When a person is super-duper smart, he or she encouraged (by some) to use the intelligence to do stuff like cure cancer, perfect water desalinization technology, etc.
When someone has scads of money, the pressure is to use some of the money for humanitarian means: set up foundations and stuff to address societal badness.
When a person has fame, that person is encouraged to use said fame to bring attention to world issues (the environment, the AIDS pandemic, failing school systems, child poverty, etc.).
In short: when a person has extraordinary abilities and/or recognition, that person is encouraged, if not expected, to use those abilities to serve the greater good. This is the societal expectation, and is augmented by one’s personal set of ethics.
So why are superheroes not held to the same standard? Why can Superman so blithely turn a blind eye to droughts throughout the world, terrorism, ecological disaster, slums and other substandard housing, contemporary slavery, global industry pillaging, etc.?
Oh sure, he'll stop a comet from destroying the Earth, and smash Mongul in the face, and foil Brainiac’s latest scheme, and that’s fine. But if you ask him to address the shrinking of rain forests, or political corruption, or any other global issue, he'll squawk something about how human beings need to fend for themselves, and recognize their own potential.
If you are going to be a citizen of Earth, you need to help make the Earth a better place. And smacking around bad guys doesn’t count. Who’s with me? |
