Superheroes (2011)

A couple years back, I watched a compelling but ultimately depressing as hell documentary called Confessions of a Superhero (actually really good, watch it sometime).  That was about the singular to LA phenomenon of regular people dressing up in costumes to entertain the public and get paid to take pictures with people who if maybe you squinted really hard and got punched in the eye maybe looked like the person they were purportedly portraying.  It was depressing because of how far removed from reality some of the people’s perspectives on themselves actually was, and I nearly died from second hand embarrassment until I had a liquid infusion of beer to get me past it.

Superheroes is an HBO documentary on the rise of real people dressing up in outfits to stop crime and do-good!  Like Kick-Ass only less filthier and with shittier costumes and featuring even more second hand embarrassment for me to suffer through.  Some of the heroes are quite humble about what they’re doing, not really having any grand illusions about fame or anything.  Then there are Master Legend (that can only be a title self-applied because seriously, who else would call someone that?) and Mr. Extreme.

Master Legend appears to be a functional alcoholic burnout who patrols the streets occasionally under at least one beer’s influence.  Mr. Extreme is a portly wanna-be martial artist who is the ONLY member of the Xtreme Justice League.  IT IS NOT A LEAGUE IF THERE IS ONLY ONE MEMBER.  I will not discount the good deeds that both of the men under the shoddy outfits accomplish, but their opinions of themselves are highly inflated.  If you do not have super powers, you should be a bit humble about it, as pretty much the entirety of the rest of the featured Real Life Superheroes are.

It’s fairly well-made and filmed, with pretty much no bias on the part of the filmmakers.  Not sure at all what perspective they have on this issue, but Stan Lee has a brief interview where he concedes that he’s a little concerned about people doing what he’s spent decades writing about.  Actually, there’s also a few interviews with a psychologist and a law expert that offers the real life consequences side of the coin, so maybe it’s a mixed perspective thing.

3.5 / 5

Advertisements