Yes, I too was once little...
I would stare transfixed at the television as an apparently unassuming, mild-mannered, bespectacled man suddenly re-emerged from a phonebooth wearing bright red underwear over a blue, skin-tight ballet outfit!
And then,
Superman would simply take off!
"Up, up and away".
Bizarre.
Fascinating!
I will have to admit - no other fictional character has, till date, left a more lasting impression on me. Not even E.T. Although, E.T. could well be real... but that's another story...
Returning to our 'Man of Steel' - undoubtedly, there were flaws. Then again, most of these are common across the entire 'movie super-hero turf'. For starters, besides their rather questionable fashion sense, most of these guys can't be identified as soon as they change even their accessories. Daily Planet's Clark Kent becomes unrecognizable after he takes off his glasses! Never worked for me :-(.
That's just the tip of the iceberg. The gist of it is - if you take the trouble to look closely, there was probably lots of tackyness to go around and a plenty of 'chinks in the armour'. But to a 'wee lil' kid, the big picture was awesome! I was spellbound!
And to the sheer horror of my parents - inspired! ;-)
Episode 1-
"You haven't seen a tree...
The "wonder" years -
"I believe I can fly..." :
Flashback. It's the early eighties.
I don't think my parents got this for me willingly. Maybe I was rewarded! I must've coloured in the shapes perfectly in kindergarten and earned a 'star'. But hey - by then, it didn't matter. What was important was that I had it!
The 'Superman' outfit!
The stage was set. I was squinting with the Sun in my eyes and my cape flailed wildly in the wind. My mind was made up. There I was, perched up on our 4th floor balcony. And then, just seconds before I was about to embark on my first ever 'test-flight', "super-mom" (they can do it all even without the costumes), in rather dramatic fashion, came to what she thought was my "rescue"...
I was alive and well, but my confidence had taken a severe beating.
I was 3.
I have never flown since. :-(
" There is an art, or rather a knack to flying.
The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss." ~Douglas Adams, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Take two:
However, nearly two decades later, during a bash on the last day of college, the thought of making a second attempt floated into my semi-conscious mind. This time, it was well past midnight, and, in going with the 'mood' of the party, I was in a 'compromised' state of awareness ;-). Needless to say, this wasn't nearly as meticulously planned as 'take one'.
By now, the stakes had doubled - I was on the 8th floor! I gathered momentum as I steadily made my way towards the 'big gap' in the wall. Again, just when it mattered, at the brink of what I thought could have been history (read: finale!)... I bailed out. A friend (thanks AP!) who was standing by the window, skillfully talked me out of it...
I became the
dodo. I was momentarily filled with hopelessness. I was the toothless tiger. The fin-less fish. The moo-less cow or the quack-less duck. Well... you get the picture. The 'mediocrity' was setting in... I was 'normal'! How utterly boring! :-(
In more recent times, I have decided to pursue things more achievable... like bending a spoon with my mind! ;-)
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There was always a lot on offer. Superman was pretty much an all-rounder. Amongst a host of other things, he
also had invincible strength, would do the fancy laser-beam thing with his eyes and could stop a speeding train with a lot more ease than
Toby Maguire did in
Spiderman-2. But, for me, it was always the flying that took the cake!
However, as the comic books found their way onto the silver screen over the years, there were a lot more traits you could pick as a favourite. You could
cook up quite a storm, or even
heal yourself after a rather nasty brawl, or maybe you'd just settle for
high-end knitting skills! Then, of course, there are other "super" heroes (read: imposters!) who weren't really born with it, like
Batman, and just get by with cool gadgets like a neat car and an
iphone, in addition to already having a really efficient butler. I have a bunch of friends like that ;-).
(I'm kidding... I actually think Batman rocks!)
All said and done, I'm not sure if I'd make it as a superhero. Leaving aside my present levels of fitness, I always have been rather clumsy! But then again... you never know. Tomorrow, could be my 'calling'... ;-)
So, what's your "super-syndrome"?
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