step up and speak out when something is wrong. The losses they face teach heroes compassion, the final, perhaps most important, quality a hero can possess. Compassion teaches us that all men are our brothers, and their griefs are our griefs, and so we must help each other to bear them.

In talking with my kids about superheroes, I always end with the question: Who is the greatest superhero of all? My kids know the answer--we've talked about it many times--Jesus!

"Why?" I ask them.

"Because He's the only superhero that's real!" they'll answer. And they're right!

Jesus is the ultimate superhero because He did something no one else could do--He died for the whole world to save us all from our sins. Sin is a much greater threat to the human way of life than any of the super villains Marvel or DC Comics could come up with. Sin brings discord and contention, sickness and death, hatred and wars. Sin is the reason we have poisonous creatures and plants, natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes, and all the myriad other things that cause humans suffering and anguish. Worst of all, sin is the thing that separates us from a loving Creator God Who wants more than anything to have a personal relationship with us and yet can't because of....sin.

And yet, Jesus conquered sin. He defeated death. He rose from the dead (no one did it for Him), giving us the opportunity to have eternal life spent in Heaven with Him. No superhero or god made up by man even comes close to the amazing things Jesus has done for us. And, in case you were wondering: Yes! Jesus embodies all of the qualities of a superhero or just regular hero that I already listed. He showed amazing self-discipline while here on this earth, as well as humility, self-sacrifice, courage, perseverance, compassion, and justice, and He definitely had a specific mission. On this Memorial Day, we need to show our appreciation for all the heroes who have given their all for our freedom and opportunities, but even more we need to thank the Father for sending us the greatest superhero of all--His Son, Jesus Christ.