Is the Superhero an "American Mythology"?

[ThousandEyes]

I have seen Superheroes be described as an "American Mythology" like the Greeks, Romans, and Norse mythologies. Is this accurate, Mythologies are something that people back then believed in where as we all recognize that these characters are fiction etc. Superheores don't seem just like regular fiction characters. they are part of a unpcredented phenomonon of pop culture

Do you believe that The Superhero is distinctiely and uniquely American? And if you do what is it that makes it that.

 

[Deleted member 8860]

Tolkien stated that he wanted to create an English mythology with Lord of the Rings.

Why not superheroes, too?

 

[ThousandEyes]

Tolkien stated that he wanted to create an English mythology with Lord of the Rings.

Why not superheroes, too?

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would you say that Superheroes are distinctely and uniquely American?

 

[Pagusas]

would you say that Superheroes are distinctely and uniquely American?

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I would yes. Doesn't mean others haven't done it too, or better, or earlier, but Superhero's are like Blue Jeans, An American culture bomb.

 

[Pau]

In three thousand years historians are going to think we all worshiped and believed in the Batman and his children.

I'll make sure I create enough merchandise and statues of the latter so they won't be forgotten.

 

[davepoobond]

but they are intentionally fictional.

actual mythology is whatever it is we say our founding fathers were/are. federalist papers are about as "American Mythology" as you're going to get.

 

[ThousandEyes]

to be more specific i have seen it been said that the superhero is particulary Jewish-American

 

[ShadowSwordmaster]

would you say that Superheroes are distinctely and uniquely American?

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Yes and no. The idea of a superpowered person is not a unique thing, but the concept of a superhero has its ties in pulp writings in a pre-world war 2 US with characters like the Shadow, Zarro, or the Phantom.

 

[Chikor]

You can expand the normal definition of the words myth and mythology to cover something like superhero comics, but I don't think it actually falls under my understanding and usage of the terms.
I think they are fictional stories sold for money by for profit companies, they share some similarities in structure and themes from certain myths (I think mostly because they intentionally borrow from them), but I think they're just too different in their function, aim and place in society to be covered by the same term and have it be meaningful.
So no, I don't think so.

 

[Slayven]

Turning water into wine

Throwing lightening bolts

Eternally healing goats


Sounds pretty comicbooky to me

 

[N.Domixis]

Do other countries even have super heroes? All the good ones are American. Except japan. Japan has Goku.

 

[Deleted member 56580]

If you take mythology as a concept, you'll find a great deals of "supers" who were then called Gods. When you think about it, the modern myth of super heroes is also about believing into the purest form of good

 

[Dyle]

Definitely, they're basically a power fantasy version of the american dream, that developed in america for american audiences. Other countries adopted the idea of the superhero following the format of what the early American pioneers of the format developed

I'd call them more a distinct subset of American folklore than mythology, given the fact that they are, in the end, just stories and don't have greater importance beyond that

 

[ShadowSwordmaster]

Do other countries even have super heroes? All the good ones are American. Except japan. Japan has Goku.

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Japan has a history of superheroes with characters like Kamen Rider, Astro Boy, and Super Sentai.

 

[Man God]

Superman is literally the American dream, so...

 

[Dennis8K]

Yes, I think that there is a distinctly American type of Superhero mythology.

 

[wisdom0wl]

Probably, but I feel like American mythology might fall in line more with Cowboys, Native American battles, and the rest of the Wild West

 

[Hollywood Duo]

Thor/Indra is one of the OG superheroes.

 

[Deleted member 40797]

They don't satisfy the definitions of 'myth' used in anthropology, history and sociology. More generally, superheroes don't function in the same way that mythological figures functioned for the Greeks, Egyptians and other ancient civilizations. In other words, the relation of the Greeks and Egyptians to their gods was different than our relation to superheroes and other extraordinary fictional characters. For example, we believe that superheroes are fictional characters while the Greeks and Egyptians believed that their mythologies were true; this informed everything from their literature to their politics. You would behave much differently if you believed that Superman and Dr. Strange were actual beings who could influence the course of your life.

 

[Harken Raiser]

Do other countries even have super heroes? All the good ones are American. Except japan. Japan has Goku.

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Japan probably has the richest superhero tradition outside of the US. There's shounen heroes like Goku, Tatsunoko's superhereos like Casshern and Gatchaman, and Tokusatsu heroes like Ultraman and Super Sentai/Power Rangers.

Definitely, they're basically a power fantasy version of the american dream, that developed in america for american audiences. Other countries adopted the idea of the superhero following the format of what the early American pioneers of the format developed

I'd call them more a distinct subset of American folklore than mythology, given the fact that they are, in the end, just stories and don't have greater importance beyond that

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Folklore traditionally performs a function as well - like teaching lessons and explaining the natural world.

 

[ShadowSwordmaster]

The weird thing that I know a lot of people call superheroes "modern myths" and not "American myths".

 

[Deleted member 40797]

Turning water into wine

Throwing lightening bolts

Eternally healing goats


Sounds pretty comicbooky to me

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An incredulous Viking once said: "I once met a man who told me they eat their own God, eat his flesh, drink his blood. Abominable."

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

Yes but I think its more about what they represent overall than the figures themselves despite being completely linked.

 

[Rad Bandolar]

Definitely, they're basically a power fantasy version of the american dream, that developed in america for american audiences. Other countries adopted the idea of the superhero following the format of what the early American pioneers of the format developed

I'd call them more a distinct subset of American folklore than mythology, given the fact that they are, in the end, just stories and don't have greater importance beyond that

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Yeah, I'd throw them in the folklore pile as lineal descendants of Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, and the like. I think some parts of the superhero genre, but not most, are as good as Old West myths and folklore, since they can be used as artistic vehicles to explore various facets of the American psyche and reveal certain truths better than mere prose.

 

[Richiek]

Japan has a history of superheroes with characters like Kamen Rider, Astro Boy, and Super Sentai.

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Also more recently One Punch Man and My Hero Academia.

 

[PHOENIXZERO]

Nah, that's more in line with American folklore and tall tales where many people actually believed were real and many of the characters were inspired by real people or an amalgamation of multiple into a legend. Not that different IMO to the biblical version of Jesus. I think that a belief at some point that it's real should be an important requirement for mythology, I'm not sure who outside of young children and maybe some who aren't psychologically healthy believe Superman or most "modern" super heroes were real. Though I guess, it might still qualify? Maybe but I prefer that it at least lasted into adulthood.

EDIT: I probably should've kept some examples I had before I rewrote this but I thought it was getting too long.

 

[MisterHero]

Superheroes are uniquely American especially in their native medium.

But there are also the Tall Tales, Uncle Sam, the Goddess Columbia modeled after Greek myth, etc.

 

[Slime]

American history is American mythology 💁‍♂️

 

[Prine]

I assumed myths were believed to be real, at some point, Superheros are intrinsically understood as a work of fiction, like WWE characters not being considered sport personalities. They're just entertainment.

 

[Siggy-P]

No one actually believed in superheroes so no.

 

[Yams]

Do other countries even have super heroes? All the good ones are American. Except japan. Japan has Goku.

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Japan has the best hero All Might

 

[Powdered Egg]

Beowulf
John Henry
Paul Bunyan

came before this.

 

[HardTimesFamilyPride]

Ah, nice to see the likes of Paul Bunyan, John Henry, Pecos Bill, etc. mentioned. I hardly hear those names anymore. On a certain level I can see the argument for capes - many of the pioneers of superhero comics stated they wanted to at least reflect the nature of mythological beings and the awe they inspired - but on an academic/anthropology level it doesn't fit.

Beowulf
John Henry
Paul Bunyan

came before this.

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Beowulf is an old ass English poem so not sure if it fits

 

[Harken Raiser]

Ah, nice to see the likes of Paul Bunyan, John Henry, Pecos Bill, etc. mentioned. I hardly hear those names anymore. On a certain level I can see the argument for capes - many of the pioneers of superhero comics stated they wanted to at least reflect the nature of mythological beings and the awe they inspired - but on an academic/anthropology level it doesn't fit.


Beowulf is an old ass English poem so not sure if it fits

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Beowulf exists and he's American.

 

[Wilf Netherton]

They don't serve the same cultural function as myths. In my opinion.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

No. The Greeks and Romans had superheroes, the Japanese had them, every culture has its own mythical supermen.

The only difference is that America came into being so late in the world's collective history that our myths were pop culture the second they were created.

 

[HardTimesFamilyPride]

Beowulf exists and he's American.

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Ok I need to know what y'all are talking about now lol

 

[CaptSpaulding]

Super heroes like Achilles and Beowulf and Gilgamesh have existed since the dawn of history. I dont think they are uniquely American.

 

[RestEerie]

Japan has a history of superheroes with characters like Kamen Rider, Astro Boy, and Super Sentai.

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For China, most of their superheroes were basically actual historical figures but with way fictional 'feats'. For example, most if not all the characters in the romance of the three kingdoms existed in history but their feats were way exaggerated. Similarly, although the monkey king sun wukong (the original inspiration for Goku) did not exist, his master the monk Tang SanZang (or Tripitaka) known as XuangZang in real life most certainly exist during the Tang Dynasty as his journey from China to India/Pakistan for Buddhist scripture.

Another example is Bruce Lee. He is as real a person as anyone else but his feats are now the stuff of legends and mythology, many of those surely 'exaggerated' after his untimely death.

So you can say most Chinese superheroes are basically real life non-fictional historical characters being exaggerated with inhuman super human feats.

 

[Deleted member 40797]

Beowulf is an old ass English poem so not sure if it fits

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It fits if you are an old-ass English person.

 

[RedHeat]

Grant Morrison always depicted superheroes as modern-day myths, so I'd say yeah.

 

[Deleted member 40797]

Super heroes like Achilles and Beowulf and Gilgamesh have existed since the dawn of history. I dont think they are uniquely American.

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The difference is that the Greeks believed that Achilles performed the feats recorded in the Illiad, the Anglo-Saxons believed that the events of Beowulf occurred, and the Babylonians believed there was a king of Uruk who accomplished the deeds described in the Epic of Gilgamesh.

 

[Deleted member 6582]

Mythologies are made up stories as well, usually to teach people about cultural values and behaviors. Super Heroes actually have served this function. Super heroes are supposed to be brave, to be just, to fight against those that would harm others. These aren't necessarily natural qualities, they are learned, especially by children. Even modern anti-heroes serve a similar purpose of "demasking" a facade of true good and animating the cruelty and moral ambiguity of the real world. It's popular because it taps into the feelings of a modern audience and tells a story that confirms their view of the world. Sure there is capitalism behind it, but mythology is really story-telling all the way down.

 

[Harken Raiser]

Ok I need to know what y'all are talking about now lol

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I'm just quoting Watchmen's "God exits and he's American":

 

[spam musubi]

There are many cultures around the world that had stories about super powered individuals who do good. To claim America invented this concept is ludicrous. But if you're specifically thinking the tight-wearing extralegal dudes, then I guess commercializing that variant of the millennia-old archetypes is American indeed. So is claiming an idea that other cultures came up with as their own.

 

[T002 Tyrant]

I'd say gods are the oldest superheroes/anti-heros.

Jesus could quite easily fit into the MCU played by Naveen Andrews.

 

[Rosenkrantz]

Japan has the best hero All Might

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You mean the lamest?

I think at this point the superhero genre in America entered the stage there it might be considered a unique part of American folklore (there's a question of the authorship tho). Sure, the stories about superpowered individuals aren't unique for the US and has been around since the dawn of human civilization, however, the flavour of American superheroics isn't replicated anywhere else in the world, you can say whatever you want about sentai or battle shounens of the world, but tthose are a different tradition that isn't directly comparable to the superheroics.

 

[TheCthultist]

Probably, but I feel like American mythology might fall in line more with Cowboys, Native American battles, and the rest of the Wild West

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It can be both.

 

[Wag]

to be more specific i have seen it been said that the superhero is particulary Jewish-American

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Funny how this statement has been uncommented on but I'd say yes, this is mostly true.

The development of the "superhero" came mostly from Jewish-Americans and Jewish American immigrants desire to fight the Nazis during the 30s/40's.

 

[Deleted member 8852]

No, at no point did anyone believe that any superheroes were real.

White gun-toting Jesus is American Mythology.