The Superhero: A Symptom of Change

It seems that one of the most important things in a subject's life which elicits symptoms is change. When there is change or some sort of transformation in a subject's life, then there are symptoms that signify to the subject that there is a change occurring. This symptom as a signifier of change is true for both the individual subject and the whole of society (“the social”). It is important to note that the symptom does not imply a resistance to change or pose as a supporter of change, but rather it only neutrally signifies that change is occurring. Indeed, this is the difficulty for psychoanalysis, which has to justify its intervention even when faced with the fact that nothing negative is going on. The symptom, even when it is a human subject, is truly lifeless. It serves as an attraction of anxieties from the other audience members. 

We believe that the superhero is also a symptom of systemic change. As Spiderman or Superman, the production of the superhero by Hollywood movies is spreading across the social the signifier that the times are dramatically and drastically changing. This is evident because the superhero is defined by a difference from the rest of society, he is not of the same time as the rest of the social; he is quite extremely ahead of the times. Dramatic change means that we are not only entering a new generation or a new century, but that we are entering a new age entirely. This new age which we are entering brings in man such a change that he is not to be defined by the ways of living that are prevalent today, but something makes of his entire life different from ours. The superhero is a symptom that a new age is upon us.

But this does not mean that the superhero is not also a product of normalcy. Indeed, the superhero always begins life as normal, and only through an abnormal reaction to something does he become a symptom. It is because of an external factor that his life becomes different from ours; it does not have anything to do with the superhero's character or behavior. Beneath his mask or superhero quality, the superhero is still an ordinary subject. It is as this ordinary subject that the superhero can serve as a metaphor for the rest of the ordinary social. The superhero expresses the anxiety of the social with regards to the change into a new age. He demonstrates that the social considers itself limited as to the amount and type of power it has to become a society of the new age.

The symptom therefore demonstrates an anxiety, and, as all anxieties, is directly related to change. The superhero, however, does not enter when there is any type of change, but only when there is drastic and dramatic change in society. The superhero signals the coming of the new age, and whenever new ages arrive in society, there is an increase in the appetite and consumption of superhero images.