It’s Friday, May 3, at 6:45 p.m., and rotating in my hot little hand is my general admission ticket for the motion picture “Spider-Man” for 8 p.m. that night. At about 7, I will head from my friend’s house by way of their van to Pacific Theatres to score some good seats for the show.
Sporting my cherished Spider-Man T-shirt, I try to kill time by listening to the Ramones’ cover of the main theme from the television show. My mind drifts to dreams of myself as Spider-Man swinging through downtown with my arms akimbo. I wake from this pleasant thought to see a distraught look upon my friend’s face as she comes into the room.
It turns out my friend’s mother is going to use the van, therefore leaving us rideless until 7:30. That’s too long, I think to myself. So with my viewing pleasure of my beloved web crawler in jeopardy, I light out the door of my friend’s house off Brundage and head for a GET bus stop, surely it will take me to Valley Plaza on time. After a lifetime of three minutes at the stop, I catch the No. 5 heading to the mall.
I start to think about why I have never taken this route to Valley Plaza before. At the corner of Baldwin and Belle Terrace, the bus makes a left, turning completely away from my direction. Away from Valley Plaza. Away from Pacific Theatres. Away from “Spider-Man.” So faced with a time-consuming, anguished-filled ride, I make my decision quickly and without regret.
I exit the bus and run to Pacific about a mile away. Taking my place in the huge line with sweat gushing from my face, I slowly let my breath come back to me.
What makes the Marvel comic book hero Spider-Man so dear that it sent a 19-year-old man running through traffic to see his movie?
Simple. Spider-Man is the epitome what I believe a superhero should be with and without the mask.
Yes, he is not as strong as Superman. Yes, he is not as rich as Batman. Yes, he doesn’t have big … ummm, good looks like Wonder Woman, but he makes up for that with his personality and inner strength.
Taking nothing away from being able to climb walls or swing from high buildings, Spider-Man’s greatest asset is not his abilities but what he does with them on a personal level. It was not like he chose the spider to bite him but through adversity he developed his powers and became responsible in using them.
I wonder how many people with super powers would make that same decision.
Inner strength is also a great key to Spider-Man’s character. Even when he has been beaten to the brink of defeat, he somehow digs deep enough to will himself to help the people he loves. You can’t keep from cheering on a guy like that, real or not.
His alter ego Peter Parker is not that popular in his own world, and people can relate to that. Spider-Man does right, and fights the good fight. No wonder I would run a mile to see him in action.