SEXY!!

So I guess started off reading this book expecting a somewhat typical storyline: supervillain that has a horrible grudge of some sort against the world (rejection, or just some kind of wrongdoing he/she couldn't get over). However, while reading, it seems like the whole superpower thing is almost secondary; they're just people and though not necessarily physically human, they are in the emotion/personal way. Despite all that fancy schmancy power stuff, they are still very much like those that they protect, vulnerable in a completely nonphysical way. And I wonder if that's not somewhat the whole point of the novel, a "so what" answer: that despite how we may typecast and segregate "beings," there is an underlying similarity between all of us (kind of like the androids too!). Grossman especially seems to delve into this whole contrast with Impossible, who possses ridiculous superhuman abilities but is still somehow a social failure.

But back to the whole reason why I put "SEXY" as my title. I noticed that Grossman liked to describe his superheroes especially as sexy: "They [the heroes] were younger and sexier than their predecessors" (p. 23). This just struck me as completely strange at first: what the heck is with all the sexiness?! Could it be all the skin-tight costumes? At this point, I saw a correlation between Hollywood celebrities of the real world (but what is real? -_- ) and superheroes: they live in the limelight, adored by all, seemingly perfect to the world, and can never seem to do wrong. The whole sexy thing starts to make sense if you think about the superheroes the way they are being portrayed: not as humble individuals seeking just to make the world a better place, but spinning into a nice little entrepreneurial occupation. They are "sexy" because it's part of the image they must uphold to keep the revenue coming in, just as the entertainment industry today is getting sexier (literally); the newer generations must continue to get sexier to maintain interest in them, with flashier costumes, names, gadgets, and enhancements (i.e. Phenom). And so it seems that the idealistic pedestal we hold superheroes on, as those who are selfless and all around do-gooders, has crumbled; in the end, the fame and desire to be praised overwhelms. SEXY.

P.S. What happened to good old-fashioned cartoons? None of them ever seem to make sense anymore, and are pretty superficial in what they convey. I guess it's that sexy appeal that wins out nowadays.