We Could be Heroes…and Wear Spandex

(First off, does anybody know why the plural of hero is heroes and not heros?) I went to a movie last night with a friend and saw a trailer for a movie coming out called  Kick-Ass:

It reminded me of hearing about real people who were dressing up as super heroes. I found reallifesuperheroes.org, and instead of finding a lot of stealth vigilante crimefighting, found tips for activism and the general improvement of local communities. The super hero guises seem to be for purposes of instilling some fun into local action and bringing a larger-than-life feel to the role of real-life heroes. There are certainly some superhero hotties among the ranks and like you’d expect, perhaps a few folks that should have shunned the spandex. Another glossy portal for the hero-inclined is superheroes anonymous – “a collective of real life superheroes dedicated to inspiring the superhero in all people through outreach, education, and creative community service.” Apparently, they’ve inspired a documentary so we definitely all have that to look forward to!

If you’d like to keep track of our adventurers in occasionally ill-fitting costumes, scope out the World Superhero Registry.

So, I’m hooked on these do-gooders, these regular folks who’ve decided to become active in shaping the world they’re part of, but that’s not say there aren’t people out there with a touch of the mystical, who might be a little more than ordinary. I like this site, that has profiles of people with fantastic abilities on par with what we envision for our superfolk (although, a couple of these are more riddley’s believe it or not fodder, with more shock value than real intrigue) . I was most taken with Ben, a teenager who lost his eyes to cancer and is savvy at athletics and other activities due to his ability to use “echolocation”.  He makes a clicking sound and  listens for the quality of the sound when it returns, almost like a real-life variation on Daredevil. Below is part 1/5 of an intriguing documentary featuring Ben (the additional parts can be found directly on youtube):