Opinion: Tony Stark made a moral choice, to be a hero.

Alright, let's talk comic books. Remember when Tony Stark realized the weapons of his company were bombing innocent people and ironically one lands near him? Remember what he did? We all praised him for that. Wow, he stood against war, against genocide, war profiteering, all of it.

He took his money and did something good with it. He realizes he can't be the sleazy playboy billionaire and ride off the success of his parents arms company. He builds the first suit. He became Iron Man. He stood against the very evils his company was built on. Sometimes he fights alongside America's interests, other times he doesn't want to be their puppet and admits he fights for what HE KNOWS is right.

Therefore, in sort of a fictional way, he's incorruptible.

He makes mistakes sure, he battles his ego, but he learns from every experience and grows from it.

To pretend that our media: comic books, movies, video games, TV shows, books, etc. isn’t full of political themes is to deny the very emotional storytelling that we praise from media. Everything has a meaning and a message.

The X-Men was about mutants seeking the same civil rights African Americans wanted and deserved. Marvel wrote about it and it had very deep meaning in our politics and our culture. We ate up the storylines about mutants just wanting to be accepted like normal people. We understood the trauma of the ones who stood with Magneto and believed they could never be accepted so they must rebel. Their powers are cool, their struggles are real, they feel just the way we do. We love to read stories about people we relate to, people we can idolize and mirror in our daily lives.

It's everywhere and guess what? You can still enjoy that media! Every children's story has a moral and there's a reason for that! It is connected to the human spirit to share what makes us better and what makes us grow stronger as we share our struggle. It is in our hearts to inform people we can do better. Politics is everywhere and to be apolitical and ignore it is a luxury few have.

To be apolitical and wish to separate it from our media is to rob our media of the very real, deep, raw expression that makes us praise the best of what we are capable of creating. We wouldn’t have these amazing stories without the real life struggles in the world. We wouldn’t be able to triumph over these real life struggles without fables, stories, poems, songs, art, music, movies, videogames, comics, heroes, and everything else.

Sure we often play videogames to disconnect with the outside world, to leave our real lives behind for a moment. To feel what it is like to be a hero in the virtual world, but there are times where in the real world we have chances to be heroes. We have chances to make a real difference in others lives. Sometimes all it takes is caring for someone else. Sharing peace and warm thoughts with people you have never met. Treating others the way you would want to be treated. Leaving this world and all the occupants in it better off than how you found it. There are little steps we can take in real life to be a hero. Even in the smallest definition of a hero.

Peace and love. Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Should I analyze more comic book characters in a modern context?