Words of Innocence and Experience

Featuring comic heroes in movies have been a popular trend for years. The first hero who charmed the audience in the cinema was Superman, with his supernatural powers, clumsy masculinity, and boyish smile. The first Superman movie may have amazed the mass, yet when I watched it on TV, having heard much appreciation from others, I had been laughing outrageously throughout the running time instead of marveling at the hero’s incredible abilities. The weird behaviors of the characters, namely Superman’s constantly showing off his muscles, the expression mixed with awe and fervor on the face of Louise (the female protagonist), and the screaming crowds in big cities compose the “comical” Superman series. Along came Catwoman, Batman and several others, each gradually became more and more civilized; still, a really humane and reachable hero has been waiting to make his way into everyone’s heart.

Then the movie featuring the teenage hero, Peter Parker, or Spider-man, broadened the horizon of superhero movies in an unbelievable way. The movie Spider-man, which, in addition to magnificent special effects, spent some running time on the characterization of Peter Parker, became an immense hit. The story of Matt Murdock, or Daredevil, arrived at cinemas a year after, and although not as popular as Spider-man, it still outshined many of the old-style heroic movies.

I am never a comic book fan, yet the two comic heroes had really fascinated me. Whether their true natures were twisted in films or not, perhaps they would not mind that their feats are materialized on the big screen and their personalities are probed by me.

To begin with, superheroes must possess supernatural talents, yet the two heroes’ abilities were both obtained by accident. Peter Parker’s spidery sensibility came from a bite from a mutated spider in his high school laboratory. Matt Murdock’s case was much more grievous, for his eyes were blinded by chemicals when he was only a young boy. However, after losing his eye sight, his other senses, including sense of hearing, smell, and touch, were sharpened and he was as alert as a cat.

With their outstanding capabilities, it was one of their family member’s deaths that propelled them to guard the good people. As stated before, Parker was a naïve teenager when he was endowed with the gifts of a spider. The first occasion for him to really make use of his capabilities was to fight with a wrestler to win money. Unfortunately, he was deceived by the sponsor and did not even receive a cent. On his way back home, his uncle, who came in search of him, was killed on the street. Dejected and exasperated at the same time, he chased down and lynched the robbery responsible for his uncle’s death. Afterwards, Parker was a changed person and became known as the Spider-man, who protected New York citizens. On the other hand, Murdock witnessed the end of his father’s life in his early adolescence. Murdock’s father was a wrestler, who refused to retire as the high authority ordered. After defeating his last opponent, he was shot by a gun outside of the sports club where he just played his part. How Murdock trained himself as a warrior without sight thereafter was missing in the movie, but his father’s tragedy inspired hi to be one of the most controversial figures in New York, for he lynched villains at his own will.

Therefore, the two heroes came to the throne as the guardian of the city, but they both tried backing out in the middle, for different reasons, though. For Spider-man’s part, he spent too much of his time punishing the wicked that his own personal life was falling apart at the seams. He eventually complied with his fate, recognizing the mission of protecting people as his responsibility. The reason that plagued Murdock, Daredevil, was that he was confused whether the people he was punishing were really scoundrels. After going to a confession, his mind was purged so that he continued his task with no more doubt.

One of the most important purposes of superhero movies is to entertain the audience, and the Spider-man and Daredevil are no exception. The scenes of Spider-man swinging through the various New York buildings on his spider web are definitely exciting. As a pure human, Daredevil strives for various deadly fights with his enemies and has been creating splendid action scenes throughout the movie. Nonetheless, I prefer the Spider-man movie to the Daredevil one, and so do most people. The different degree of enjoyment is probably resulted from the differences between the two protagonists themselves and how the movies present them.

The most obvious distinction between the two heroes is their age, which affects what people would encounters in their lives greatly. Peter Parker is a teenager who is faced with self-searching problems, and a person at his age should learn to live on his own in America. Parker is torn between his schoolwork, job, and his identity as the Spider-man. To his frustration, he is considered a nerd who does not know how to get along with his peers at school. Moreover, his part-time job as a photographer in the newspaper office does not earn him much money, and he is often oppressed by his supervisor. While he struggles, not only teenagers but also adults can relate to his anguish, as everyone was, is, or will be in this transitional stage in life. On the contrary, the Daredevil’s main part starts when Murdock is already a successful lawyer. He is excellent in his profession and even wins the heart of a highbred lady, despite his blindness. Thus, even though his side career as the Daredevil failed, he would not have any trouble supporting himself. Being successful was a disadvantage for him since the sympathy from people will unsurprisingly decrease.

Another aspect of the two heroes’ life that differs is their love life. Parker has long lost his heart to his high school classmate, Mary Jane Watson, yet he has not been able to capture her heart until at the end of the movie. Unfortunately, at the point of his life, he could not afford to take Watson as his lover, afraid that he would expose her to much unwanted danger. In short, Parker suffered from unrequited love, which most people also find depressing. In contrast, even though a breakup with girlfriend was displayed in the movie, Murdock immediately fell in love with Electra, the daughter of a prominent businessman, and she repaid him with equal passion. Also, Watson is an ordinary girl without exceptional capabilities, but Electra is wealthy, clever, and knows how to fight. When Electra mistakenly believed that Daredevil murdered her father, she went out to confront him but ended up falling in the trap of her enemies. Murdock revealed his identity as Daredevil to her and went rescuing her, yet later found her dying. Miraculously, the plot hinted that Electra survived at its ending, which causes another flaw of the movie.

Frankly speaking, the story of Daredevil is not necessarily believable. After all, Daredevil is a mere human without eye sight; thus, the fact that he is almost invincible when confronted with his foe is incredulous. After avenging Electra by killing off Bulleye, the subordinate of the ultimate villain, Kingpin, he was already disturbed by exhaustion. However, he went on to knock down Kingpin, a stout fellow, with his wounds from the previous battle still bleeding. Knowing that Daredevil was already hurt, perhaps the scriptwriter should not have let him defeat Kingpin so easily. As to Spider-man, although the incident of being bitten by a spider is out of the question, all the vulnerability and confusion of a teenager is portrayed. As a result, he occasionally makes mistakes and nearly believed in his opponent before the latter stroke him once more. Besides, his relationship with people around him is also featured, so the audience understands the cause of his every action. As Peter Parker himself professes, he is “the friendly neighbor, Spider-man,” and it seems that he is close to us and easily identified with.

The two movies were atypical in their genre for the thoughts they provoke in the audience’s mind by containing the depth usually lacking in most action movies. Superhero movies are as popular as they were in the past, but now the audience would want something more—that they can relate to the protagonist. Only by accessibility can a movie really inspire people, and if it is good enough, it can be even more influential than a book since everything is visualized before people’s eyes. Both Spider-man and Daredevil have overcome numerous obstructions to hold a special space in people’s hearts, and their legends may really motivate people to achieve their goals. Lastly, I would conclude that Parker is the most amiable spider and Murdock the most just devil I have ever heard so far among fictional works.