Superheroes as Archetypes

I recently had fun seeing the new Superman movie with my grandson. Who wouldn’t fall in love with Superman’s dog, Krypto, and the adorable way he knocks over his master and smothers him with kisses? However, (spoiler alert) when Superman’s arch enemy, Lex Luthor, uses DNA to create a clone designed to fight Superman to the death, I had big feelings. I desperately wanted Superman to pulverize his look-alike, and watching them fight made me feel empowered. If I had on a Superman shirt, when we left the theater I might have wanted to randomly push or hit someone. 

Realizing seeing is often believing

Luckily, I have the cognitive ability to understand that what I’m seeing on the screen isn’t real and the self-regulation not to physically hurt someone when adrenaline is pumping through me. However, study after study documents how watching superhero fighting spurs aggression in children’s play, especially in the three- to eight-year-old set, and it’s easy to see that in action.

Last week some older preschool boys, pretending to be superheroes, started yelling “Die, die, die” at their friends before teachers quickly redirected them into more positive activity. This type of play isn’t limited to the preschool age group and even happens occasionally in younger children on the big playground. That’s why we don’t allow superhero shirts or outfits at school (except in the Halloween parade).

Valuing superhero qualities

However, we don’t want to trash superheroes, because they represent powerful archetypes in our culture, and children often feel comforted by thinking about them. Instead, we can help children focus on aspects of these characters that aren’t related to super strength, like their protectiveness of the vulnerable and their vigilance in standing against wrongdoing. Children can identify with being a protective ally to a friend or reminding someone about the rules. Having a plastic model of a superhero, superhero pajamas, a picture of a beloved superhero figure can make the world feel safer. We just can’t have those objects at school.

Exploring moral development

We also don’t want to shut down play in a way that makes children feel bad about their desire to act out powerful roles. Playing “good guys” and “bad guys” is an important way children explore ideas about right. It can be upsetting when parents hear their child acting out the part the villain in dramatic play, but playing different roles is a way of trying on power from different perspectives.

Children benefit from trying out the frightening aspects of the bad guy as well as the rewarding characteristics of the hero. Switching roles helps them make sense of the world. So instead of shutting down power play, child development theorists urge teachers and parents to understand more about the dynamics involved and set rules about not hurting.

Superheroes also represent the power to persevere even in the face of tough obstacles. In a 2016 study, researchers found pretending to be superhero enabled children to persevere during boring or difficult tasks. This phenomenon has been labeled the “Batman effect.”

Having fun with superheroes

Two funny picture books by Shelley Becker, Even Superheroes Have Bad Days (Superheroes Are Just Like Us) and Even Superheroes Make Mistakes, provide entrées for parents and children to talk about superheroes in ways that make them seem more human and open to guidelines for good behavior.