The Psychology of Superheroes

June 16, 2008 on 7:25 pm | In 3 Stars | No Comments

The Psychology of Superheroes
By Robin Rosenberg, Ph.D.
(Benbella Books, 2008)

Y’know, as a writer myself, I love to know what makes a character tick. What makes them who they are, and what makes them do what they do. It’s a fascinating subject and a great way to understand the character if you ever hope to write him or her. The Psychology of Superheroes, edited by Robin Rosenberg, Ph.D., book seemed like it would be a great find for me, and while I certainly enjoyed it, I often found it to be dull and clinical.

This book looks at the psychological motivations behind your favorite characters.

* The positive psychology of Peter Parker.
* Themes of race and discrimination in X-Men.
* Gender roles in Wonder Woman.
* Nature versus nurture in Superman’s upbringing.
* Is the Punisher a clinical psychopath or just anti-social?
* Anger management and the Hulk.

Every single topic could be fascinating and well-explored … if they had any real writers.

This book is an anthology, written not by creative writers but mostly by clinical professionals. Yes, Virigina, there is a difference. Just because a writer scripts a story about a doctor working in a busy urban emergency room, that doesn’t make him a doctor. Likewise, just because Dr. John Somebody has been published in the “North American Journal of Psychology” doesn’t mean they know a thing about writing a captivating story.

They certainly know a lot about the characters, I can’t deny that; but most of their essays read like a disertation for a professional journal. In fact, if you substituted any of the popular character mentioned in these essays for more generic, unknown names, the essays would be virtually unreadable to the average person. I think it’s only because it’s dealing with characters we know and love that we even bother to read them.

After all … we’re talking about an entertainment industry, and to suck all the fun out of them is counterproductive to their creation.

Still, if you can get past the technical jargon, it’s still a fun and interesting book to read. I especially recommend it to writers who hope to someday script these characters’ adventures, as a way to better understand the motivation behind their actions. I also recommend it to anyone with a combined interest in comics and psychology — for you people, this book is like someone put their chocolate into your peanut butter!

Overall, it’s a great subject matter, with some excellent topics, that just fell a little flat in the hands of some less than entertaining authors.

I’d give this book three stars.

FUN FACTS: In the Marvel Universe, the X-Men have often been used as allegories for racial prejudice; Dr. Charles Xavier representing Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Magneto representing his idealogical counterpart, Malcom X.

The Man from Krypton

June 7, 2008 on 11:30 pm | In 2.5 Stars | No Comments

The Man from Krypton
Edited by Glenn Yeffeth
(BenBella Books, 2006)

MFK (abbreviated because I’m lazy) is a collection of essays, examining Superman through the lens of romance, politics, sociology, psychology and all those other -ologies. As with any collection of essays, I found it rather hit-or-miss. Some of the essays were fun and interesting, others … not so much.

I really enjoyed “You Will Believe a Man Can Walk,” by Sarah Zettel – a heartfelt look at Superman-actor Christopher Reeve and what he brought to the character. I think it was the best essay in the entire book.

Other essays explored the evolution of Krypton, the differences between two orphans: Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne, and the makeup of a hero. All of them were cute, if not a little forgettable.

Sadly what I’ll remember most about this book are the two essays that I hated the most.

The first was “God, Communism and the WB,” by Gustav Peebles. I’ll admit, I didn’t even read it all the way through. I just couldn’t. I tried, God help me, I did … but it was so dry and boring that I almost put the whole book down. Instead, I just abandoned this essay and left it for dead, as it surely would have done me. Maybe I just don’t understand it because I’m stupid, I don’t know. But it seemed to me at times as if Peebles – an anthropology professor at Columbia University in NYC, who studies the history of monetary reform (whatever that is) – was perhaps just a bit over my head. I wondered how many people can really connect with this essay.

I would say more about it, but I’m bored even writing about Peebles’ essay.

The second was Larry Niven’s supposedly classic essay, “Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex,” which was originally published in 1971. It’s become kind of a cult favorite for its sci-fi comedy, I’m told, but I just found it ridiculous. It wasn’t comically absurd; as I’m also told it was supposed to be. It was just absurdly absurd. In his essay, Niven explores the “real world” consequences of Superman’s sex life.

“Superman would literally crush LL’s body in his arms, while simultaneously
ripping her open from crotch to sternum, gutting her like a trout.” (Niven, 53).

One potential ending Niven theorizes is that millions of Kryptonian sperm eat through LL’s body and fly through the air, impregnating unsuspecting women everywhere. And of course, carrying a superbaby poses its own set of deadly problems. I absolutely found it indulgent, sickening and ridiculous. I certainly won’t be seeking out anything else that Niven – an award winning sci-fi writer – has published.

While you’re writing your hate mail now, I’ll just wrap things up here.

Just as I wrote in the beginning: the problem with collected editions is that some essays work, and others don’t. In the end, it just depends which side ends up with more lines on the chalkboard. For this book, it had more good essays than bad, but the bad ones cast a large shadow that makes it almost impossible to remember the things that made it enjoyable.

If you’re already a hardcore fan of the Man of Steel, as I am, or if you appreciate pop culture analysis, as I also do, you’ll enjoy this book. Without those pre-programmed measures to attract the reader, however, I don’t see anyone getting too excited about it.

In a future volume (and I certainly hope there is one) I would rather read essays written not just by random writers, but instead by people who can be credited as a real authority on the Man of Steel – maybe former writers and editors, or filmmakers. At least those people know what they’re talking about.

I’d give this book two and one-half stars.

FUN FACTS: Superman — often compared to Judeo-Christian figures like Moses, Samson, or Christ — can also be analogous to the Sumerian god, Gilgamesh.