The Age of the Antihero

If you have known me at all over the past 20 years, you are already well acquainted with the fact that I am a huge dork for the WWE (formerly WWF). I can’t get enough of it. I enjoy the current product, but I am a HUGE fan of 1988-1994 WWF. It was a staple of my childhood, and I love the nostalgia associated with it.

The preceding paragraph actually had a point. An important component about professional wrestling (or SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT~!) is its constant good vs. evil, hero vs. villain, “face” vs. “heel” struggle. In late 1980s WWF, there were clear divides between hero and villain, and clear expectations for both. 1980s villains were usually foreign and/or accompanied by the ring by a manager. They constantly bragged about their skills or physique and won matches by nefarious tactics, and the fans hated them for it. The heroes, however, were a different breed, represented by the Hulk Hogan persona. He was blond, muscular, and patriotic. He encouraged kids to say their prayers and eat their vitamins. He rarely did any wrong (in the storylines). In the end, good almost always won over evil, with Hulk Hogan usually at the forefront.

As the world began to change, so did professional wrestling. As the world shifted to shades of gray, so too did professional wrestling. Gone were the clean-cut goody-two-shoes heroes. In their place rose the antiheroes, the Steve Austins and the Undertakers of the world. They did not wear a white hat, and their actions often were not the purest in nature. That did not stop them from accomplishing good and defeating the greater evils, and it certainly did not stop the fans from cheering them.

Let’s shift gears for a moment. My favorite comic book character is The Punisher. He is virtually the posterboy for antiheroes. Driven by pain and anger, he resorts to extremes to accomplish his goals. Sometimes those goals are solely vengeance-driven. Other times, he channels his skills into wiping out a specific brand of evil. His methods are often not pretty, but ultimately he accomplishes some good things.

I wrote all that to say that the world is constantly changing. As much as we would like it to be, it is not always a black and white world. As I said in (the oddly popular) “Living Life by the Rules”, “The concepts of good and evil are sometimes easier to grasp when viewed as ends and not means. It allows for more wiggle room.” The days of Hulk Hogan are over, and that is not a bad thing. We don’t need to be perfect to accomplish good. We do not even have to meet outdated expectations to accomplish good. We do not have to feel compelled to fit an antiquated mold in our daily life or even in our desired professions. Teachers do not need to wear drab clothes and lack a sense of humor. We can even use sarcasm!

It is nearly 2012. The last thing we need to worry about is shaping our actions and attitudes to fit the expectations or demands of others. We need to do good things, and we need to do them while being ourselves. If that means being less like Clark Kent and more like Frank Castle (and yes, nerds, I know I’m mixing Marvel and DC), so be it! The era of the antihero is upon us, and I couldn’t be happier.