💬 Weekly Question: Has our cultural obsession with superheroes contributed to the return of fascism in the West?
Weekly questions’ comment sections are left open for one week. This thread is now locked.
Legendary comic book creator and author Alan Moore has spent at least 15 years expressing concern about our culture’s obsession with superhero films, suggesting a correlation between superheroes and fascism. Specifically, that superheroes lead toward a “kind of infantilization – that urge towards simpler times, simpler realities – that can very often be a precursor to fascism.”1 More recently, he’s taken on toxic fandom, arguing it can be “a grotesque blight that poisons the society surrounding it with its mean-spirited obsessions and ridiculous, unearned sense of entitlement.”2 This behavior corresponds, he says, to Donald Trump and Boris Johnson voters, for example. I’ve alluded to my concern about this in the past, too, interestingly enough with regard to Moore’s comic book series Watchmen (read here).
This all brings me to this week’s question for us to discuss:
Has our cultural obsession with superheroes contributed to the return of fascism in the West in the 21st century?
Now, have at it, my friends. Remember, contribute ideas to this discussion — not reductive insults.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/oct/07/watchmen-author-alan-moore-im-definitely-done-with-comics
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/oct/26/fandom-has-toxified-the-world-watchmen-author-alan-moore-on-superheroes-comicsgate-and-trump?fbclid=IwY2xjawGKLkpleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHWkZP5W-ikj0A7AQ21qWMCiefWBZJdaFLbCo4j-1GNDFoFiHztt703KSkg_aem_S5RE4PDlSFVUdiCKVx6DvA
NO, it has NOT! Superheroes were created in part as enemies and opponents of fascism, and in their narratives they largely remain such still. Even if flawed, they represent a virtuous sort of behavior and sacrifice that is absent elsewhere in fiction and fact.
Their concern is not with fascism, but with freedom.
The relationship between heroes and authoritarian regimes is complex. Authoritarian regimes have often used heroic figures in their propaganda to cultivate a sense of national unity and obedience to the regime. However, heroes can also be figures of resistance against authoritarian rule, symbolizing the fight for freedom and justice. The interpretation and use of heroic figures depend on the specific context and the ideology of the regime in question.