I could save a dying city, I could stop the deaths of millions of people, I could protect the world, but I won’t; I will watch people do those things.

People love to watch superhero movies, and the popularity is only rising, but why? They see heroes, both super and mundane, and for a few hours they can believe that the world can be a better place.

One of the most popular superhero movies, the X-Men series, is built on the very reason why superhero movies make us feel good. The heroes are examples of the “human tendency” (Pitts) to self-sacrifice. These characters fought fantastical enemies to protect a world that hated them: the pinnacle of self-sacrifice. People can see themselves as these heroes, and the thought gives them hope. But why not look to more realistic models? Two reasons.

People see a “likeness between themselves and the characters in the same way that best friends focus on similarities” (Harris).

People like that movies have happy endings.

Granted, along with the rise of superhero movies, there has been an increase in superhero movies with consequences: similar to real life. But where are the thousands of people who die? Off screen. Where are the police officers who lose their lives trying to save people? Off screen. Where are the children that Batman could not save? Dead, off screen. We see the movies and acknowledge the destruction, but we never have to face the consequences head on. Reality never quite slaps us in the face, so much as gives us a slight nudge, and that’s why our heroes are super.

I could save a village of people, I could fight an oppressive regime, I could try to make the world a safer place, but I won’t; I will just dedicate a day to the people who do these things.

Veterans used to be the “super” self-sacrificing heroes akin to those depicted in the newest Marvel movie. But the days of the greatest generation are long past. Wars are no longer composed of black and white morals; wars are composed of the 49th shade of gray and the 50th shade of gray, thus veterans are no longer pillars of molarity.
The news only aids this bleak look on the world. People turn on the news and what do they see? Oppressive governments and war torn countries fill their televisions and bog down their spirits down. At the same time, they see the servicemen who are in other countries trying to limit the suffering occurring.

And so people respect veterans. They can look up to them for the same reason they look up to superheroes, veterans embody the “human tendency” to self-sacrifice, but whenever someone turns on the news, they not only see all the work servicemen do, but also all the things their work is not currently preventing. So people limit their appreciation to one day, and “honor them with parades” (Bello) about as long as the length of an average superhero movie. What about the rest of the year? What about all the veterans that come home to joblessness, poverty, and homelessness?

It’s a remarkable dichotomy. People give so much of their money to watch these movies with godlike heroes that can seemingly relate to, but so little money is allocated for veterans: those mundane heroes that people can realistically strive to be like. No, they are not universally good, and they cannot save everyone, but they dedicated their hearts and souls to trying to better the world, and does that not deserve more appreciation?

Works Cited
Bello, Marisol. “Next Battle After the War Zone: Joblessness.” SIRS Researcher [ProQuest]. 
N.p., 11 Nov. 2011. Web. 10 Feb. 2016.
Harris, Misty. “Can a Batman Comic a Day Keep Body-Image Issues Away?” SIRS Researcher
[ProQuest]. N.p., 26 Sept. 2012. Web. 10 Feb. 2016.
Pitts, Leonard, Jr. “Generation ‘X’” SIRS Researcher [ProQuest]. N.p., 9 July 2000. Web. 2 Feb.
2016