If you have access to HBO, I highly recommend checking out the new documentary “Superheroes,” which started airing this week. (It’s available via HBO On Demand through August.)
Directed by Michael Barnett, the documentary — that’s right, documentary — focuses on several men (and one or two women) who dress up in costumes, hit the mean streets and try to make the world a better place. At first, it seems like Barnett and company are mocking these folks a bit, and it’s hard to blame them for taking aim at such seemingly easy targets. After all, we’re talking about people like “Mr. Xtreme,” who lives in an apartment he calls his “Xtreme Cave;” “Zimmer,” a gay man who makes himself a target on the streets of Brooklyn so his fellow heroes can bash the gay bashers; and “Master Legend,” a long-haired hero based in Orlando who takes breaks from his crimefighting patrols to drink Busch Lite and hit on local college girls.
But as “Superheroes” continues, the stories get darker — and deeper. We learn why these people decided to put on their costumes (the case of Kitty Genovese is a surprisingly common touchstone) and see that they do more than look for criminals to beat up. By the end of the movie, as crazy as they might seem, you can’t help but admire them — especially when you see a New York-based hero face down a drug dealer twice as big as him. After all, they really are going out and doing what they can to make the world a better place. What are you doing?
I’ll tell you what you’re doing. You’re sitting on your couch, watching a documentary about superheroes. Same as me.
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