In Favor of the Sensitive Superheroes
They had learned to expose the purely macho type, his false masculinity, physical force, dexterity in games, arrogance, but more dangerous still, his lack of sensitivity. The hero of Last Tango in Paris repulsed them. The sadist, the man who humiliates women, whose show of power is a facade. THe so-called heroes, the stance of a Hemingway or a Mailer in writing, the false strength. All this was exposed, disposed of by these new women, too intelligent to be deceived, too wise and too proud to be subjected to this display of power which did not protect them (as previous generations of women believed) but endagered their existence as individuals.
Their attraction shifted to the poet, the musician, the singer, the sensitive man they had studied with, to the natural sincere man without stance or display, nonassertive, the one concerned with true values, not ambition, the one who hates war and greed, commercialism and political expediencies. A new type of man to match the new type of woman. They helped each other through college, they answered each other’s poems, they wrote confessional and self-examining letters, they prized their relationship, they gave care to it, time, attention. They did not like impersonal sensuality. Both wanted to work at something they loved.
- Anais Nin, In Favor of the Sensitive Man.
One thing I find fascinating about the new Batman cast is Aaron Eckhart, Cillian Murphy, Christian Bale (well, up until last week) and the late Heath Ledger — each of them is someone a Vassar coed might be thrilled to share a pot of rooibus tea after Comparative Lit 201, watching “Fox and His Friends” on the futon. Just like Shia Leboeuf, Toby Maguire as Spiderman, Edward Norton, the Incredible Hulk and to a lesser extent, Will Smith in all his roles and Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man. And don’t forget how V in V for Vendetta didn’t just cook breakfast, he listened to Cat Power and Antony and the Johnsons too.
Today’s superhero is exactly what Anais Nin was pining for in In Favor of the Sensitive Man. (”Do not, I say to today’s women, please do not mistake sensitivity for weakness. This was the mistake which almost doomed our culture. Violence was mistaken for power, the misuse of power for strength.”)
Maybe the first sensitive superheros were Luke Skywalker and Hans Solo. But then Kurt Russell, Steven Seagal, Sylvester Stallone, and the governor of California came along. Might this be the real reason behind Indiana Jones’ twenty-five year absence? And now how things have changed: Joseph Gordon-Levitt is Cobra Commander in the upcoming GI Joe film!
Will this trend continue and will it grow more pronounced? Might alpha male frat guy stereotypes come to represent the ultimate evil, a foil to the bookish, respectful, feminist guys who beat them to a bloody pulp?
Are Vin Diesel project scripts now going to Lukas Haas? What about Alan Cumming as the first bisexual James Bond? I laugh, but of course the Seth Cohen-ization of superheroes is good for humanity, and blah, blah, blah…
Art by Yinka Shonibare
Previously:
Film Review: “Confessions of a Superhero”
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