A cynical culture may sneer at happy endings and do-good characters, but that's on the culture. A major reason comic book stories like Marvel Comics' Iron Man and the TV cartoon series Speed Racer appeal across the generations is because they celebrate the always satisfying theme of good versus evil.
Iron Man Trailer courtesy of buzzfocus on YouTube.com
Critics often downplay such stories if the characters seem like souless cutouts with no vices. I don't have a problem with complicated characters who are shaded with meaning. Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of the world-weary industrialist Tony Stark was exquisite. But Downey's character also tried to do the right thing, in his own seen-everything fashion. The back story of Racer X, played by Matthew Fox in Speed Racer, possesses a mysterious, romantic flavor. Not many today are willing to stay unknown and in the shadows.
So why not enjoy Iron Man and Speed Racer overcoming-- if only for a little while -- their adversaries? Enough is happening within our culture to warrant morally based courage. What purpose does it serve to tell stories that do not teach and transform? Especially when we need leadership in every walk of life and in every part of the globe.
Speed Racer trailer courtesy of devildodo on YouTube.com
Remarkable goodness springs from the hearts of people who choose the right thing every day, even when it means sacrifice and ridicule. Let's do more storytelling about those people and their choices. The culture easily depicts the nightmarish side of life -- much like watching the first 15 minutes of local TV news, where mayhem trumps every other story -- but the culture is often sophmoric when telling stories about the redeeming power of lives well-lived.
And that's why such stories -- even if they are lifted from the pages of comic books and the fixed expressions of cartoon characters -- are so terribly needed.
