"The Best Thing We Can Do With Power Is Give It Away" - On The Leftist Critique Of Superhero Narratives

"The best thing we can do with power is give it away" - On the leftist critique of superhero narratives as authoritarian power fantasies:

The ongoing "Jason Todd is a cop" debate has reminded me of a brilliant brief image essay by Joey deVilla. So here it is, images first and the full essay text below:

"A common leftist critique of superhero comics is that they are inherently anti-collectivist, being about small groups of individuals who hold all the power, and the wisdom to wield that power. I don’t disagree with this reading. I don’t think it’s inaccurate. Superheroes are their own ruling class, the concept of the übermensch writ large. But it’s a sterile reading. It examines superhero comics as a cold text, and ignores something that I believe in fundamental, especially to superhero storytelling: the way people engage with text. Not what it says, but how it is read. The average comic reader doesn’t fantasize about being a civilian in a world of superheroes, they fantasize about being a superhero. One could charitably chalk this up to a lust for power, except for one fact… The fantasy is almost always the act of helping people. Helping the vulnerable, with no reward promised in return. Being a century into the genre, we’ve seen countless subversions and deconstructions of the story. But at its core, the superhero myth is about using the gifts you’ve been given to enrich the people around you, never asking for payment, never advancing an ulterior motive. We should (and do) spend time nitpicking these fantasies, examining their unintended consequences, their hypocrisies. But it’s worth acknowledging that the most eduring childhood fantasy of the last hundred years hasn’t been to become rich. Superheroes come from every class (don’t let the MCU fool you). The most enduring fantasy is to become powerful enough to take the weak under your own wing. To give, without needing to take. So yes, the superhero myth, as a text, isn’t collectivist. But that’s not why we keep coming back to it. That’s not why children read it. We keep coming back to it to learn one simple lesson… The best thing we can do with power IS GIVE IT AWAY." - Joey deVilla, 2021 https://www.joeydevilla.com/2021/07/04/happy-independence-day-superhero-style/

More Posts from Messypaintbrush and Others

messypaintbrush

3 months ago

the biggest bullshit everrrrr is when people say "men and boys are punished for crying whereas women and girls are validated and comforted" it's such bullshit people will literally see a woman crying and call her an evil manipulative bitch

21K notes View Post

messypaintbrush

4 months ago

"oh sorry, i guess i was infodumping again" - sad, shy, apologetic

"you sly dog, you got me monologuing" - cool, strong, confident

249K notes View Post

messypaintbrush

5 years ago

“water tribe”

I adore Katara and Sokka’s dynamic so much and whats better than to doodle them in an art block?

Tags

art block atla avatar the last airbender avatar katara zuko prince zuko toph beifong atla sokka atla aang azula atla katara waterbender waterbending avatar aang legend of korra lok aang sokka southern water tribe fire lord ozai firelord zuko momo toph sokka atla katara atla appa not the movie apa northern watertribe

31 notes View Post

messypaintbrush

6 years ago

This is part of a small panel comic thing i was going to do but i cant be bothered to finish it:p.

Mc’s wearing sans jacket cause she wanted some part of sans to be in the picture, (he’s taking it)

She refuses to give it back to him after the picture is taken lol.

He keeps the photo in his lab.

—

OHmyGOD

DON’T FORGET

I DIDN’T EVEN THINK OF THAT

167 notes View Post

messypaintbrush

3 weeks ago

Yearly mermaid doodle!

Tags

digital art oc art oc anime and manga taking commisions art commissions mermaid art comms open merfolk anime commission

4 notes View Post

messypaintbrush

1 month ago

Just an extremely Normal thing to say

Reminder they want to increase the budget for ICE from 3.5 to 45 billion dollars.

Reminder the majority of that will be for building new detention centers.

Reminder ICE are *currently* detaining tourists who can pay for a plane ticket home and people with visa issues that were already resolved, because they have to make quota so Trump can brag about the numbers going up.

Reminder most of these people were already in the immigration system - that's why they were easy to detain.

Reminder this is all at taxpayer expense.

Reminder these are people.

54K notes View Post

messypaintbrush

1 month ago

A Wip re-draw of the very first oc I ever digitally drew

Tags

digital art oc art oc digital drawing taking commisions mermaid current wip black women

4 notes View Post

messypaintbrush

5 months ago

Just a reminder there’s only 2 weeks until commissions close! Still have slots open!!!

commissions are open until feb 2025!

Tags

oc art oc art commisions digital commisions comics deltarune taking commisions taking requests? undertale sans art comms open israel is committing genocide will draw anything anime commission messypaintbrush

3 notes View Post

messypaintbrush

4 months ago

Jet from atla is so funny bc like, he's fighting zuko and taunting him being like "bet you wanna use some fire instead of those swords, dont u fireboy" which is a funny thing to say to a guy who is clearly very eager to fight using swords

56K notes View Post

messypaintbrush

2 years ago