10 Secret Reasons Why The Avengers Is the Best Superhero Film
3. The Hulk Embodies the Cup: Bruce Banner Must Master his Emotions.
Stan Lee on his inspiration for a brilliant scientist who struggles to control the powerful emotions that transform him into a mindless beast:
Q. Okay. Let’s go now to the Incredible Hulk. And could you tell us how The Incredible Hulk came about? What was your idea for him?
STAN LEE: Well, same thing. I was trying to — it was my job to come up with new characters and to expand the line as much as I could. So I was trying to think again what can I do that’s different. I liked the thing very much, and I thought, what if I get somebody who is a real monster? And I remembered I had always in the old movie Frankenstein with Boris Karloff I had always thought that that monster was the good guy because he didn’t want to hurt anybody, but those idiots with torches who were always chasing him up and down the hills.
Q. He was a misunderstood monster.
STAN LEE: A mis — you said it better than I could have. So I thought it would be fun to get a monster who is really good but nobody knows it, and they fight him. But then the more I thought about it, I figured it could be dull after awhile just having people chasing a monster. And I remember Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I thought, why not treat him like Jekyll and Hyde? He’s really a normal man who can’t help turning into a monster, and it would make a very interesting story if when he needs his monstrous strength the most, the poor guy turns back into a normal man. I could get a lot of story complications. So I thought that would be good.
The story arc of the Hulk is about recognizing that our curses can become our greatest blessings. Initially the Hulk stories start as modern variations of their Frankenstein roots. The Hulk is more monster than hero. It’s only as the story progresses that he comes to in time realize that he can learn to control when he transforms into the Hulk and then remain conscious and use the awesome power for Good instead of Evil.
In the films we see this arc conclude in The Avengers. Bruce Banner has learned to summon up his emotions and control them, so that his rage can become a weapon to help save humanity:
America’s first president and his dark side (hat tip: Kathy Shaidle):
Washington became a rebel and a revolutionary well aware that, in the event of defeat, just as Franklin said, he would be hanged, drawn and quartered by the king’s justice. As the culprit in chief, he could expect no mercy. The revolutionaries all fought, he later said, “with halters around our necks.” But his recurrence to the imagery of hanging — and to the real thing — reminds us not only of his courage and realism, but also of the remarkable, even perpetual fury he usually buried or concealed behind a calm, stony façade. When he had reached the limit of his patience with war profiteers at Valley Forge, Washington erupted in a violent rage that would not have surprised any of his subordinates — “I would to God,” he burst out to the president of Congress, “that one of the most atrocious of each state was hung in gibbets upon a gallows five times as high as the one prepared for Haman.”
These gallows and halters show us something else as well: the discipline, the iron will that sets Washington apart from almost all of his contemporaries. In the Benedict Arnold affair, when the captured British spy John Andre, a handsome and sympathetic figure, pleaded to be executed like a gentleman by a firing squad, Washington turned his back. Despite the wrenching protests of Hamilton and Lafayette, he ordered Andre hanged in full view of the army, as an example to his own soldiers and a message to the British. “Policy,” he explained to the French admiral Rochambeau, “required a sacrifice.”
Is this idiotic new agey bull$%^& for real? Ia this an actual articule meant to be taken seriously? Or a parody? This better be a parody, cause this is all just screwed up craziness here.
“a this an actual articule meant to be taken seriously? Or a parody?”
It’s both.
Chill, Hux: it’s the psychological/spiritual backstory for the Avengers.
Read Thor’s page. (Though, the real Christ figure in the Norse mythos is Baldur; a god so beautiful no one would harm him. The gods would take turns using him for target practice because all things had agreed not to harm him. He was killed by a sprig of Mistletoe that Loki fashioned into an arrow. (Nobody had thought to ask the Mistletoe plant to sign on because it was so soft.)
The point is (said much better by CS Lewis) that the eternal truths and stories set up resonances in our minds and hearts, and cause all these other myths to sprout in the cultures of Earth, like a huge cathedral bell will cause other bells to sound in sympathy.
“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
I commend to you “Meditations on the Tarot” by Anonymous
http://www.amazon.com/Meditations-Tarot-Anonymous/dp/1585421618/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358178571&sr=8-1&keywords=meditations+on+the+tarot
Many thanks for the tip. Looks right up my alley.
Nice mental masturbstion piece.
Does any of it, even one line, have real support from Joss Whedon? Because to me it looks like you made up a lot of stuff to fit your premise.
Explaining the director’s intent was not the premise of the piece.
He wasn’t just the director, he was also the writer.
It has Scarlett Johansonn, so it must be good, right? Couldn’t they get Summer Glau?
A significant compilation and treatise. Well thought out and worth the time I put into reading it.
Much as Taiji Chuan is too advanced to be understood by the average fighting or sport student, so the same can be said for more complicated concepts and principles.
http://taoism.net/ttc/complete.htm
Much of the philosophical treatises written by those very close to spiritual and intellectual enlightenment, makes absolutely no sense, absent the context, practical application, or dialogue exchange. It is as if the closer one gets to the divine, the harder it is to sink down to mortality and communicate to all those sunk in mud. Some of the religious meditation users literally cannot even describe their experiences at all, for the human word is too close to mortality and too fragmented to encapsulate the cycle of creation and destruction.
The Tao Te Chung describes this in the first passages concerning what the nature of the infinite is. That it has no name, thus is not a thing, but an entity that exists not within the limits of human language. Without that critical context, the text itself never makes sense.
The connection with Aleister is also interesting, for I only heard him mentioned from Japanese cultural sources. They must have researched European magic technology far better than we here in the West, born from the results. The fact that Aleister actually makes sense, warrants closer inspection of that age.
For a practical introduction to Eastern internal medicine and metaphysical philosophy, I recommend this series by Dr. Yang.
http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Qigong-DVD1-Dr-Yang/dp/B000HXDM82
As a martial artist, much of the concepts were immediately put into practical applications, with almost no delay. Which is a form of learning by doing.
I appreciate your links and kind words. Exploring Taoism more has been on the to-do list for awhile. Eventually I intend to have an entire section of Eastern mystical books on the Counterculture Conservative book list. And additional recommendations on martial arts resources would be appreciated too.
The idea that momotheism evolved from polytheism is a myth. All ancient people believed in the creator God. Read Eternity in their Hearts by Don Richardson.
So Abraham and Moses weren’t polytheists before becoming monotheists?
No… the answer is no, and that’s why they were chosen.
Nice article btw. Loved your archetypes. As a fan of ancient Greece/Hellenic world, someone educated in “classic protestantism”, who walked to the rationality of Objectivism, thank you
As much as I think rationality is the path to go, when I observe human nature, it seems to me that somehow too many people need “pantheons”, larger than life personalizations of principles, virtues (and the counterparts, vices, perversions). This article shows an interesting view of it.
“No… the answer is no, and that’s why they were chosen.”
So your theology teaches you to believe that while Moses was growing up as an Egyptian prince (taught to worship Egyptian idols) that in his heart he was actually worshiping the God of Israel? You believe that Moses knew the truth about God BEFORE his experience at the burning bush?
Theology has nothing to do with it. It’s a question of character, and if he was a truly worshipper (as opposed to a nominal worshipper, like the ones that go for tradition to church without being truly believers) of gods and all those things, he wouldn’t be able to lead a rebellion agains such a things. He was raised by his own mother BTW, in the early stage I guess, but enough to teach some good principle or two to a child. As for Abraham, there is no proof he was polytheist.
* What we know is that they were just chosen, not “converted” from one character into another*
* What I interpretate (my own “theology”) is that since worshipping is a question of character, they weren’t polytheist (Abraham) or truly believer in god/many gods (Moses) even if they hold sacred some principles. For one thing is to hold sacred some principles, another thing to hold sacred a sculpture. One thing is hold sacred your soul, another thing is hold sacred another person. One thing is to believe there is “something else” “beyond our understanding” that is invisible to us, another thing is to believe that something powerful super-natural entity is embodied/enclosed in visible material things. You need different character, a different type of Man for these things, this being true today as it was during those days.
“It’s a question of character, and if he was a truly worshipper (as opposed to a nominal worshipper, like the ones that go for tradition to church without being truly believers) of gods and all those things, he wouldn’t be able to lead a rebellion agains such a things.”
Unless God changed his character. Which he did. Moses was a murderer before God called him.
“* What we know is that they were just chosen, not “converted” from one character into another*”
No, I’m going to disagree completely. Yes, they were chosen, but they were chosen to be converted. When you choose to live for God it transforms your character. And Moses was not living for God until his revelation at the Burning Bush.
” What I interpretate (my own “theology”) is that since worshipping is a question of character, they weren’t polytheist (Abraham) or truly believer in god/many gods (Moses) even if they hold sacred some principles.”
Worshiping is not a question of character, worshiping creates character. We become what we worship. And when Moses chose to worship the God of Israel, the god of I AM, then he became a different person than the man who grew up worshiping the gods of Egypt who led him to commit murder.
Superheroes are very new age. They can be their own god, or be as god. Take the hulk for example, he is not so much a Monster, but a Nephilim. Part human, part something elce.
The Sun as god is very new age too. Notice the ship it rides on. Is that the horns of the bull once again? The Sun, a created thing, as the creator, and the horns of the bull as the power within. The human figure is in the middle, and makes the false Trinity. The False pagan religion of the world which started with Nimrod the Sun god, his wife, and mother, and his son Tammuz the rebirth of the Sun god.
The Sun is an example of Lucifer, not G-d the Father maker of heaven, and earth. Christ, the love, or word of G-d made flesh is love, and the word went to his human death willingly for sin to show G-d’s laws are just so we could live forever.
I like superheroes, but I can not stand the New Age BS placed into just about all movies now. The world system loves it’s own.
Some superheroes are very New Age. Others are very Judeo-Christian, as I’ve demonstrated here.
The sun is not God. It’s just a symbol one can use to understand an aspect of God.
Sun worshiping idolatry.
Instead of ritualizing worship of the Sun. Worship God instead.
However, I dont want to be too harsh. I think that you have knowledge and insight which will serve well in the culture war, yours a more subtle and clandestine approach. Im more of a science geek, and traditional Christian myself.
I am not worshiping the sun. I am worshiping God, the sun is just acting as a symbol to provoke worship of a particular aspect of God in order to provoke a specific change in my being.
Bow down and worship the Most Holy Eucharist, but do not pay homage unto the Sun, as the pagans do.
I do not pay homage to the Sun, nor do I worship the ritual of communion as you suggest. I worship God.
Leatherneck,
I assume by your screen name that you are a United States Marine.
Thank you for your service to our country.
There is evidence that early in recorded human history that Sun worship was so prevelant as to be observed both in the earliest fertile crescent civilizations, and across the very span of the globe to pre-Colombian Central and South American cultures. Some of these appear to me to have been very unpleasant societies; ritual human sacrifice was practiced by some.
. . . but the point is that large numbers of early organized/civilized humans did indeed practice worship of our very own Sun Sol as a diety.
Very Best Regards,
As a literary analysis, I enjoys this article. It pretty much stops there for me.
Only recently have special effects gotten to the point where films like The Avengers could be made. Without a long history, saying The Avengers is good is relative. I liked the film, but it wasn’t a particularly clever screenplay – it had its moments.
Although you acknowledge it, yes, it should be mentioned again that the overthinking you ascribe to The Avengers dates back a half century, and Whedon has little to nothing to do with anything other than making an adaptation.
I loved The Avengers comics – at one time I owned them all up to number 70 or something like that. It wasn’t a complex thing – Stan Lee was a great writer who simply made superhero comics into soap operas and continued chapters. This was the two innovations that separated Marvel from DC, that and Marvel’s self-deprecating also-ran humor. Marvel was fun and innovative.
I’ll never forget a pic of Dr. Doom on a Marvel cover. The blurb said Doc Doom’s not in this issue, we just felt like showing his picture. That’s classic Marvel irreverence, something in short supply at DC.
It’s interesting that you mention the balanced four aspects at the end. I’m working on trying to actually get a novel-length manuscript cobbled together, and since my husband is a dedicated Supers junkie which pretty much meant he infected me with it, that’s what I’m writing. I have a group of four, and their personalities wound up as a balanced four without me even realizing it. I have the grounded leader, the rebellious one, the grouchy intellectual and the team “mom.”
I suppose you could call me a counterculture conservative insomuch as I’m a tabletop gamer and geek although I’m also have a strong faith. C.S. Lewis is one of my favorite authors and not just for his fiction.
I will have to point out that I doubt Whedon intentionally embedded everything you are thinking of into his film. I’m guessing the symbolism is more an accidental by-product of human cultural residue over the ages. The stories are passed down and they change through the ages but the old deities and the sybols never really go away.
I make no claim that Whedon actually intentionally put any of this symbolism or meaning in. This is just my interpretation of the symbolic baggage inherent in these cultural symbols. You’re right — ” the symbolism is more an accidental by-product of human cultural residue over the ages.”
“I suppose you could call me a counterculture conservative insomuch as I’m a tabletop gamer and geek although I’m also have a strong faith. C.S. Lewis is one of my favorite authors and not just for his fiction.”
You are a counterculture conservative if you choose to label yourself as such for your own purposes. I plan on including more C.S. Lewis excerpts and books in future blogging and PJ Lifestyle Book Club recommendations.
Many thanks for your comments
I have also gone through a period of doubt, and no matter what your political or religous persuasion, C.S. Lewis was a brilliant kind and thought provoking author.
wow. brutally dense.
uncomfortable, too. the christian conversion where you renounce all the works of darkness? doesn’t crowley fall under that? and tarot?
I don’t really like Crowley the man. I just appreciate some of his ideas on mysticism and Hermeticism. His system of Thelema and its articulation of magick is — like science — just a morally neutral tool, capable of use for both Good and Evil. Just because someone was a jerk doesn’t mean all of their ideas and writings are wrong and off-limits.
Tarot too is a neutral system, more a tool for organizing mystical concepts — and it can be utilized by evil people. But its roots are Judeo-Christian and its use as a meditation/prayer tool can be utilized by those of all faiths and secularists too.
No, it’s not neutral. It’s sorcery and divination, respectively, both of which are condemned as grave sins by the Bible.
I agree with you that tarot cards can represent archetypical people and situations. That makes sense. Runes, another divination system, are much the same. It’s the way it has to be set up in order to work. Beyond that, though, I have to disagree with your conclusions on the “neutrality” of magic.
Magic =/= science. Science is the study of the natural world. Magic is the manipulation of the natural world. Also, divination =/= meditation. Meditation is the practice of quieting one’s mind and enacting change in oneself. Divination is the practice of seeking hidden or unrevealed knowledge to which you would otherwise have no access.
Furthermore, just because modern magickal practices calls upon aspects of Judeo-Christian cosmology (like the invocation of the archangels) does NOT mean it’s based in Christianity, nor that it’s compatible with Christianity. Would you say voodoo practices are compatible with Christianity, even though both traditions honor Mary? That’s the difference.
Taking your advice on magic from somebody who is a morally flawed individual does carry a significant risk – anyone can have ideas, but if those ideas are held by a morally degenerate character, they are going to be, at best, incomplete, and at worst, dangerous. You ever notice how people of questionable character have very loose ideas about evil and universal absolutes, if only to further justify their questionable behavior? That may be perfectly acceptable when it comes to evaluating the material, human world and its concerns, and sometimes, may actually help them see the human world for what it is more clearly. But the spiritual laws of the world ar set as firmly as the physical. You can’t philosophize gravity away. Same thing with the function and consequences of magic.
There are clear-cut rules when it comes to the spiritual, and the way we must interact with it as human beings in order to stay safe. Christianity is very, very clear on this. From this perspective, anybody who claims that magic is “morally neutral” is wrong. Anybody who denies the dichotomy of good and evil in the world and the potential damage evil can wreck through magic, is wrong. Any neutrality that can be had in magic is only achieved through a rock-solid faith in God and utter rejection of evil, and even then, it’s still a really, really bad idea. The only Christian “encantation”, or however you’d like to term it, is that of exorcism or prayer. The cuddly-cute, no-harm-really interpretation of magic that gets so aggressively peddled these days is a serious failing of the New Age movement.
Tarot cards may be neutral in the sense that there’s no manipulation of natural events going on, and despite Wicca’s lofty aspirations of “white magic only”, there is most certainly magic dedicated to doing harm. All magic is wide-open to influence by evil, especially when they’re used by people who don’t know what they’re doing. Many “mystical” things carry with them the potential for disaster. Neutral? Maybe, but then, so is walking down a dark alley in the middle of the night.
I respect what you’re saying in the article about the Avengers and archetypes, but on the subject of magic, I think you need to widen your base of knowledge, and not just rely on what one man has to say about it. You cite Crowley frequently; there are plenty more people out there to read. Especially if you’re Christian, the Catholic Church has two thousand years of scholarship on the subject. Can I suggest that maybe you might do some further research into the topic of modern “metaphysics”, and maybe do an article about it? I’d be interested to see what you’d have to say about such varied and odd things as the Akashic Records, crystal meditation, spirit guides, pendulum magic, your local metaphysical store, and Kryon.
“Taking your advice on magic from somebody who is a morally flawed individual does carry a significant risk – anyone can have ideas, but if those ideas are held by a morally degenerate character, they are going to be, at best, incomplete, and at worst, dangerous.”
We are all morally flawed individuals. If we are to dismiss and ignore the writings of all people who are morally flawed or made moral errors at one time of their lives then there will be nothing left to read. During the primaries I blogged against Newt Gingrich getting the nomination. Why? Because of his questionable moral character and unpredictable temperament. Does that mean therefore that I would ignore all of Gingrich’s writings and ideas? Of course not. Someone can be right on some things and wrong on others. We all are. And the mistakes that someone makes when they’re younger shouldn’t necessarily be understood as their defining qualities. People do grow and change over a lifetime.
And I don’t cite Crowley “frequently.” This is just one article where his ideas on Tarot (and his deck) were appropriate. You shouldn’t make assumptions about how wide my base of knowledge is and who I’m reading.
“such varied and odd things as the Akashic Records, crystal meditation, spirit guides, pendulum magic, your local metaphysical store, and Kryon.”
I will investigate and see what I can find of interest.
I liken it this way – science is manipulation of the world through the manipulation of and deep understanding of natural law (i.e. God’s Law), magic is the desire to manipulate the world through the mystical circumvention of natural law (i.e. God’s Law). This is why one is a sin while the other is not, IMO.
What you’re describing is black magic. Magick as defined by Crowley is merely “the science and art of causing change in conformity with will.” This includes mundane acts like willing the door to be open by going up and opening it. But when it’s utilized by practitioners of ceremonial magic it’s understood simply as a form of energized meditation designed to achieve change in the self through unifying with God. (We become what we worship.) Magick is just a dressed-up version of what we understand now as common self-help techniques to reprogram one’s brain.
Wow Dave,
deep and intriguing take on a current pop culture issue.
While it’s nice for us that you have devoted so much time and energy to a free to readers blog post, I suggest you divert some of this energy into a book project.
If you are already published, I’d appreciate an email noting your works.
Best Regards,
Hi Mike,
“I suggest you divert some of this energy into a book project.”
Think of this piece (and many of my others) as rough drafts of my book projects. This way you all can point out my errors BEFORE I write the book instead of after.
“If you are already published, I’d appreciate an email noting your works.”
No book-length works from me yet but I’m working at it and hope to get there soon… Here are a few more PJM articles I wrote last year that might count as pieces of the puzzle:
http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2012/12/10/an-open-letter-to-jamie-foxx-explaining-why-black-pride-is-just-as-evil-as-white-pride/
http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2012/12/05/who-are-the-best-conservative-columnists/
http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2012/11/07/when-your-dog-dies-you-can-bring-him-back-to-life/
http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2012/11/04/the-15-best-books-for-understanding-barack-obamas-mysterious-political-theology/
http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2012/10/26/why-this-election-year-america-is-nurse-jackie/
http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2012/10/20/23-books-for-counterculture-conservatives-tea-party-occultists-and-capitalist-wizards/
http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2012/09/25/why-im-worried-about-raising-a-son-in-our-upcoming-brave-new-world-of-android-prostitution/
http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2012/09/23/why-this-election-year-america-is-carmela-soprano/
http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2012/08/05/the-waiting-for-superman-of-the-new-atheists/
http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2012/06/08/7-reasons-why-the-right-should-not-seek-to-convert-the-left/
http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2012/04/17/the-hatred-of-derrick-bells-afrolantica-legacies/
This is an intriguing read and will require more study on my part.
I come from an ultra conservative Roman Catholic family and struggled a lot with what they taught me. As a bumper sticker says “I survived Catholic school”.
I’ve come to some semblance of peace with my concept of God but have yet to settle the reason for and need to worship. I need to read more on how and why others perform (non-traditional in my view) forms of worship.
I was captured at “God was not a Thing. God was the invisible process through which nothing transforms into something. God isn’t a man sitting up in the clouds”.
Thank you again for the thoughtful article and I might even see the movie. :=)
Hi George,
You’re welcome.
“I’ve come to some semblance of peace with my concept of God but have yet to settle the reason for and need to worship. I need to read more on how and why others perform (non-traditional in my view) forms of worship.”
The purpose of worshiping God is so that we can become more like God and less like ourselves. It’s the mechanism for self-transformation and healing. Which methods of worshiping God are best and which understandings of God most accurate are the questions up for permanent debate and experimentation. But we first need that Judeo-Christian foundation in place to do that — that we are each to act as Israel, perpetually wrestling with God.
Dave Swindle, thank you for adding to the understanding of this ‘really really long cycle’ of mankind’s history. I’m not worried for your salvation or that you’ll fall down the slippery slope into witchiness. This essay covers much ground, I’ll read it several times this week.
Let me ask for a little more opinion. You link the Libertarian stream with antisemitism and conspiracy cultists. But don’t ‘None Dare Call It Treason’ and ‘Tragedy and Hope’ agree on the salient points in America’s development? One conveys Birchers’ disapproval while the other is endorsed by Bill Clinton? How can folks be educated regarding political economy and still ridicule rubes for supposing power groups conspire and work together behind the scenes? Just asking.
I’m gonna put you on my regular reading list. Who knows what you’ll think about next?? I’m all set to pounce at my first chance to say, ‘I’m an Anti-Slavery Republican.’
But wait. Is Anti-Slavery Republican the over-arching term for the whole description? Or is this more four individual Super-Hero types banding together: Capitalist Wizard, Tea Party Occultist, Counterculture Conservative, and Anti-Slavery Republican?
Oh man, what a comic book that would be! We need to promote these guys.
Thank you for your kind words and encouragement. Answers to your questions:
“You link the Libertarian stream with antisemitism and conspiracy cultists…”
It’s more the paleo-libertarian, anarcho-capitalist, Paulastinian stream that I connect to antisemitism and conspiracism. I’ve had an ax to grind with the Ron Paul/Pat Buchanan wing of the Right for years and I intend to keep grinding it. More mainstream libertarians (the stereotypical “socially liberal, fiscally conservative” types) are usually fine — especially if they’re defense hawks too.
“Or is this more four individual Super-Hero types banding together: Capitalist Wizard, Tea Party Occultist, Counterculture Conservative, and Anti-Slavery Republican?”
It’s more the four hybrids balanced together. Just being an Anti-Slavery Republican isn’t enough — we each need to have different passions and political interests that can balance each other out. I’m more inviting and encouraging others to develop their own political hybrids, rather than insisting that others embrace the same ones as me.
“Who knows what you’ll think about next??”
DaveSwindlePJM@gmail.com if you want to pass on any ideas I should think about. But I hope to finish my piece ranking the top 20 conservative columnists (expanding on this: http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2012/12/05/who-are-the-best-conservative-columnists/?singlepage=true) in the next couple weeks. (It’ll talk about which ones IMHO are helping nudge the Conservative Movement in directions comparable to what I express here — and who influences my views the most.) I’ve also got a piece that I’m working on about Interfaith dialogue and the Judeo-Christian tradition that I hope to finish soon. And then it’ll be time to start expanding the book list with new titles each week…