Discrimination against superheroes
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Discrimination against superheroes is a common theme and plot element in American comic books and superhero fiction, usually as a way to explore the issue of superheroes operating in society or as commentary on other social concerns.[citation needed]
The backlash against superheroes and metahumans in JLA: The Nail series has been compared to the real-life moral campaign against comic book superheroes in the mid-1950s.[1][relevant?]
A number of fictional superhero universes contain stories about discrimination against superheroes in the form of Registration Acts[improper synthesis?], fictional legislative bills which, when passed into law, enforce the regulation of extra-legal vigilante activity vs. criminal activity, or the mandatory registration of superpowered individuals with the government.[2] For example, in the alternate universe of the Watchmen, first published in 1986, a backlash against superheroes leads to the passage of the "Keene Act", a federal law that prohibits "costumed adventuring" except by superheroes working for the government.[2] A similar device was used in the Marvel Comics universe in the mid-2000s, where a "Superhero Registration Act" is passed, that requires superpowered individuals to not only register with the government, but to make themselves available to be drafted to respond to emergencies.[2]
In an essay Ethan Faust argued that the depiction of superheroes in the 2004 film The Incredibles is used to examine societal attitudes towards those with disabilities, first by showing them through the prism of ableism in providing unwanted help to people they view as unable to help themselves and later as those forced to hide their differences that are now an object of discrimination.[3]
References
edit- ^ Brokenshire, Mark (May 2013). "Justice League of America: The Nail". Critical Survey of Graphic Novels: Heroes & Superheroes. p. 388 – via EBSCOHost.
The fearmongering and resulting public backlash against superheroes and meta-humans in the story can be compared to the moral panic that erupted over comic book superheroes in the mid-1950's.
- ^ a b c Daily, James; Davidson, Ryan (2012). The Law of Superheroes. Avery. ASIN B007T99LK0.
- ^ Deys, Kellie; Parrillo, Denise F. (2021). Social Order and Authority in Disney and Pixar Films. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 144. ISBN 978-1-7936-2211-2.