I caught the last half of Juno this weekend. I think Lifetime was running a movie marathon featuring preggo teens because Where the Heart Is was on just after it. I was reminded of the scene in Juno where Jason Bateman's character gives the baby-bellied Juno a copy of a comic featuring Most Fruitful Yuki, a Japanese manga/anime superhero that "Leads with the belly and follows with the sword." He gives it to her to kind of tell her she can still be cool even though she's sporting the most lame teen fashion accessory ever.
There have been a handful of movies that deal with the human as hero theme. I saw Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Kick-Ass and really liked them both.
How nice it would be if more of our super hero imagery was linked to things more typical than being accidentally disintegrated in an Intrinsic Field Subtractor. I know I tend to focus on my areas of weakness rather than where I excel. I fight a sometimes losing battle to see myself as the sum of my strengths rather than a laundry list of failures. Can organizational skill be a super power? Can dinner party prowess repel evil forces? Can baking save the planet from certain destruction?
I don't shoot spiderwebs out of my fingers, I clean them out of corners. I can't change the earth's rotation, but I can plan a successful marketing plan and tell with 99% accuracy whether my ten year old is lying. I can't catch a bullet in my teeth, but I can do things that knock my husband's socks off without fail. I'm working on controlling my negative thinking, focusing on my strengths and putting my mind to something and doing it. I used to be really good at this but some where along the line I just got out of practice. I'm working on what my hero looks like, not like super moms, trying to do everything perfectly and effortless. Rather the real me, fierce and capable. When I start to see myself that way, I act from that place and the universe conspires to lend me a hand.
Are you a super hero?
Do you have extraordinary abilities, super powers or relevant/advanced equipment?
A fly costume?
A sidekick?
A secret identity?
A secret hideout?
A back story that explains your motivations?
Enemies?
I am not a superhero. But I nominate the person who invented viagra. :)
ReplyDeleteI love this post. LOVE IT. And yes, I have all those things secret and super to power me forward. But the best part is about the intention and belief in yourself. I've recently been visualizing myself in a cross between a sari and a Native American dress with fringe and beads. It's for my war dances.
ReplyDeleteElder, I bet there's a lot of women out there that want to kick the ass of the person who invented Viagra:) And I bet you have some super powers.
ReplyDeleteZen Mama- Right on. What are your powers?
Ruby - My friends have always pictured me with an imaginary cape :) I love the reference to Most Fruitful Yuki as it is our power as women to bring life into this world that makes us all super heroes.
ReplyDeleteI can tell anyone to get their head out of their ass, and they will. It's brilliant.
ReplyDeleteBut I've always said that I'd my superpower to be the boss, so when someone says, "you're not the boss of me?" I can be all, "Oh, really??????" and then BAM. I'm the boss.
Bossy Rossi in full effect, yo.
Rossi, you can be the bossi of me anyday.
ReplyDeleteOne of my superpowers is I can speak with authority in front of a boardroom full of old dudes and appear cool calm and co'llected, even though I feel like I might throw up all over myself. I can also do this with people which is why people always assume I'm extroverted, I'm actually very shy, I just hide it well.
@zenmama -
ReplyDeletei don't mean to "pick on" you, but saying things like "it is our power as women to bring life into this world that makes us all super heroes" bothers me a bit. as someone who has chosen not to have children, (and a friend to some who can't) it makes me uneasy when we tie our womanhood to fertility.
i'm no less a superhero for not having/wanting kids ;) i can still out-stubborn pretty much anyone on the planet, AND make a risotto that would stop you in your tracks :D
sorry for the derail - it probably deserves its own post!
Not to single Z out but I agree Jen. My cousin's crack head girlfriend pushed out four kids, all of whom are being raised by other people. I would say raising well-adjusted kids might be a super power. Mine are all 10 and under so the jury's still out for a long time if I've even done that.
ReplyDeletePregnancy is just fertility and fucking. I tell my kids all the time it's a good they are cute or else I would have eat them by now. So maybe not eating your young is a bit of a super power too.
MMmmmm risotto. Could you make it while Gordon Ramsey yells at you?
August 27, 2010 8:18 AM