Spider-man 2

I saw Spider-man 2. I liked it a lot, even a little more than the original.

I have this theory about true superheroes and it's this: the true superhero is a celibate. Why? Because, as Peter Parker's Uncle Ben instilled in his nephew (cliche alert), with great power comes great responsibility. And with great responsibility comes the need for the greatest possible freedom to act to fulfill that responsibility. It's extremely difficult to do justice to a wife and children if you have to be on-call twenty-four hours a day to do the superhero thing. Ordinary heroes such as police officers and firefighters have it hard enough. Or I should say their families have it hard enough? Imagine the super-responsibilities of a superhero.

Which brings me to Spider-man 2, a downright okay flick. (Spoiler alert, for those who haven't seen it and don't want to know how it comes out. ) Therein Peter Parker struggles with his identity as Spider-man, and with his longing to be with the woman he loves, Mary Jane Watson. For a time, he decides to give up being the Webhead, only to find that his deep sense of responsiblity won't let him. He chooses to give up his dream of an ordinary life in order to do what's right--not for himself but for others. He admits to Mary Jane that he loves her, but insists that they can't be together. Among other things, he says that his enemies might try to get to him through those he loves.

Noble, indeed, you say. But in the end MJ decides she loves Peter and won't take no for an answer. By acquiescing, does he compromise his self-sacrificing love, either in his love for the people he has been especially gifted to help as Spider-man or in his love for MJ?

Well, I suppose we'll have to see how things work out. Quite apart from the issue of some threat to MJ because of her relationship with Peter, there's the more practical and mundane problem of how a serious relationship (presumably a marital one) could work with someone who keeps the hours of Spider-man. Of course Spidey's vocation needn't be as all-encompassing as he makes it out to be. He could have a little faith in the police and others to right at least some of the world's wrongs. Just what did the world do before Peter Parker got bit by that abnormal arachnid, anyway?

But even so, it's hard to think that Spider-man can really do what a superhero needs to do and still be married and carry out the obligations of husband and father. The end of Spider-man 2 hints at this, as Spidey responds to a police siren, leaving MJ behind. "Go get 'em, tiger," she says, giving him permission to do what he thinks is right. Spider-man takes off and joyfully pursues the bad guys. Then we see MJ staring out the window, apprehension growing on her face.

Spider-man certainly offered to give up everything, but in the end MJ lets him off the hook. He wound up compromising on the integrity of his calling. But of course we're talking about characters in a movie. Comic book characters in a movie, in fact. Perhaps the biggest element of fantasy in Spider-man 2 is the fantasy that Spidey can give up everything to be a true superhero, only to get it all back in the end with only a hint that he can't really have it both ways. That doesn't spoil the movie for me; it only makes it more farfetched.