Twenty years ago, comic book characters were our fictional heroes. In a strange way we looked up to them and secretly dreamed of having their super powers. After all, who wouldn’t want to fly like Superaman or scale walls like Spiderman? But superheroes were more than just their powers. They were symbols of our own personal strength, courage, and compassion. We not only strived to embody their traits, but also saw them as extentions of our country’s identity that stood for truth justice and the American way.

There is no better example than Marvel’s latest film Iron Man.

The film is about Tony Stark, a billionaire industrialist who is captured by terrorists in Afghanistan. Ordered to build a missile for them, Stark uses his resources instead to build a powered exoskelaton to make his escape. Returning to America, Stark improves his armor and becomes the technologically advanced superhero Iron Man.

But if Iron Man represents everything that is good about our country and us, then Homer Simpson with his bumbling ignorance, stupidity, and slovenly ways represents everything that is bad about us. Sure we might wish to be a billionaire superhero like Iron Man, but it’s only because we are nothing more than the Simpsons.

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