Reflection #2: Who is the person behind the mask?

        One thing I took away from this lesson, is that mortal men sometimes have to commit the ultimate atrocity; taking away another human being’s life. When humanity begins to show and our heroes begin to age, or go to war, sometimes they have to make the necessary actions to keep themselves and the ones they love safe, the exception being Superman, who, in his almost god-like form, is incapable of drawing closer to the human complex he never had. Even the caped crusader, Batman, eventually fails to uphold his highest and most important rule, falling into the depths that is his own humanity. In the Dark Knight Returns series, an elderly Batman returns to defend the citizens of Gotham, only to come face-to-face with a much younger and physically superior specimen, who bests Batman, forcing the Dark Knight to kill several criminals. Many people argue that Batman made the transition from Crime Fighter to War Fighter, making the need for killing necessary, but I say the fact of the matter is that he slipped, making Batman more real and human than ever before. In terms of my own life, this revaluation tells me that, sometimes, even our greatest and most important rules must sometimes be broken in order to save the things we love.

       In terms of the iconic superhero, “dual-identity” I believe that the secret identity is a necessary, if not possibly psychologically damaging risk that most superheroes have to use in order to save the ones the care about from being targeted by the very people they battle on a daily basis. Even though many people don’t have super villain archenemies constantly trying to kill us, we still have a tendency to put on faces or masks for people in our lives. For example, I have at least two totally distinctive faces, one while I’m at school and one while I’m at home. While I’m at school, I live in the fraternity complex with a group of young men you share similar ideals and opinions with me, as well as us being all around the same age group; meaning I don’t have to watch my language, I don’t have a curfew and I get to make my own schedule. While I’m at home, I have to watch my language around my siblings, as well as work my schedule around five other people. Although the transition isn’t very difficult from one location to another, I do sometimes find myself slipping when I first get home from school, allowing some vulgarities to slip out when around my younger siblings. Generally, the transition takes a night or two, but the masks eventually switch without any problems.