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user-inactivated  ·  2794 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: August 3, 2016

    Alan Moore made the argument that superheroes are American exceptionalism made human and that they speak to a latent desire for fascism or some shit.

Except there's a pretty direct line from Western vigilantes and detective novels to pulp heroes to superheros, and a lot of that predates fascism. They have more in common with gun nuts daydreaming of the day they get to stand their ground than fascists. Imagine something insightful about rugged individualism and how late much of the country got real police forces here; I'm too tired to formulate it.