Late into my teens… alright – to this very day, I’ve been a sucker for a Super Hero.
I can remember paying particular attention to the Greek and Roman modules we studied at age 10 or 11 –
especially the grizzlier bits. Later, I watched the X-Men on TV every Saturday morning long after my mates had abandoned cartoons (or so they said).
A Freudian delve into why is not the reason for this piece, although I’m sure it would discover a deep well from which to draw other blogs from: a craving for action in my life; a desire to have untold power; the ability to shoot laser beams from my… well, let’s move on.
The reason that I mention my fondness of Super Heroes in the past, is that I needed to draw some strength from it recently, when I had to sit through the abysmal Hollywood movie, The Green Lantern. But I’m glad I did.
Plot and performance aside, there was something incredibly interesting about the film. This quote from Tomar-Re, a Green Lantern, explains:
Tomar-Re: “Billions of years ago, a race of immortals harnessed the most powerful force in existence: the emerald energy of willpower. These immortals, the Guardians of the Universe, built a world from where they could watch over all of existence: the planet Oa. They divided the universe into 3600 sectors, a ring powered by the energy of will was sent to every sector of the universe to select a recruit. In order to be chosen by the ring, it is said that one must be without fear. Together, these 3600 recruits formed the intergalactic peacekeepers known as the Green Lantern Corps.”
In the film, Will Power is represented by a flowing ‘river’ of green electricity. The ‘river’ is sourced from each and every person in the galaxy, and is the only power great enough to defeat the power of Fear. It is people’s fear that the ‘baddy’ in this film draws its strength from.
For a Hollywood Blockbuster this is actually serious stuff. Although many of the moviegoers probably glossed over this (or left the cinema before the plot got this far) it certainly resonated with me, as in the Guide we have a section about Fear titled, ‘The Indestructible Enemy’ in which it says the following:
“… you will discover deep within your greatest weapon against fear. This is the Power of your Will. Fuelled by your Courage and Positive attitude, the Determination of your Will Power will ensure you triumph over every battle with which Fear taunts you.”
Hollywood and the ability to fly aside, at WMD we really do believe your Will Power can help you be super human. I’m sure we all have people in our lives that have overcome adversity, achieved what we thought impossible, carved a life for themselves having been written off by ‘superiors’, all of these heroes are drawing from the power of their will. Now imagine if like in the film all of our will could be pooled to achieve something… now there’s a movie.
So the next question is then, ‘When is WMD the movie out?’