March 5th, 2025
I am (clearly) a massive fan of Daredevil; this photo was taken on one of my best friend’s wedding day. (No, he did not allow me to stand before the congregation like this, a missed opportunity in my opinion.)
The new season just started on Disney+ and it is not only fucking excellent but, more important than that, it’s necessary.
It reflects our cesspool of a nation and does what superheroes do at their best: offer condolences, give support, spark inspiration and hope, and present solutions for our time. The show is comforting me and empowering me at a time when I really need it.
Comic book writer Mark Waid (who has written Daredevil) posted an essay today that is required reading. In it, he says that, in reality, hope and doing the right thing is not enough; that those ideals instilled in us by faith and pop culture are fairy tales, and when confronted by bullies and villains who don’t play by the rules or follow the law, we, by necessity, have to bend or change those rules and laws, too.
I am inclined to agree.
We have to be willing to act; we have to be willing to fight, on whatever fields the powerful stand.
I was talking to my friend at work the other day and we were discussing systems; the gears put in motion that turn our world. I reminded them, just like I remind everyone else: we invented every single system. People did. Broken, flawed, ignorant, selfish little human beings. We made up every system.
Which means there is no system that cannot be changed, broken, or reinvented. If you think differently, you are objectively wrong, and this is your wake up call.
I saw another line earlier this week that really struck me: What you do is what you believe.
What you do. Not what you say you do.
So, if you say you believe in kindness and compassion and treating others with respect and leaving this world a better place than we found it, but you picked up a pen and filled in a box on a ballot for a person who is the opposite of those things, then guess what? That’s who you are. That’s what you did.
Even if you say otherwise.
And that remains true, until you decide to do something else.
Take that from a piece of work who has to learn that lesson every day, and really takes it to heart.
Anyway: Daredevil just reminded me that I am thankful for superheroes. Not because of what they say, but because of what they make us feel we can do.
The Den 