Heroic Icons^333Despite the resurgence of hero
worship after 9 / 11 , heroic iconography
has long adorned canvas and poster
for reasons as varied as patriotism
and paternalism, valor and ego.
“Hero” is, after all, the highest of
human distinctions, a status to which
everyone, at least subconsciously,
aspires. The true hero is born with or
acquires real virtues, while the
synthetic hero is a composite of these
ideal attributes. But in either case, the
heroic image has considerable sway
over public perception, which makes
it such a commanding propaganda
tool. Paradoxically, a real hero is not
always ideally heroic in appearance or
stature, so designing heroes that
conform to accepted models
necessitates creating symbolic beings
that are bigger and bolder than life.
In heroic art, the diminutive Napoleon was depicted as taller,
while the impuissant Hitler was stronger than nature had originally
intended. The exaggerating lens is routinely used to elevate rulers and
warriors, as well as sports and media stars. Micheal Deaver, Ronald
Reagan’s chief “image maker,” once explained that placing the former
president in heroic light relied, quite literally, on effective lighting to
smooth out the gnarled parts and give an aura to his countenance.
Lights, camera, hero! Indeed, filmmakers routinely create larger-
than-life, live-action characters whose heroic personas the public
unquestioningly embraces simply because of a few special effects. But the
grandest fictional heroes—the superhero comics variety—are not made of
flesh and blood at all, but paper, ink, and myth. Take Superman, created in
1939 by Joe Seigel and Jerry Shuster, a pair of Depression-era American Jews
who, having learned about the Aryan Superman, wanted to show that not all
supermen were Nazis. By imbuing him with otherworldly superhuman