What impact has Superman had on you?

[DantePD]

This is gonna be kind of sappy and pretentious, fair warning.

I believe I can honestly say that I wouldn't be half the man I am now, without Superman.
My first Superman comic was Superman #75. The Death of Superman. Yeah, it's a 22 page slugfest, but on the mind of a ten year old boy it had a pretty big impact. It taught me a lesson. That you do what's right. No matter what. Even if you're pretty damn sure you're gonna die, you do what's right.
As an adult, I'm a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. These days, I'm a Police Officer in Washington DC. I've been in a lot of situations over the last 12 years where I was pretty sure that my time was up and I was going out. And every time, my main thought was "What Would Superman Do?" Hell, under my uniform when I was in the desert and now here in DC, is the S. I've seen a lot over time and I've gotten the chance to meet and help a lot of amazing people.
And I'd like to think that Superman would be proud.

[Mr. Holmes]

This is gonna be kind of sappy and pretentious, fair warning.

I believe I can honestly say that I wouldn't be half the man I am now, without Superman.
My first Superman comic was Superman #75. The Death of Superman. Yeah, it's a 22 page slugfest, but on the mind of a ten year old boy it had a pretty big impact. It taught me a lesson. That you do what's right. No matter what. Even if you're pretty damn sure you're gonna die, you do what's right.
As an adult, I'm a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. These days, I'm a Police Officer in Washington DC. I've been in a lot of situations over the last 12 years where I was pretty sure that my time was up and I was going out. And every time, my main thought was "What Would Superman Do?" Hell, under my uniform when I was in the desert and now here in DC, is the S. I've seen a lot over time and I've gotten the chance to meet and help a lot of amazing people.
And I'd like to think that Superman would be proud.

Wow, this is definitely inspiring.

[ascended]

This is gonna be kind of sappy and pretentious, fair warning.

I believe I can honestly say that I wouldn't be half the man I am now, without Superman.
My first Superman comic was Superman #75. The Death of Superman. Yeah, it's a 22 page slugfest, but on the mind of a ten year old boy it had a pretty big impact. It taught me a lesson. That you do what's right. No matter what. Even if you're pretty damn sure you're gonna die, you do what's right.
As an adult, I'm a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. These days, I'm a Police Officer in Washington DC. I've been in a lot of situations over the last 12 years where I was pretty sure that my time was up and I was going out. And every time, my main thought was "What Would Superman Do?" Hell, under my uniform when I was in the desert and now here in DC, is the S. I've seen a lot over time and I've gotten the chance to meet and help a lot of amazing people.
And I'd like to think that Superman would be proud.

Thank you for your service.

WWSD?

Damn right.

[ascended]

There was a great article recently by Tom Hiddleson about how superheroes are a new source for moral guidance and the themes people need, and usually get from religion, but for an increasingly secular society. I like that, bring atheist myself.[/QUOTE]


I've always figured that thousands of years from now when our societies and cultures have been buried and lost to memory, that people will look back at what survived into their age and think that we used to worship these "super-heroes" as gods. The rival pantheons of the Marvel and the Detective. Ah, to be a fly on the wall during the debates scholars in the future will have about who was truly the most worshiped; the Super-Man or the Ambush Insectoid (hey, history makes mistakes!)

But seriously, yeah thats not surprising. Religion is based in morality but morality is not itself based in religion. Right is right and wrong is wrong regardless of what you think will meet you after you die. You dont get the steal, or rape, or kill (unless things have really hit the fan and you have some extenuating circumstances). Basically, all major religions boil down to say the same thing: "Dont be a dick." And as society moves further away from religion, as seems to be largely the case looking at the big picture, then I can totally see superheroes being used for that moral definition instead. The tales are pretty similar. Good and evil, standing up for what you believe in, fighting for an ideal.