Empowerment Super Heroes Missing
Entertainment World offers no Justice to Advocacy Heroes or Heroines
The entertainment industry comes up short in its understanding and portrayal of the true super heroes and heroines who perform justice through advoacy for those in need.
Empowerment is a super power. It is the magical ability of people to have a voice in the circumstances that often impact their lives and the lives of others. Unfortunately, this is not clear to those who get their super hero information from the gods of entertainment. Not all super-beings, it seems, are created equal.
To understand just how magnificent empowerment heroes and heroines can be, ask a few homeless families and children who have been rescued from freezing streets by legions of underpaid, under-appreciated nonprofit saviors.
Or ask women hiding from abusive spouses who soon discover that their survival depends on secret networks of invisible others whose empathy for their humiliation smothers the ugliness of the basest of family villains.
MISSING IN ACTION
Sadly to say, these day-in and day-out empowerment superheroes and super heroines carry out their mighty missions with little notice. They are just real-life guardians who fight often dangerous and deadly battles for justice and morality in the homes of families or within the minds of the victims, where popcorn is not appropriate and kids seldom wish to slip on spectacular costumes.
Empowerment super folks just can't be dressed up in fancy costumes or, for that matter, to role model for others.
Part of the reason for this is, of course, because empowerment powers aren't easily sculptured into CGI action sequences. Those who respond to the constant call for goodness and fairness wouldn't really know what to do with magic belts, flying capes or even dazzling, high-tech gadgetry, virtual or otherwise-though cell phones, blogging, and gaming capabilities are beginning to change some of this!
NO LITERARY JUSTICE
But for the entertainment warlords to turn a blind eye to these icons of advocacy in action is one thing; for other who should know better to perpetuate the belief that they are undeserving of literary attention in a much different story. And may well be why our next generation has little desire to follow their lead.
Take the following literary presentations of protagonists turned antagonists by writers themselves known to be guardians of sexual egalitarianism.
"We provided a service," screams a "charitable soul" from Born In Death, a recent novel by famed romance qua mystery writer to millions, Nora Roberts. "We give our time, our expertise, our name to help these women in trouble through their own doing, their own weaknesses, and give a gift to worthy couples." The philanthropic villains here weaseled their way into the lives of young women who were alone in the world and bribed them to give their newborns up for sale to the dark side-a practice they valued so much they were willing to resort to murder to keep their game in play.
Or try the case of a trusted friend to the mentally vulnerable, The Therapist. Here Jonathan Kellerman puts his progressive (meaning comfortably gay) protagonists secondary to the commands of certified helping professionals who selfishly turn in their weapons of trust and confidentiality in favor of greed and their own variety of murder.
What kind of world is where our most secret of confidants find it more comforting to get rich off the back of the government than to care who wins in the internal battle of personal monsters?
Empowerment is about people being strong enough to protect and serve others in collaboration. Those who do it right are true heroes and heroines for everyday people. But so far the entertainment and literary worlds have been remiss in dressing them up in the costumes of super beings who just could be advocates in action if given the chance.
