Able to Leap Tall Buildings!
Yesterday they announced that Robert Downey Jr. will play Iron Man in a new movie. This quote from the president of Marvel production, Kevin Feige, appeared:
"The Marvel characters are not just about how high they jump or how fast they fly, they're about their character flaws," Feige said. "They're about their inner demons. They're about the struggles that they go through between being a man and being a hero."
Isn't the true of all of us?
When I think of my characters, they may not have super powers, per se, but this is always what they struggle with. Billie Quinn solves cold cases using DNA. Yeah, she does something extraordinary, but there's a battle between being a woman with loved ones who are placed in danger for the work she does--and doing the heroic. Tom in The Roofer has to struggle between the light and dark halves of himself. He does a heroic thing--but it costs him his soul.
I'm working on a new paranormal trilogy for Nocturne called The Gemini Conspiracy. In each book are paranormal twins who DO have super powers. Even more, I get to play with these themes.
How about you? Know any super heroes and heroines? In your wip?
"The Marvel characters are not just about how high they jump or how fast they fly, they're about their character flaws," Feige said. "They're about their inner demons. They're about the struggles that they go through between being a man and being a hero."
Isn't the true of all of us?
When I think of my characters, they may not have super powers, per se, but this is always what they struggle with. Billie Quinn solves cold cases using DNA. Yeah, she does something extraordinary, but there's a battle between being a woman with loved ones who are placed in danger for the work she does--and doing the heroic. Tom in The Roofer has to struggle between the light and dark halves of himself. He does a heroic thing--but it costs him his soul.
I'm working on a new paranormal trilogy for Nocturne called The Gemini Conspiracy. In each book are paranormal twins who DO have super powers. Even more, I get to play with these themes.
How about you? Know any super heroes and heroines? In your wip?
posted by Erica Orloff at 8:16 AM
8 Comments:
I'm writing one right now!
The superficial premise is superheroes with everyday problems, because it's not like you can get paid to do it, and people still get dumped.
The heroine's conflict deals with fitting in, something probably every single person faces at some time in their lives.
Hi Natalie:
Love that idea--you don't get paid to do it. Look at the Incredibles--how quickly the world turned against superheroes.
And fitting in, like the Marvel president said . . . it's about the inner conflict. When i think of the Batman flicks--the first one (Michael Keaton) . . . you sensed the dark side of Batman. That was lost in the sequels until they did Batman begins with Christian Bale. Propr to that they dumbed down the franchise and it became about the shiny toys and the pyrotechnics. But for real lovers of the superhero (and all dramas for that matter), the inner conflict and darkness are what drive us to the theater.
E
Absolutely true, Erica! If they are merely marvels of human nature--wonder-hero's-- that's neat to watch for the special effects, but not something that's a reality for your average person. Give them flaws, give them characteristics and fears we can relate to, and suddenly you're right there with them!
I've fallen flat on several occasions by not giving my characters that edge, not pushing them to the limit and then further.
I don't write anything of a 'super power' nature. But I am currently working on a story where the mc has to develop super-human powers of forgiveness. I think--I hope-- in the end, I will have thrown enough at her that readers will be left wondering if they could ever be as magnanimous as she is forced to become to keep her family together.
Lainey:
Emotional actions like that are larger than life in some ways. I am working on a book I haven't even shown my agent yet, and in it, the father/main character has to come to a decision not to take his own life and to instead live for a greater purpose in the form of someone he is asked to care for--a healer of sorts. It has a supernatural element, but at its heart it's really about a man who is grieving for his decesased child--and has to find some reason to keep going on. That's a superhuman task--but it's very real.
E
I think the true superheroes are the ones we never hear about:
The child who sees a turtle flailing helplessly on its back and sets it right, joyously watching it find its way.
The woman who knows of a poor family and leaves a food basket on their doorstep at Christmas from "Santa Claus."
The man who sees his grandson strike out with bases loaded and says, "Hey, even the pros do that sometimes."
A superhero is altruistic with little or no regard to ego. It's very much about love and sacrifice, very little about glory.
Mostly, it's about love.
Jude:
Absolutely! But I think that's part of the message here: It's about character. Humanizing your protagonist.
E
Right, Erica. And I think part of the appeal of guys like Batman, Superman, Spiderman, is that they do what they do anonymously, from the heart. Even though their fictional societies don't always understand them, THEY know they're doing the right thing.
Jude:
Agreed. There is something so noble in that. Last week, I bought one of the puppies a 1.99 set of jingle bells for its collar. I bought $200 worth of dog stuff, but realized I hadn't been charged for the bells. So I went back in--I thought the clerk would cry . . . like honest people are so rare. Nothing heroic in the act of making sure I paid . . . but the idea of superheroes just doing what they do because it's right is RELATABLE on a micro level, as well as a macro level, and makes them human.
E
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