"Superpower"

Underpants on the outside

It was probably in a training workshop about 20 years ago that the facilitator asked everyone what their superpower was. I can’t remember whether it was a made up one that we would like or what we thought our main ability was. At the time, I thought it was charming. Now I seem to read an article every day that says something like: “Brunhilda’s superpower is bringing people together” or “ADHD superpowers include high energy levels and creativity”. And it annoys me mightily.

I mostly brush it off because I understand what the writer is trying to say. And my dislike may not be wholly rational. But for the next few paragraphs I am going to pretend that it is.

Perhaps the first thing to point to is the broader cultural landscape. When I was a kid, superheroes were kinda goofy. There were comics (which I occasionally dabbled in). There were reruns of the camp 60s Batman TV show. There were the slightly more serious Superman movies. Well as serious as you can get when everyone is dressed in fetish gear. But despite the weird costume choices, they were mostly for kids. And that was fine.

Whereas over the last 15 years, the Marvel/Disney empire means that superheroes are everywhere. They have gone from a cultural curio to center stage. I’m kinda sick of them now. I may not be alone. Deadpool and Wolverine came out a couple of months ago. A few years back, I’d have been champing at the bit to see it. I just don’t care anymore. I need a break from charismatic and classically-trained actors slumming it in spandex.

Likewise, we are not superbeings. We do not have superpowers. You get a superpower because you were bitten by radioactive gerbil or you are an alien from the Planet Acton. Or you are stupidly rich and like to buy social media platforms and flirt with far right extremists wear spandex and punch criminals.

The rest of us do not have superpowers. We have a few talents we were born with and many skills that we have worked hard to develop over time. To call them superpowers is to alienate ourselves from our own development.

And mental health and neurodiversity issues are not “a superpower” either. They are both normal and often a pain in the ass. There is nothing super about them.

Drop the underpants on the outside of your language.

Me, Right Now