Still ‘gods’?

There was once a time long ago when people used to look up to the ‘gods’, not as metaphysical beings, just larger versions of themselves with faults, but empowered to change Nature and the world. We were essentially created in their image by one of them and were to serve and worship them. Our belief was their power.

Fast forward to the 21st century, a lot has changed, or maybe nothing. Established religions monopolise and politicise spiritual needs, the technologies that we have created enable us to do the same things our ‘gods’ could do earlier. Human nature hasn’t changed. The same ‘gods’ still exist, albeit in a different format– comic books, to use the generic term.

Many of these characters that we look up to are just variations of our old myths, while some carry these same myths forward to a newer generation. They essentially act as symbols – symbolising values, emotions, and ideas, giving people hope, something to strive towards, and something to hold to. They are metaphors. We see ourselves in them, as better as, someone we could be – can be!

They have evolved into something their creators could never have imagined; there isn’t a child in the world who can’t identify with a man in a red and blue unitard with an ‘S’ insignia as Superman. These characters provide a much needed relatability. For some, Kal-El is somehow a modern metaphor of Christ, a child sent to this planet by a father who believed that in time this child may show the world the right path, to make mistakes but learn from them so that – to use one of my favourite lines from the Man Of Steel – they may join him in the sun.

It echoes a sort of promise. A hope that things will be better one day, not unlike the promise of religion.