Walk down the street on Hillside Avenue in Williston Park and you’ll notice a busy store called Grasshopper Comics which has been open and prospering since 1992.
Walk into any multiplex and you will have the chance to see the latest comic superhero film which may include Superman, Batman, Luke Skywalker, Iron Man, Avengers, The Wolverine or Captain America. Closer to real life we love our superstars as well. Mickey Mantle, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods are also iconic cultural figures that have entered our collective unconscious as well.
America adores its superheroes whether in comics books, on the playing field or on the big screen. The question is exactly what is it that the culture is so hungry for? I don’t believe for a moment that all this is sheer entertainment for the masses. I think it is much more than that. So let’s try to figure out what is their real appeal.
When we begin to look at these characters we see that they all have two parts to their personality. Superman was mild-mannered Clark Kent on the inside. Batman was the friendly Bruce Wayne underneath and Spider-Man was the sweet Peter Parker hidden inside. They all had superpowers on the outside but were just like us on the inside, bespectacled, timid and scared.
And when there was trouble in Metropolis you can bet your last dollar that soon enough Clarke Kent would put on his cape and face down any villain. And this is exactly what we love about our sports stars as well.
I have long believed that the reason we cheer for the winner is because we can see that they have displayed courage and by so doing have transformed themselves to a higher level.
Our superstar athletes all have extraordinary natural talent, a good support system, the ability to work hard and the willingness to learn more each day but they also have that ineffable thing called courage as well.
Superheroes have courage but that’s because they have a magic super cape or an indestructible suit of armor. However, the superstar athlete has no such magic uniform. All they have to rely upon is inner courage.
One of the first superheroes written about was by Frederic Nietzsche in 1885 titled “Thus Spoke Zarathustra.” It was about a man of the future, a superman who would be able to lead us into the next step in evolution.
At the beginning of the tale Zarathustra has been living alone in the woods for ten years and at age forty he returns to mankind to teach them. He enters a village and sees a crowd gawking up at a tightrope walker who is about to walk from one side to the other suspended 50 feet in the air.
Nietzsche uses this image to describe mankind’s task of leaving his animal ape-like nature behind and having the courage to finally become fully human or a superman. And in case you have never walked along a tightrope suspended high above the ground as people watch to see if you will fall, this task takes concentration and courage.
And isn’t that exactly what athletes do when they perform in front of millions of spectators. We watch to see whether our player will be able to demonstrate enough courage to walk steadily across the tight rope, not choke, not look down, not fall but get to the other end safely and victoriously. Then we cheer in amazement and awe.
Courage is what we love to see as we watch our superstars and our superheroes. Courage and fortitude is so valued that our super heroes are lavishly rewarded. Bruce Wayne lived in a castle, was loved by everyone including Kim Basinger and Katie Holmes and made millions of dollars. Tiger Woods lives in a castle too, has world fame and was loved by his adorable looking ex-model Elin Nordegren.
The rewards of courage are great but exactly how does one develop courage? The pathways towards courage are many and are found on every playing field in America. Every athlete, young or old, faces this challenge and this is why sports are so crucial to human development.
In golf, you may not be fighting Lex Luthor but it does feel that way. It feels that your opponent just may have some kryptonite and you must have the courage to ignore this threat and walk the tightrope to the 18th hole. It is much the same in football where anything can happen in the last 30 seconds as Bill Belichick and the Patriots show us every year. The saying is “It’s not over til the fat lady sings.’
Nietzsche understood that courage was the key part of human growth. Courage is what all those superheroes are trying to teach us and courage is what our superstars show each week on television.
So the next time you are watching your favorite player win a big game take a look as see if you notice that underneath their uniform they are wearing a cape with the big letter C which stands for courage.
