Spider-Man 2

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Spiderman 2 and the IH Syndrome
(IH =Isolated Hero)

Despite the truly terrible stunt doubles (who actually got full-face shots even though they looked nothing like the main actors) and the sometimes overdone computer animation, this movie won my heart because it didn’t pin its hero into eternal isolation.

After three seasons of Smallville, I can hardly bear to watch poor Clark Kent suffering from the IH (Isolated Hero) Syndrome anymore. Why do all the comic book heroes have to suffer from love lost, secret lives, and tragic existences as lonely purveyors of good deeds? Well . . . why besides the fact that it is the fundamental comic book hero prescription. Superman, Daredevil, X-Men, Batman, The Punisher (didn’t see The Hulk or Hellboy, but I assume it’s the same) and the first Spider-Man all suffered the hero’s self-sacrificial fate, losing important people for the sake of anonymous heroism.

Spider-Man 2 asks, “What’s the point? If you can’t commune with your fellow man, whose life you are incidentally saving, why bother being a hero at all?� Peter Parker’s struggle with his superpowers begins with this question: What gives my life meaning and value? After hitting bottom, he realizes that integrity, reliability, excellence in education, and above all, relationships make the difference in his life. His struggle then becomes finding the balance between the responsibility of helping people and the joy of connecting with them. The life of either extreme is a life half-lived.

**SPOILER WARNING**

Two things made this movie more realistic for me, and certainly made for a better spiritual application:

1. Spider-Man exposes his identity on several occasions – In fact, he is exposed to almost every important person in the movie – MJ, Harry, Doc Oct, Aunt May (by implication) and a train full of helpless locals. The masked hero has a real face! Refreshing, very refreshing! We deeply desire that people who do good deeds receive recognition for the good that they do. We also desire that heroes not have to hide their love for friends, their intentions from enemies, and their identities forever – just because they choose a life of heroism. Lastly, we desire that our own curiosity to be sated. We want to know WHO the great hero is.

Think of the spiritual application here: Christ, the unmasked face of God! We have a savior, a hero if you will, who acknowledges his own miraculous works as acts of love, who allowed himself to become vulnerable for our cause, who does not hide his love from his friends nor his intentions from his enemies, and who shows us WHO he is. Colossians 1:19, “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.�

2. Spider-Man gets it all - Walking out of the theater, my husband asked if I liked the movie. I said yes, but followed it up with, “Can they do that? I didn’t think the hero could ever get the girl in comics . . . or maybe he just can’t have her for long. I guess we’ll see in the next movie.� Keep in mind that I don’t follow the actual comic books, so I’m completely in the dark about what happens next. Nevertheless, I was very pleased to see the hero rewarded with the relationship that he most desired.

Did you ever consider that in the spiritual scheme of things, we all are "the girl"? Yes, we are the prize. The hero (Christ) suffers and sacrifices to save us, to protect us, and to love us (even if that love must be hidden for a time). And again, back to Peter Parker’s dilemma, what value is all of that work if there is no relationship? In the same way that Spider-Man feels elation from Mary Jane’s profession of love, I believe God delights in our love of him.

**END SPOILER WARNING**

I suppose my frustration with the IH Syndrome is that heroes have feelings too. That sounds so cheesy, I can hardly stand to include it here, but it is true. No one sacrifices so much for others, only to have those relationships lost. A generic "saving someone from peril" amounts to very little. The Savior must be allowed to enjoy honest interaction with the person he has saved.

How would the story have been different if Spider-Man had ultimately been cut off from all those he loved and admired? MJ, Aunt May, Harry and Doc Oct? Reconciliation and relationship are the very spice of life. I am honored to call Christ my hero and to engage in a daily relationship that brings him joy, regardless of whether I’m singing his praises or he’s rescuing my sorry butt from peril. Reconciliation and relationship are the very spice of life!

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Love Me if You Dare

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Love Me if You Dare makes me want to take my analytical skills and chuck them into the nearby trash can. What can one make of this movie? It is a fairy tale, a tragedy, a slice of true life, a great myth: idealistic, depressing, offensive -- and yet invigorating. As far as stimulating the mind, stirring up both opposition and relief, this film is by most standards an excellent film. I must admit, however, that I was somewhat frustrated by my inability to back this story into a corner and pin down writer/director’s Yann Samuell’s message. Nevertheless, all great films do make you think. They make you dream. They make you question what you know to be true. They force you to observe life from a different point of view. Since there is no proper corner for this film, perhaps some observations are in order.

This movie “speaks� about love and the reckless passion that often accompanies romantic thrill rides. It makes bold statements about love that, though I do not want them to be true, often are:

Love is selfish and cruel – Sophie and Julien make dares that destroy the other’s life

Love is jealous – Neither will allow the other to love someone else.

Love is a game – Sophie can never tell when Julien is sincere and when he is only playing the game.

Love breaks promises – Sophie is deeply wounded by Julien’s willingness to break his promises.

Love puts you in danger because it gives the other person control – Julien almost kills Sophie without remorse, and likewise Sophie returns the favor.

Love isolates you from family – Julien must deny his father to keep the game going.

Love hurts those around you – The genuine relationships of family, friends, and innocent bystanders are lost as the lovers pursue each other at all costs.

Love makes you hate – Each lover hates the other at different points in the story, usually for injustices done. They also hate themselves for their own willingness to put up with it.

Love helps you defy society without guilt – Sophie and Julien act out against authorities, social tenets, and their commitments to family and work…all in the name of the game of love.

Love is a myth that cannot be lived out – The tragic lovers fail to connect time and time again, only to be unified in death.

It seems that the word “love� should not begin these sentences because genuine love has no part in these actions and attitudes. What we often label as “love� is actually a variation of it that has been tainted by our own selfish desires. It starts out innocent and ends in destruction. Without a doubt, all of us can relate to one or more personal experiences in this list, and we are greatly impacted by the association of these pains with the term “love.� We become jaded and give up entirely on the hope of finding true love.

Fortunately, God is not jaded. He continues to love us and to teach us how to love one another. With the ultimate example of Christ’s death on the cross, God demonstrated what Sophie and Julien could not: selfless love. Rather than trying to kill us as punishment for our hateful offenses (i.e., Julien’s stunt on the train tracks), Christ gave his own life so that we could start over and live free from revenge, ruin and self-destruction.

Christ also taught that we are to love one another, earnestly and from the heart. He promoted unity, self-sacrifice, family, community, sincerity, trust, freedom, building one another up, and sincere, selfless love that is not a myth. It can be attained. In my own experience, it cannot be attained without His intervention, because my heart is always veering toward selfishness. But, I am thankful for the times when I am encouraged by friends, the Bible, the radio, sermons, movies, and time alone in prayer . . . God always seems to help change my mind about the way I interact with those in my life that I supposedly “love.� His love transcends my desire for gain, revenge, punishment, and for holding grudges. His love is not a game or a myth, and for that, I am thankful.

Note from Mel: Believe me when I say this movie touches on so many more topics than I have time or space to address. It is worth seeing simply to generate some deep, real, and meaningful conversation. I encourage you to see it and post your comments in the forum. I’ll be checking back periodically to read and respond to your thoughts . . . a very complex film. Go see it!

LINKS
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—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film
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