Introduction
Superhero is a term that is socially accepted and widely revered in today’s society. We are fed with information about their supreme powers and ability to save humanity from evil. Every popular media form has been used to ensure our society fantasizes about their presence and accept their critically maligned narratives (King 167). Vigilante, it’s a word taken from Spanish and it was first introduced to America in the mid-19th century. A vigilante is someone who operates alone or in a group, “takes the law into their own hands” (Butler 1). These people are not endorsed as officials or state actors, by the authorities. Therefore, it leaves an open ended question: does our society need a superhero, or is it possible to make the society understand that their presence is a work of fiction and society already has its saviours. The following sections will critically analyse the need for superheroes and prove through reasoning and logical factors that our society is better off without them.
Rhetorical Appeals
Ethos
Ethical appeal relates to the credibility and the character of the author. In case of vigilantes or superheroes, it is tough to present an ethical appeal as it’s clear that they are a work of fiction. Vigilantes such as Spiderman, Batman, Superman, etc. paint pictures of morality and they can barely stand the test of reality. Their depiction takes out the several basic human qualities and their authors present them as some of saviours or demi-gods. Such portrayal makes it unconvincing and completely illogical to even think of justifying their credibility or outlines them as mere fictional characters created to help children and several adults fantasize.
Logos
It means appealing to the logic. In terms of vigilantes or superheroes it is clear that the image we are sold does not exist. The vigilante perspective is a logical fallacy as there is not one single report of a man hiding his identity, working all night, and using his/her superpowers to save humanity from evil. Society already has crime fighters in the form of defense that protects national interest and law enforcement to hinder domestic crime rates. But, it is the boldness and the decisiveness of the vigilante characters, which makes them illogical in the common sense.
Pathos
The strongest support for the need for vigilantes in the society comes from emotional appeal. Society always needs a saviour and it is this desire that inspires comic book creators to present superheroes. But, even on this appeal, vigilantes fall short as it is impossible for them to save or protect people in the real world. They do bring billions of dollars of revenue for comic books and live action movies, but it is impossible for them to be present to save society from real life trouble. Therefore, even though they are created for the satisfaction of the emotional appeal of the society, vigilantes fall short of fulfilling the roles of superheroes in real life scenarios.
Reasons behind the View
The Gray Area
One of the problems with vigilantes taking matters into their hands is that it promotes civilians to take matters into their own hands. Comic books and movies promote this action, as they present powerful beings and aliens policing the streets and fighting crime. Simply put, vigilantes are seen as crime fighters that operate within the law and sometimes in case of superheroes such as Batman, Superman, Iron Man, etc. they are seen as individuals helping to implement the rule of law (Juliano 45). But, in the real world, it does not make any sense to allow civilians to take matters in their hands.
Our society functions in such a way that people are hired for the specific task of maintaining peace and their operations are within the constraints of law. For instance, the cops are hired for catching criminals, courts are built for implementing justice, jails are created for rehabilitating, and probation officers are hired to help and re-assimilate ex-criminals back into the society (Butler 1). With such effective process already in place, a vigilante would end up meddling with the system. It is better that crime fighting is left in the hands of people who are hired specifically for the purpose.
In the fictional world, vigilantes are seen as individuals who are concerned with the safety of civilians and their targets. They are rarely shown as dark characters that break rules for personal gain, rather that are shown as crime fighters that work with the law enforcement. But in the real world, most vigilantes are rarely concerned with the safety of other civilians or their targets (Weston 230-31). One example that can be taken from our real world is the action of vigilantes in Afghanistan and Northern Pakistan. For them, they are working within the law to protect their society from foreign education, but in reality to achieve their goal they end up murdering people who fail to obey their demands.
Impact on Social Roles
Another problem with the presence of vigilantes is the effect it has on clearly defined social roles (Juliano 64). Vigilantes, despite their good intentions and deep desire to help the law enforcement agencies can get in between their work. In movies, Batman and Superman are shown as significant players in law enforcement. They are allowed to interrogate and manhandle criminals like the Joker or Lex Luthor, as they are considered as important figures that can do a better job than actual law enforcers. But, in real life vigilantes acting as law enforcers can end up hurting their targets or in some cases themselves. People operating as vigilantes with positive intentions might not have proper training to capture and interrogate. They might end up making basic mistakes that a trained law enforcer would never do. Also, vigilantes might end up breaking laws through their actions that fall within the classification of criminals.
Endorsement of vigilantes in the movies as saviours does not help real life heroes that are actually making changes and protecting citizens. The real heroes are police officers, armed forces, fire fighters, first responders, etc. These are the people who should get the credit, they should get the attention and respect from the society. The sad part of having vigilantes in movies fighting for humanity develops idolatry that should actually be reserved for the real life heroes (Weston 223-234). Children should be idolizing these civil servants as in real life they are the ones protecting humanity from evil. Showing superheroes vigilantes taking care of crime and leading the law enforcers paints a picture that a weakness exists among the real crime fighters. The message communicated to children is that the law enforcement is not strong enough and the society needs a saviour with superpowers.
False Hope
Superheroes are based on myths that are too far from reality and their stories and power seem inconceivable. But, their stories appeal to the emotions of their audience as they develop a hope that they too can be saved. In reality, no one can be saved from some of the harsh realities of life and the threats such as terrorism present harsh realities of life (Johnson). There are no superheroes in real life that can prevent terrorist actions such as 9/11 or save people in an unstoppable train. Therefore, having vigilantes around us just builds a false hope of having saviours that can use their power and save humanity from the greatest threats. This false hope translates into emotional feelings and people create an image of their saviour in their mind. People forget that these fictional vigilantes do not have the power to save them in real life; rather they can act to save them in their own fictional world.
The impact of the false hope is worse on young minds that are like blank canvases. Children get the wrong idea that someone – ‘your friendly neighbourhood’ or ‘the dark knight’ is out there fighting crime. Vigilantes in film or comics might save children who fall from the rooftops or buildings, but in real life children who jump from buildings hoping to meet their hero have a sad ending. Children need to be taught that superheroes from the movies cannot save them and any form of justice they desire can be achieved through the law enforcement system already in place. In simple words, informing children that superheroes are not real and they only exist within the frame of a movie screen or pages of comic books. Therefore, it is important that the myth of superheroes remains within the constraints of the fiction and children need to be informed of their fictional nature and limitations.
Fails to communicate the Real Message
The general idea taken by the audience from superhero movies is that they need to take the law into their own hand. Most vigilantes in the superhero movies prescribe to this notion as they decide to operate as state actors and perform law enforcement tasks that cannot be performed by other law enforcers due to their limited abilities. The stories about vigilantes also develop the notion that they too will be accepted as state actors, if they are successful in helping the law enforcement fight crime. Sadly, this far cry from the real message, which superhero and vigilante stories are meant to communicate with its audience. This misunderstanding is the real risk of having vigilantes in our society as they are incapable of outlaying their cause. Since, audience glorifies the actions and powers of their favourite vigilantes, they fail to see the message that their creators want to share.
The real idea behind the actions is not to do what their idols do, rather it is to find the good in themselves and banish the dark side. Superhero stories want to communicate that, even though it’s tough to take the moral path, a real superhero always makes the right decision. Also, superheroes also communicate through their actions that doing what they do is morally dubious and hard. They want to communicate that it is a bad idea to copy them as they do not have the luxury of living in a fictional world and correcting their mistakes. Through their dialogues and mottos, several superheroes clearly point out ethics in their behaviour. For example: Batman’s rule – no killing, forbids extremities of violence and teaches that superheroes should not murder for the sake of it (Weston 232). It further clarifies that humanity does not need vigilantes as they barely understand the message relayed from their favourite superhero movie.
Technology Risk
Vigilantes are also risks for the privacy of individuals. With the advancement of technology, it has become easier for any private citizen with basic knowledge to spy on anyone they want to. Hackers working as vigilantes can now access files and extract information about individuals, overriding the role of government. It does not make sense that a vigilante can have power greater than the state and steal personal information for their gain. Superhero movies such as Iron Man display the load protagonist Tony Stark as a person capable of hacking into government files. In reality, some hackers have similar levels of abilities and they can access government records and sell that information to other governments and warlords. It is tough to overcome this technology risk and harm associated with it. Therefore, our society does not need vigilantes or superheroes, whose actions can inspire others to do criminal actions in real life (Lisk 1439).
It seems highly risky for a government to negotiate with a hacker that they cannot locate. Such shift of power and leverage in the hand of a vigilante is too much to handle for the government and law enforcement. There are greater risks of having vigilantes having the power to save and record government records as they might end up profiteering from it. Or, it is possible that the government might need to bring them in to help them out and spy on its citizens (Dysart, 2011). For example: the NSA spied on every phone and kept records of messages and calls made by every American. When the information broke out, it sent Americans into a panic as they felt cheated by their government for spying on them. This is the level of risk associated with having technology genius vigilantes in our times as they can cause great threats to national security with a push of a few buttons.
Creates Fear
Another major concern for having vigilantes in our society is that it creates fear among people (Kort-Butler & Hartshorn 37-38). Watching people getting murdered in movies by antagonists creates or children dying in a blast creates fear among the audience and develop affection towards the protagonists with superpowers. This is the fear that superheroes and vigilantes present in front our society, as the good is always connected with the bad. There is always one man or a group of superheroes that can take on a whole gang of assassins, terrorists, powerful aliens, or a crime syndicate with no help from law enforcers. The reality is far from this narrative, as all crimes in this world are fought by a group of law enforcers that stand for the morally right.
The problem with vigilantes and superheroes is that people are exposed to presence as they are goaded in different forms of media and displayed as the saviour. Such action of the popular media does nothing else but creates fear among the masses. Fear that is taken out on the justice system as they know that in real life there is no powerful being that would save them from evil. People start developing a feeling of non-support towards the justice system as crime reporting and programs make them feel that the justice system is failing the society (Kort-Butler & Hartshorn 51). Media depictions of crime perpetuate the risk faced by society and makes the masses fear for their safety. It would be better if the media displays the strengths of the justice system and calm their audience. Therefore, the society does not need vigilantes; rather they need to trust the justice system.
Conclusion
Vigilantes and superheroes are an important aspect of the social notion as they are seen as saviours that protect humanity from evil. But, their presence in the society is fictional and people need to understand and respect the justice system and law enforcers that are the real life heroes. The problems associated with vigilantes in our society and many, some of them can be seen in the daily walks of life. It is clear that vigilante seen in the fictional world, but allowing them to intervene in the real life actions of law enforcement is practically unthinkable. There are other problems associated with vigilantes too, as they created false hope, challenge social roles, add technology risk, develop a fear among civilians, and fails to deliver the real message from the creators. Due to these problems, it is better that our society is free of all vigilantes.
Works Cited
Butler, Joel. "Batman and the Rule of Law." The National Legal Eagle 17.2 (2011): 1-3. Print.
Dysart, Joe. "The Hacktivists: Web Vigilantes Net Attention, Outrage and Access to Your Data."ABA Journal. abajournal.com, 1 Dec. 2011. Web. 1 Aug. 2016.
Johnson, Jeffrey K. "Terrified Protectors: The Early Twenty-First Century Fear Narrative in Comic Book Superhero Stories." The Journal of American Popular Culture 10.2 (2011): n. pag. Print.
Juliano, Stephanie. "Superheroes, Bandits, and Cyber-nerds: Exploring the History and Contemporary Development of the Vigilante." Journal of International Commercial Law and Technology 7.1 (2012): 44-64. Print.
King, Zachary. "The Superhero Historicized, Theorized, and Read." Journal of Modern Literature 39.2 (2016): 167-170. Print.
Kort-Butler, Lisa A., and Kelley J. Hartshorn. "Watching the Detectives: Crime Programming, Fear of Crime, and Attitudes about the Criminal Justice System." Sociological Quarterly52.1 (2011): 36-55. Print.
Lisk, Joshuah. "Is Batman a State Actor? The Dark Knight's Relationship with the Gotham City Police Department and the Fourth Amendment Implications." Case Western Reserve Law Review 64.3 (2014): 1419-1440. Print.
Weston, Gavin. "Superheroes and comic-book vigilantes versus real-life vigilantes: an anthropological answer to the Kick-Ass paradox." Journal of Graphic Novels & Comics4.2 (2013): 223-234. Print.
