i really never thought about this. but you are right. the last two phrases realy convinced me !
Off My Mind: Does There Have to be Great Responsibility with Great Power?
I think it is ingrained in the marvel universe at least that if you have powers you need to fight crime. Since most heroes seem to be teenagers when they get thier powers it only makes sense that want to emulate thier personal heroes (older super heroes). Then one they get a taste i would think it's kind of addicting saving people. Humans at least are programed to feel good while doing something nice for people and saving someones life has to be at the top of that list. Saving peoples lives removed and passively wouldn't give them the same kind of "high" as directly fighting the bad guys. So as soon as parker hears doc ock is back he has to leave the lab to get his fix of superheroness.
Two words: Major Bummer.
@difficlus: thanks! i really try to make sense of comic books and the worlds they depict, and am always happy to help others better understand why things are the way they are. like explaining why comics are awesome to those people who still think they're just for little kids and man-child's living in their parents basement.
@artint: you've got a point there. i remember spiderman once saying that being spiderman is really habit forming, and its hard to just give it up.
When one gains great power they have at least try to be the best they can be an handle their abilities responsibly. They are not necessarily required to serve the public but they should try to find happiness however they can in life. That's every person's goal, that's every person's right.
It's fashionable to comment on the complications being a superhero causes for the individual in question, but surely few if any note the numbers of times, people who have might have died or been enslaved had not the hero/heroes not existed( had the FF/Avengers/X-Men never existed, Dr Doom or Magneto might have conquered the world- or Galactus destroyed it- many times over!). With great power comes great responsibility to quote a certain web slinger!- just doing nothing is NOT an option!
Terry
I like the pic of Grim playing football, I always wanted to see a Madden NFL game with DC and Marvel Superheroes as the players...would be awesome
I don't agree with this, you have the ability to run and fire a rifle so will you join the army?Another great article. I think that it all depends on the person, but yes I think that if you are given the ability to do something great then you should.
Everyone is misunderstanding the phrase, and I think that Peter Parker did, too.
"With great power comes great responsibility."
Responsibility. Not obligation. You are responsible for your powers and it is a great responsibility. You are not obligated to do or not do anything. If you have invisibility and you wanna hang out in the Victoria's Secret changing rooms (Without getting physical), then that's your call. We need to accept that some things are avoided simply because we'd get caught.
There's no harm in being a bit naughty if nobody's getting financially, professionally, emotionally or physically hurt.
People take the "great responsibility" to mean, "You are not responsible for the safety of people." No, that'd be obligation. If I see a rape, or a robbery, I'll help if I have the power to. I'm not gonna make it my life. I will use it to BETTER my life.
@Daveyo520 said:
Are you sayin you know better than Uncle Ben, Tony?!
Great Responsibility does not necessarily mean becoming a Superhero, there's this story I want to write about a guy with superpowers who wishes to protect the world, so he becomes a Cop. And as the article says some people could take responsibility by becoming Doctors or Scientists or Teachers, like the folks down at PS238, they used to be Superheroes but know they are teachers, they're taking responsibility by forming the next generation of heroes
Doesnt always mean great responsibility. Peter's uncle may have still died anyway, since terrible things happen at random anyway. You just have to do the best you can with what you're given. Not everybody wants to be a hero nor is everybody cut out to be.
Eh The Phantom Stranger doesn't really do much, I'm sure he could do more to make the world better. The Spectre who is The Spirit of Vengeance in the DC Universe has been called out for not doing enough Vengeancing. Once you have enough power you seem to just have a responsibility to not do evil, you don't have the responsibility to do good.
Always if you're the Hero. in fact that's what defines the good guys from the bad guys. (lucky for them, there are enough heroes around nowadays for some of them to take a break while the others handle the situation) People like Iron Man have no lives, they're rich enough to save the world in their part time, or even full time. But yeah Ironman's not a good example to bring up in a topic about responsibility
@Jnr6Lil said:
Powers are gifts that should be used wisely
amen to that.
edit: hope i don't sound like that woman in Civil War lol
@sweatboy said:
Always if you're the Hero. in fact that's what defines the good guys from the bad guys. (lucky for them, there are enough heroes around nowadays for some of them to take a break while the others handle the situation) People like Iron Man have no lives, they're rich enough to save the world in their part time, or even full time. But yeah Ironman's not a good example to bring up in a topic about responsibility
@Jnr6Lil said:
Powers are gifts that should be used wisely
amen to that.
edit: hope i don't sound like that woman in Civil War lol
lol you fo
Pfffttt... If they were not superheroes, where would be able to find impossibly-proportioned women with normal-sized eyes to ogle at? On a related note, people should no use superpowers to solve down to earth problems. Otherwise, the humankind would be crippled once their "saviors" lose their powers. Humankind should be left to solve their problems on their own in order to advance; like how GRAMPA attacked the aliens who tried to help Earth (From "Mighty Avengers"). Think of it like making others do your homework, and messing up the exam because you did not learn from the knowledge or mistakes you gained while studying.
Well the whole point to me is that there is no, "have" to be about it. Its a choice.
Then there is certainty and uncertainty. With great developments in technology comes great amounts of death via that application of technology to kill people more effectively and efficiently. You have smart people invent things that dumb people can't, more dumb people use that invention to kill people. History 101. Sometimes just saving an old guy from being shot from a bank robber is more simple and certain. If it was as certain that he could spend 2 years and save 1000% more people time/effort ratio wise without any negative ill effect? Eh, pretty easy to justify letting an old guy getting shot. So no absolutes. Approaching things in that sense robs some characters of their most heroic actions and attitudes.
I know a society where every one has responsibilities to the community in direct proportion to their abilities. It's called communism. Nyahahahahahahahahah!
Apropos of Reed Richards, he uses(or used) the royalties from his inventions to not just creation more inventions but to come up with things that benefited humanity at large( such as computer software to prevent children being abused by online predators- priestly or otherwise), Tony Stark(Iron Man) moved from being a "munitions monger" to producing less harmful items, Matt Murdock( Daredevil) is an attorney, Donald Blake( Thor's alter ego) is a physician, T'Challa is king of Wakanda , acts as a schoolteacher in New York(when was the last time you saw a black man in such a role in the popular media), Steve Rogers( Captain America) was a police officer and then a graphic artist, Simon Williams(Wonder Man)established the Second Chances Foundation funded by royalties from his films for those who need it, so who says that superheroes are all about just fighting "bad guys"???
Terry
@Lurkero said:
@Eyz said:
Well, if you wouldn't have great responsibility, that means right after getting superpowers, your characters would be killing off everybody in the streets, raping, stealing...wait! That's supervillain motto!
See? No responsibility = supervillains!
Are you assuming the only things a person should do are be a model citizen or model criminal? No one can have superpowers and be relatively normal?
There are degrees of responsibility in the world. It goes beyond savior or sinner.
You never helped out an old person in the bus, or stand out for kids others were bullying, did you? XD
Depends on the upbringing and kind of character you want to put in the book... but as for changing what was already there... to justify say, Brand New Day, then HELL NO.
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