Final Reflection

The superhero I’ve learned most about has got to be Wonder Woman. Coming into this course I knew nothing about any superhero but I found Wonder Woman to be the most intriguing and I think what really got me was the TV episode we watched with Linda Carter. I really liked the way she portrayed the character and how emotionally invested she was overall. I’m not normally one for feminism but if I were, I’d like to think that’d I’d go about it in a similar was as Wonder Woman. She never pulled the pity card and she didn’t use her looks as a weapon and I really respect that. I think she’s very much a feminist without knowing exactly what feminism is because of her origin.

I was a little hesitant when we began the X-Men. I had some preconceived notion that a group of superheroes was going to be lame and I was going to get annoyed with their petty behaviors that negatively affected the team as a whole. The problems the X-Men face as a group are more severe and relatable than I imagined. Their powers are expressed as mutations and I think that’s why perceived notions were incorrect. The  word “mutations” allow for the reader to think of powers as differences and the X-men have a lot to say about diversity and teamwork.

I definitely did some reflective thinking when we talked about Aristotle’s notions of friendship.  I applied that theory to my life and found some interesting conclusions the more I thought about it. I think one of the bigger things I’ve learned has been in the articles where the author analyze a piece but conclude with, “but all in all they’re just pictures drawn on paper and they aren’t real.” This sort of lax attitude is what I’d like because often times I get too caught up in things and I need to realize there’s a bigger picture out there and it’s not worth getting hung up on a minor detail.

I would have liked to talk about Watchmen a bit more. I really enjoyed Hero as well. I wish we would have done a little comparison between the two as well. It seems to that Hal Creed is what could have become of Veidt if he was ever exposed. Hal took down a monster that killed a few hundred people but saved the world. Veidt created a monster that killed a few hundred people but saved the world. I found this to be really interesting and I wish we could have discussed it. 

We talked a lot about moral code and why superheroes do what they do and those discussions at the beginning of the course I think will help. I feel that superheroes in general are a good example of good citizens. They uphold the law and think what’s best for the people as a whole. If everyone thought as superheroes did, I can’t imagine the sort of world we’d live in. Overall I’d have to say that Superman is the most outstanding citizen of them all. Batman’s dark and all about revenge. Spiderman wears his mask. I just think the happy, familiar nature of Superman is what makes him the most noteworthy on citizenship.