Superheroes, Fantasy, and the Christian Imagination

When I was young my mother would take me along to the grocery store.  She would make her way through the aisles and I would sit by the magazine rack reading comic books.  Spiderman, Superman, X-men… until finally it was time to go.  I grew up immersed in superhero mythology.  I would tie bath towels around my neck, jump off picnic tables and fly around the yard, doing battle with imaginary bad guys.  Now as a college professor, I’m supposed to be into more academic and scholarly things.  Yet when the new Batman film, The Dark Knight, came out – I couldn’t help myself.  I had to see it on the big screen.  So a friend and I went – and we were not disappointed.

There has been much interest lately in the fantasy realm.  Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Spiderman and now Batman.  They represent a mythical world – an alternate reality where magic and super powers are possible.  Lately, millions of people, especially young people, have been drawn in.  What are we to make of this?  Some see these stories as a form of escape; people projecting themselves into the more interesting and heroic lives of Harry Potter, Frodo, or the masked Bruce Wayne.  Some see them as childish nonsense…a way to relive childhood fantasies.  Others admittedly just don’t get it… nor do they want to.

Such perspectives fail to address the purpose and function of all narrative – to help us make sense of the world.  We read or watch films to be drawn in to a story… not for the purpose of escaping our lives, but so we might makes sense of the world we inhabit.  Walter Wangerin Jr, in his book The Orphean Passages, writes:  

In order to comprehend the experience one is living in, he must, by imagination and intellect, be lifted out of it.  He must be given to see it whole; but since he can never wholly gaze upon his own life while he lives it, he gazes upon the life that, in symbol, comprehends his own…  Myth is just a symbol…And when the one who gazes upon that myth, suddenly, in dreadful recognition, cries out, ‘There I am!  That’s me!’ Then the marvelous translation has occurred: he is lifted out of himself to see himself wholly.

A primary theme of The Dark Knight is the manifestation of evil that is the Joker.  There is no explaining the Joker.  Even when you think you have some insight into the reason for his evil ways, you discover he is just playing with you.  He is evil.  He has no overarching plan; no grand scheme.  He is not after power or money, his only purpose is to unleash chaos.  How does one defeat this type of evil?  How can Batman, a symbol of morality, of truth, of law and order, overcome him without becoming part of the chaos…without compromising?  How does he defeat terrorism without becoming a terrorist?  As we contemplate the chaos in our own world – economically, politically, culturally – as we think about 9/11 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - how do we answer this question?

The biblical story tells about the unleashing of chaos in the world.  From Eden, the flood, and Babel; through Egypt, Babylon, and Rome… the bible reveals there are principalities and powers at work in this world.  They are at work in us – unleashing a chaotic, Joker like, violence.  Often we take up arms against this chaos by voting for the right political party, by enacting laws, or erecting fences to keep “others” out.  Or we put our trust in power – dealing with the threat of death by inflicting death.  Yet, in the end none of these methods work.  As Christians we follow a crucified Christ, one who stood face to face with chaos - with the Joker’s of this world - and died.  Willingly giving himself, hanging on the cross, taking the full brunt of the demonic onslaught without resistance.  He calls us to do the same.  We are called to become peacemakers - to not resist an evil person - to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.  We are called to take up our cross, taking the chaos upon ourselves, so we might be awakened to a new reality firmly rooted in Christ’s resurrection.

While each Sunday Christians celebrate the presence of Christ’s kingdom, the world in which we live more often resembles the world of the Joker.  How often Christians succumb to his maddening taunt “Come on… hit me!” finding ourselves caught in an endless violent cycle which the Joker wins every time.  How do we see the Kingdom of God amidst this chaos, violence, and hatred?  Through transformed and engaged imaginations.  With imagination we make sense of our experiences, piecing them together to discover meaning and purpose.  With our imagination, shaped by the biblical story, we are able to see beyond the way things appear to the reality of the way things are and will be.  

Here we discover the importance of films like the Dark Knight or stories like Harry Potter.  At a time when distorted views of science, technology, and capitalism have deadened our imaginations, fostering a fatalistic understanding of the world, these stories sharpen our imaginations by providing an alternate picture of reality.  We enter into the world of hobbits and superheroes, not to stay there - not because they are worlds we can inhabit.  We enter them to learn about the world in which we live… to see this world “rightly”.  Going, as Bilbo Baggins puts it, “there and back again”.

Does this mean that all Christians have to like these types of stories? - Of course not.  But as Christians, we must exercise our imaginations.  We need to be reminded, whether through caped crusaders, the cooing of a new born baby, or the rising of the sun… that this world is a magical place.  There are forces of chaos still present in the world, but God sits on the Throne and he makes all things new through the blood of the lamb.  We come to experience this newness through Spirit bathed imaginations which remove the scales from our eyes, allowing us to see the miraculous and magical presence of Christ’s kingdom.