We speak of destiny, self-discovery and courage from within. Our ideals are always moral, just and something bigger than us. Any project when we begin, there is zest, zeal and desire for the zenith. Yet how many of us succeed in achieving these lofty goals? In real life, that is. Few; otherwise we’d all be running our STARK enterprises.
Yes, these “ideals” reach their full potential and eventual glory only in our superhero movies. Good always vanquishes evil; the oddball hero always defeats the all-too-powerful villain. So why is the attainment of ultimate success contained to movies? If we aspire to be the heroes of our movies what stops us from getting there in our daily lives?
Watching the movie Avengers and its villain the demi-god Loki gave me an idea. He believes that human beings were created to be lorded over – that, democracy and individual identity is detrimental to humanity. And therefore, he must rule. He screams “KNEEL!!” and everyone falls on bent knee or else… Borrowing his point, not to the extent he devised but, may be all of us humans don’t have to have a purpose, a mission. What is wrong with being one of the many? May be some of us are “created” to be audience to a few. For example, those of us who are called “Mactards”, may be, are here to admire and extol Steve Jobs and his fruit. An entire generation of Indians was Gandhi’s soldiers of peace. American teenage girls are clearly in feverish pursuit of Justin Beiber (perhaps thereby clearly signaling the end of intelligence in our world). Bottom line, 99% of us is pawn to an elite army of eight on the chessboard that is the world.
It looks like Loki got to me, just like he did our fallen hero with the bow.
Then, lightning struck. It’s not about being one of the many. Sure, there might be no real hero but there is some truth to the essence of every heroic story – it is not the end but the journey that matters. So what if you are not Iron Man? You may still have the energy of a different kind in your heart that brings joy to many. What if you don’t have Captain America’s shield? You can still save puppies. What if you don’t turn green (unless with envy), you can’t have Black Widow’s beautifully crafted bum or be a demi-god? You can still control your anger and channel it may be with some yoga, you can still be a temptress; you can be anything you want – in your heart.
So that’s all that matters, really. What are you in your heart? Do you see yourself as hero, pawn, or god forbid, god? Do you have a weapon – a gun, a pen or a tongue that can give a good lashing? Do you want to be one among many, the only one, or the one if only in someone’s heart?
The truth is at the end of any hero’s story there’s one thing in common – being loved for who you are. And as long as you are honest in your heart about who you are – you are a hero, you will be loved.
Avengers the movie, running in theaters worldwide now. It’s fantastic, catch it if you can.
Disclaimer: Still reeling from the potent drug the movie is, consider this article a philosophical ride on the Avengers high.
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