We’ve all seen the typical superhero in every superhero film. They’re all similar in a way and we don’t realize it. They all go through similar stages of becoming a hero. David Dunn, from the film “Unbreakable”? is the so called “superhero”? of the film. This main superhero was rather different than other heroes. There were differences and similarities, which almost made the film quite unique. It didn’t feel like your typical action filled superhero movie. Instead, it was a more realistic approach to the modern “hero ? of this century.
In the history of all superheroes, most of them become a hero out of their own will. But this “will” doesn’t come empty-handed. There’s always some grief, sacrifice, or loss to persuade the powerful being into becoming stronger. Some do it to seek out of revenge; others may do it to save the world from tragedies. These superheroes are always lonely. Most of them live alone, don’t have parents, and hide themselves from the rest of the world. This was only the standard of most heroes. When we think of a sacrifice, we think of an individual losing his/her parents, or some sort of damage/curse to the environment.
This is what drives the individual to undergo changes to become this hero in the state of mind. Campbell describes this as a part of an individual’s life that separates them from everyone else. For example, if a child saw his parents die, he would lose part of his childhood and move on to adulthood. That child would separate his perspective towards life compared to every other child normally would. He could lose their humanity and become this powerful being, not afraid of his enemies or the risk for his revenge. People like Batman who lose their parents to an enemy, seeks out revenge by using money and technology.
Something like this could easily motivate a person to get their hands dirty and save lives. In Joseph Campbell’s Interview with Bill Moyers, the discussion of heroes and their heroic journeys are told. The “hero”? undergoes certain aspects to become this hero character. Some of these aspects include corruption, purification, and polarity. A hero has to have some sort of drive and dedication, or purpose for fulfilling such a difficult role. It’s not easy at all. There needs to be more than dedication. Anyone can have a purpose, but do they have what it takes?
Are they afraid? Can they really be of any use to humanity? In Unbreakable, David Dunn didn’t lose any parents, didn’t seek out revenge, or lose something precious to him. Instead, it was his son who pushed him to attempt to abuse his supernatural abilities. Soon afterward, he would test those abilities by saving people and hurting bad guys. This was more of experimentation rather than a motivation to help people. It’s different from the typical superhero, but was still a method to save lives. It’s not easy to persuade somebody to risk their lives to save lives.
But because David didn’t have much to lose, it was a good decision. What makes them a superhero might not be his/her power, but their own will to help others. Superhuman abilities are only part of the equation. Something that intrigued me about Unbreakable was the fact that David Dunn didn’t have any special abilities to fight with. His only ability would be that he’s nearly immortal (except from water) and can’t get hurt. It gave a more realistic ability rather than some special power that would give it an unrealistic scene.
Nowadays when you look at the news and hear stories of people saving others in certain accidents or tragedies, they get labeled as “heroes?. ” They didn’t use any superhuman powers to save lives. It was simply the will and kindness to risk your life to save others. During the interview, Campbell explains what water is; how it symbolizes a step or path to change. It’s accepting the past and moving forward, like crossing a one way bridge. I think of the water as some sort of purification. The water purifies the hero to become different inside, to change his/her self to get out of danger.
Like his example of the Indian women who crossed the river, she had two choices to make: To move forward and survive, or to stay weak and fall to her death. She has a chance to make up her past mistakes by moving toward. In unbreakable, this seemed all too familiar. David Dunn, who has a weakness against water, falls right into a pool of water. This step of the journey is the hardest part. He nearly dies, and tries to get back up and almost fails. When he gets back up, he’s going through this same process that Campbell describes it as. It’s transaction of going down to the underworld and coming up.
When David and his son go down to the basement to try and lift some weights, they’re going down to the underworld. When he comes back up, he feels more confident to himself. He comes back up as a different man. David has been through many similar and different aspects that most superheroes go through. Although he didn’t have a loss that motivates revenge, his reasoning for saving lives was good enough. He goes through the same process of the underworld/water transaction and comes out a different man. His abilities may not be as unique like other heroes, but as long as he can save lives, he’s still considered a hero.
