1.Superheroes Exposed

In “Why Do People Like Superheroes?,” Noah Berlatsky questions the view people have of the “big, dumb dream”. The big dumb dream is superheroes – Heroes that are strong and righteous, (like Superman) or what the public wants them to be. Berlatsky uses many references from many psychologists’ works to try to explain the relation between superheroes and us. Essentially, what the psychologists say is that the big dumb dream is elusive and unrealistic, and that we want the superheroes to meet our expectations of control and order.

In my opinion, this author is not effective because he does not get straight to the point. He presents credible sources to support his argument but he does not seem to have his own theory of the matter. He really just summarizes and vaguely analyzes the psychologists’ own words. I am sure there are also many people who would disagree with the argument he presented. For instance, I do not believe that we like superheroes because they provide order and authority. I believe that superheroes are what we fantasize about, like how we would use their powers or how others would. The tricky part about using psychology to explain things is that not everyone thinks the same, therefore, not everyone will agree with what you have to say. That is why he should have tried to explain other perspectives and give a more straightforward conclusion.

           

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/07/why-do-people-like-superheroes-dont-ask-a-psychologist/277608/