Hancock, the realistic hero

We like our heroes because they are not like us, although we pretend that we are like them. Take Batman. If we were rich beyond all reason, trained ninjas, had connections to cutting edge government technologies and vehicles, we would like to think... no stop. Forget it. Because you would not, neither would I, go around fighting crime.

No, if you and I were superheroes, above the law for all practical purposes, we would not spend out efforts fighting crime. At least not for very long. Sure, I could see you doing some noble, selfless acts, because you have this ethos inside you that likes to see the bad guy punished.

But it would not take very long before, realizing that you were unstoppable, uncatchable and let's face it, better at determining justice than the cops or judges or legislators...it would not take very long before you would find yourself above the law - not helping the cops, but making up for their stupid restrictions (like the oh so tiresome Miranda rights) and crooks who get out on a technicality etc.

No matter how convinced you are that such laws are good because of the people the protect, even though a few bad guys get away...Yes, now you're thinking Hey, I believe in those laws! But give yourself a few days with ultimate powers and witness a few of the worst villains set free to harm others, and you too will be taking the law into your own hands.

Which is why I think Hancock is perhaps the most realistic "superhero" to come along. He's not rich, good-looking, privileged, he's not privy to government secrets. He also does not give a flip about helping the cops, unless he get's something out of it - like amnesty for his wanton destruction of public property or public drunkenness.

Yes, we like our heroes, precisely because they are not like us, and they feed our fantasy that we could be noble, upstanding, defenders of truth and justice too, if only we had the powers.

But heroes actually serve a better purpose. They give voice to the secret cry of our soul for rescue from a vicious and cruel world. Its not so much the hero himself, but the people who are saved by them. We are them. We also are dangling from a precipice, bound and gagged by a villain who laughs while starting up the big lumber mill saw and laying us on the conveyor belt.

The attraction of heroes tells us that we need a hero, not like Hancock, but like the old Superman. A benevolent god who will move mountains to save us. Just like Lois Lane in the earthquake - we cry for superman, though he's hundreds of miles away, to come save us. We are dying, even dead. But he will do whatever is necessary, even turn back time, even rise from the dead, to save us. We fantasize to think we could be like him. But we desperately need him.