Superhero films appeal to our desire to escape inner inadequacy through external power. The fantasy of an ordinary, fearful person becoming extraordinary reinforces the ego’s belief that more strength, money, possessions, or status will bring happiness. Consumerism follows the same pattern, endlessly adding objects to fill an inner void. Real freedom does not come from becoming more powerful or acquiring more, but from honestly seeing and understanding the ego that feels incomplete.
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Questioner: Hello Acharya Ji, my name is Anshu, and I'm in my mid-30s and yet I'm a diehard fan of Spider-Man. Ever since I was a child, I have been a crazy, absolute fanatic for Spider-Man. Every time a new film comes, particularly if it's a Spider-Man film, I just cannot control myself, and I rush to the nearby theaters and I watch the film. I include other people to it. If there's a PlayStation game out, I'd be, you know, really eagerly waiting to grab my hands on the fresh copy.
So I am really curious what could be the reason why I'm, as well as many other people, are so fascinated and they gravitate towards superhero films like Spider-Man.
Acharya Prashant: We all want to do a lot of things: climb up the walls, the multi-stories, like the spider, carry out impossible stunts. Batman, Iron Man, Superman, Shaktimaan.
Questioner: There's also a financial angle to this. I was doing some research on what are the most grossing films in the world, and to my surprise, I found that out of the top 10 films, the top seven most-grossing films are some superhero films, like be it the Marvel Cinematic Universe, MCU films, or Star Wars films, and they're not just the most-grossing films, they're also the most quickly sold-out films also. So there's something common that's kind of binding people together and pulling them towards such films.
