Before my fellow Canadians get all huffy about an inanimate object associated with the National Religion, I’ll remind them that it’s been accidentally left at the side of the road, chucked off a roof into a swimming pool (and it missed) and used as a stripper pole, dog dish, and baby toilet.
It will buff right out.
Damn, that’s a clever term.
Even though the Glazer Children’s Museum isn’t open on Sunday morning (it opens at noon), I was there with Anitra this morning to record a video where we read Maurice Sendak’s children’s classic, Where the Wild Things Are…
…to this young gentleman: Daniel Tiger…
star of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, which is based on the Neighborhood of Make-Believe from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.
Anitra’s on the Museum’s board, which is how we got the opportunity to sit with Daniel and read a book to him. The video of us reading Where the Wild Things Are will eventually end up under “Storytime with Daniel Tiger” in the GCM @ Home section of the Glazer Children’s Museum site. Here’s an example of one of these storytimes:
I’ll let you know when our video gets posted!
The Tampa Bay Lightning are a Florida Team, and as such, they have Florida Fans. I knew I could count on them to uphold the Sunshine State’s reputation for its locals making questionable choices, and the fan with the “Show me that butthole” cap didn’t let me down.
Better still, not only did he impress me with his choice of cap, but also the decision to leave the sticker on the brim — that’s the biggest power move since leaving the tag on your suit jacket sleeve!
Every time I write a post like this, someone (actually, it’s usually half a dozen or so someones) ends up asking me where they can get one. REPCPS.com is your go-to for the “Show me that butthole” cap (which is sold out at the time of writing):
They also sell this wonderful slogan in koozie form.
Some fans were a little more subtle in their butt appreciation, such as the gentleman below, resplendent in his “Butt snorkeler” cap:
Again, before you ask: It’s available at ButtSnorkeler.com. That’s right, that’s an actual domain name and full-on e-commerce business:
Congrats to the Tampa Bay Lightning on their second Stanley Cup win in a row!
Between making it to the World Series, winning the Super Bowl and back-to-back Stanley Cup victories, our teams have earned the area the title of “Champa Bay”.
I’ll close this post with my favorite meme from the playoffs. Congrats to Andrei Vasilevskiy on winning the Conn Smythe Trophy!
Although the concept of the superhero is as old as the Epic of Gilgamesh, superheroes as we know them today are a product of American history. DC’s Superman and Wonder Woman fought in World War II, as did Marvel’s Captain America, Bucky, the original Human Torch, and Namor, a.k.a. the Sub-Mariner.
(Don’t worry if you’re not familiar with Namor just yet. Once upon a time, most people outside the world of comic book fandom would never have recognized the characters from Avengers: Endgame. I’m still blown away by the fact that Groot and Rocket Raccoon are pretty much household names these days.)
I think that superheroes represent the best of American ideals, and that one of the best representations of superheroes is this little essay that’s been around the internet for a number of years. I’m posting it here as my way of celebrating Independence Day. Enjoy!
A common leftist critique of superhero comics is that they are inherently anti-collectivist, being about small groups of individuals who hold all the power, and the wisdom to wield that power.
I don’t disagree with this reading. I don’t think it’s inaccurate. Superheroes are their own ruling class, the concept of the übermensch writ large.
But it’s a sterile reading. It examines superhero comics as a cold text, and ignores something that I believe in fundamental, especially to superhero storytelling: the way people engage with text. Not what it says, but how it is read.
The average comic reader doesn’t fantasize about being a civilian in a world of superheroes, they fantasize about being a superhero. One could charitably chalk this up to a lust for power, except for one fact…
The fantasy is almost always the act of helping people. Helping the vulnerable, with no reward promised in return.
Being a century into the genre, we’ve seen countless subversions and deconstructions of the story.
But at its core, the superhero myth is about using the gifts you’ve been given to enrich the people around you, never asking for payment, never advancing an ulterior motive.
We should (and do) spend time nitpicking these fantasies, examining their unintended consequences, their hypocrisies.
But it’s worth acknowledging that the most eduring childhood fantasy of the last hundred years hasn’t been to become rich. Superheroes come from every class (don’t let the MCU fool you).
The most enduring fantasy is to become powerful enough to take the weak under your own wing. To give, without needing to take.
So yes, the superhero myth, as a text, isn’t collectivist. But that’s not why we keep coming back to it.
That’s not why children read it.
We keep coming back to it to learn one simple lesson…
The best thing we can do with power IS GIVE IT AWAY.