Superhero Rituals & Stereotypes

Rituals and Stereotypes

Stereotypes concern peoples behaviors. They are typically used negatively, but nevertheless they are still used. They generalize characteristics of a single person or group, and usually are incomplete. (Browne, 2005) We are all guilty of laughing at or using stereotypes. Have you ever pressed the corner of your eyes down to resemble and Asian? Or spouted out complete sentences in slang? Chances are that you have, or at least have laughed at someone who has.  Stereotypes have been, and are still currently being used in popular culture.

Rituals are events or passages a person takes in life. They compose of secular and religious. They may be as simple as moving from elementary school to high school, or complex, such as becoming a monk.  Editor of “Profiles of Popular Culture” Ray E. Browne notes rituals as “stereotypes and icons in action”. (Browne, 2005)

Superheroes are stories regarding humans or human-like beings who share the same culture with non-superheroes (note: there may be some exceptions).  Their stories, especially their origin stories, encompass many rituals and passage of rites. Their writers have used stereotyping on many occasions.  Pick up comics from the 1940 and 1950, where are country was a war, I guarantee you will find examples.  

Theories Applied

As mentioned earlier, every superhero has an origin, and with superhero movies being at the height of their popularity, we have witnessed the origin of many heroes. Heroes like Captain America, Green Lantern, Iron Man, Batman, Thor, and The Avengers have graced us recently with their presence on the big screen. To describe superhero rituals, let’s take a closer look at Captain America. Steve Rogers aka Captain America completed a ritual that many Americans have took part in, which is he joined the United States Army and completed boot camp. (Marvel, 2012)  Boot camp is full of rituals that bring together and strengthen a group of men and women.  If you relate to Captain America outside of the big screen, there is a vast amount of stories written about him. There have been comics written about Steve Rogers getting married, graduating school and even dying. Many superheroes did not gain their powers of identities until later in life; therefore they have taken every ritual that an average person has taken.

Superheroes are not innocent; writers who sought to gain popularity by gimmicks used stereotyping in their stories.  Film makers are notorious of this as well. In the first Iron Man film depicts Arab terrorists in the Middle East, a stereotype which has increasingly grown since the attacks on 9/11. Comics and movies seem to have more usage of stereotyping during war times. The Vietnamese are depicted stereotypically and talk stereotypically in “Tales of Suspense # 39”.

Insights Gained

I do believe that some people look to deep into superhero stories to find stereotypes to ridicule them. These stories were created a long time ago, many before the civil rights movement.  Adaption does need to be made, however the story line cannot be manipulated past a certain degree. This manipulation, in my opinion ruins the story that I have been accustomed to. For those that gripe about Tony Stark’s assistant being an African American, I give you Sergeant Fury (Samuel L. Jackson).  I myself will watch these films and enjoy watching the heroes’ progress through their rituals, and save the world. 

References:

Browne, R. B. (2005). Profiles of Popular Culture. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press.
Marvel. (2012). Marvel Universe Wiki. Retrieved August 28, 2012, from http://marvel.com/universe/Captain_America_(Steve_Rogers)