I recently wrote a review of NBC’s new show The Cape (a kinda dumb but kinda fun superhero show) and noted our hero fell in cahoots with a band of odd-but-likeable bank robbers. I said that while the show features a man trying to “do the right thing—the heroic thing—within the bounds of his imperfect circumstances,” I also said he was in no way “super.”
That review inspired one of our readers to post the following on our Facebook page:
As usual unfortunately it seems Plugged In is focusing primarily on relatively small flaws in this presentation and downplaying the fully relavent [sic] real messages of good and hope contained within it. Aside from Jesus Himself I challenge any…one to find even ONE solitary real figure from history past or present that managed to do good while not having several telling real life flaws. A "superhero" isn't really one who is "perfect" in a real world, but one who tries to do the best with what they have against a backdrop of real humanity, frailty, uncontrollable circumstances, corruption, etc out there. This principle is why so very many "idealize" characters such as Superman but who have more of an honest deep connection with more realistic characters such as Batman.
The comment was pretty good: In fact, I agreed with most of it. And it reflected a common criticism leveled at Plugged In: We can come across at times, and to some of our readers, like a persnickety school marm, unable to appreciate the beauty in a third-grade essay because we’re caught up in the penmanship.
As a writer who was regularly docked for poor penmanship—and as a Christian who really loves finding the spirit of God in unexpected places—I get that. And I know our way of dealing with content can frustrate some of our readers.
So why do we hammer on characters in shows like The Cape for cavorting with unsavory characters when some of our readers think we should pay more attention to the guy’s really touching relationship with his son?
The reason is twofold.
The first comes down, frankly, to our readers, and what they need and expect of us. Plugged In has a pretty diverse audience, and it’s broadened greatly over time. But its core has always been families—particularly parents who want to know whether something’s suitable for their kids to watch or listen to. These parents all have their own rules for what makes something “OK,” and we want to honor all their sensibilities. We don’t want to tell anyone what they should watch or not watch The Cape; We just want to let folks know what they’ll likely be exposed to should they decide to flip it on.
The second is a little more philosophical. We really do believe that the media we watch can affect us all—not just children, but adults, too. For most of us, watching a really noxious horror movie won’t spark an urge to kick our dogs. The influence is far more subtle and incremental (and not always, might I add, altogether bad).
I recently did a whole story on how entertainment and culture intersect, and while the connections between the two are myriad, I’m persuaded to believe that our entertainment, in some respects, is our culture: It forms an important prism through which we view and analyze our world. And The things we watch can’t help but affect how we think and, in some ways, feel about it.
Because media and entertainment are so influential, I tend to believe that Christians (and most of our readers are Christians) should be wary of it—not dismissive of it, certainly not frightened of it, but wary. We have to live in this fallen world, we’re told, but we should guard of becoming a part of it. We’re supposed to change our culture, not be changed by it. Christianity is inherently a countercultural walk, and I think that should make us cautious of being consumed by the culture in which we live.
That said, our Facebook poster is right: We all have flaws. We live in a fallen world filled with corruption and, sometimes, uncomfortable compromise. And we will always resonate with characters that look more like us, while characters crafted from marbled ideals will leave us sometimes feeling a little cold.
But at the same time, our heroes are supposed to show us how to strive for better things—to reach closer to our ideals.
Each of us must grapple with our own nature every day—the person who we are doing battle, in some ways, with the person who we want to be. None of us are perfect, but we are (or we should be) always pushing ourselves to get closer to become the person God would love to see us become. We’re constantly changing, and hopefully we encourage ourselves, and each other, to change for the better.
We find inspiration to better ourselves from many sources: family, friends, you name it. And we find inspiration in entertainment, too. And, if a person insists on calling himself a hero, I’d like him to at least try to fit that definition—even when it’s tough, even when it’s not convenient. Which puts, I think, me and my Facebook poster essentially on the same page. I just think our Cape hero might try a little harder in certain circumstances.
Life is messy. We’re all blessed with a spark of the Divine and the soil of sin and circumstance. We’re a mishmash of good and evil, of animal and angel. But we should always ask more of ourselves—to not excuse our failings, but transcend them when we can.
And we should ask the same of those we call heroes, too.
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