Why are we so attracted to superheroes? To antiheroes? It may well be because they are so brave and selfless, and so willing to risk their own lives to help other people, while asking for nothing in return. We want to believe that there are people out there, like us, under the masks, who are purely altruistic and wishing to make the world a better place; no strings attached, and no ulterior motives. We want to believe in the good in humanity so badly; to believe desperately in the brilliant, the self-sacrificing, the saviours who are outside of the unfair and unjust laws of our society. Superheroes, antiheroes: the good (or at least willing) people who work outside of the law, for no pay, nothing. They are the outcasts; the underdogs; the black sheep; we see - we project - our better selves in these mysterious, almost transcendent do-gooders. Politics and other restrictions don't apply to them. They are the rebels, the destroyers and unforgiving mirrors of the system. Most of them do good simply because they want to. They are in a position where they are not so easily corruptible. Any power that superheroes possess boils down to (or it should) might for right, not might makes right. And that is why these heroes - and true, real life, everyday heroes, who don't wear masks and capes but are nonetheless heroic - are so popular.
Films that make white people uncomfortable don't make it to the Oscars. Films that make white men uncomfortable don't make it to the Oscars. The Oscars are old and dying out, and we know it. It's all pretentious, white male naval gazing and fart sniffing. At least, it needs an upgrade, fast.
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