Pop Cult India Talks About the Superhero Stereotype
The Brain
Name one dumbass superhero. Even muscle-heads like Thor and Wolverine are above average intelligence.
Spiderman, Mr Fantastic and The Hulk are scientists. Batman and Flash are detectives. Captain America and Cyclops are military strategists. Tony Stark is an inventor. Daredevil is a lawyer. And Superman is virtually omniscient.
Makes a splendid comic arc if a hero is void of his/her powers, doesn’t it?
The argument is that a hero can be dumb as a rock but still inspire. We need a lovable dupe for a super.
But the natural counterargument; how will he get out of a sticky situation? And we can’t have a hero without a sticky situation.
The Brawn
Name one fat-ass superhero OR name one skinny-ass superhero. I dare you, I double dare you *fill expletive here*.
A well chiselled body that looks like a renaissance sculpture has become a requirement. Yes, they must be attractive. But is physical attractiveness necessary? Our heroes anyway have enough depth of character to get a date.
Also for some characters peak fitness is necessary. For many others it doesn’t make sense. Why do characters like Jean Grey, Bruce Banner or Reed Richards need to be muscular? Or even Green Lantern for that matter.
Another issue is the way brawn is represented. Fitness is not equivalent to being Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. Similarly, female heroes can surely be shown to be beautiful without having a porn star’s body.
However, probably the audience perception of beauty needs to change first.
Conclusion
There are many other stereotypes such as the existence of an arch nemesis, affiliation to a squad etc. Having animal based names and powers is quite common. Wearing undies outside and latex can be a whole classification. Stan Lee even names his heroes as alliterations. Maybe that’s not stereotyping though.
The ones listed above were just the ones the industry is struggling to shrug off. The only alternative is non-superhero comics. Probably the reason why they are gaining a lot of popularity today.
Hopefully, superhero creators will be able to take a few points from these comics and give us something fresh soon.