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What Spiderman Got Right and Wicked Got Wrong

What Spiderman Got Right and Wicked Got Wrong

Update: 2025-03-12

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We need heroes to be viewed through a lens of true good and evil.

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Register for the upcoming Breakpoint Forum: A New Sexual Revolution at colsoncenter.org/greenville.

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Transcript

00:00:00

What gonna break point a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth for the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street.

00:00:09

Few weeks ago, online rumors erupted that Kathleen Kennedy was stepping back from her longtime role as the head of Disney Star Wars franchise, though the rumors were false they were enough to inside a social media flurry,

00:00:21

analyzing the state of our art and our entertainment and our culture.

00:00:25

Now Kennedy's time at the helm of that galaxy far, far away has been controversial.

00:00:30

The Mandalorian and Andorra were hits, but most of the other offerings and ideas during her tenure did not go over nearly as well.

00:00:37

That was especially true when quote-unquote "woak" storylines were confused with good storytelling.

00:00:43

For example, the creators of the Acolyte Bragg, the series would be the most gay in the Star Wars franchise.

00:00:51

It was pulled after just one season for a low viewership.

00:00:54

And so, at least according to pastor and Lutheran satirist Hans Fein, it wasn't just the wokeness that was the problem.

00:01:00

In a recent article, he wrote, and I quote, "the failure of modern Star Wars was not just a Kathleen Kennedy problem, it was a cultural problem.

00:01:09

We do not want our heroes to be more righteous than we are."

00:01:13

Our superheroes certainly have been downgraded over the years and more than just from being superhuman to enhanced human.

00:01:20

Remember in the Toby McGuire movies, Spider-Man was an earnest hero who could identify the enemy and understood his role in the fight.

00:01:27

Even in the darker theme Batman movies that struggled with deeper questions of meaning and revenge and morality and justice, Christian Bale was still clear that there were bad guys and they needed killing.

00:01:38

Today's Marvel movies feature quickie heroes who don't take much of anything seriously, but they still do end up on the right side of Thanos.

00:01:46

Marvel's story stand in sharp contrast with others that fully blur the lines of good and evil, hero and villain.

00:01:53

In the movie Maleficent, the bad queen is working through her trauma not being invited to sleeping beauty's christening, and wicked, the witch is not really wicked, she's a victim of discrimination and corruption.

00:02:04

And likewise, the more recent Mufasa explores the sympathetic backstory of Scar and offers good reasons why he became evil.

00:02:12

In this brave new world of villain backstories, the heroes and villains aren't all that different after all.

00:02:18

And the same thing is reflected in real life these days.

00:02:20

Western academics have been reimagining villains and heroes of history for quite a while now.

00:02:26

Washington Jefferson and Lincoln aren't flawed men striving for a better world.

00:02:30

They're exploiters who lived exclusively for power.

00:02:33

Much of this comes from the cultural and political left, but in more recent days, there have been voices on the extreme right who have attempted to make western leaders like Churchill, the bad guys,

00:02:43

while explaining away the historical villains like Stalin, Mao and Hitler.

00:02:48

As a musician named Cole Porter saying almost a century ago, and I quote, "The world's gone mad today and good's bad today and blacks white today and days night today."

00:02:57

History will never be understood.

00:02:59

Much less can we learn from it, unless we have clarity about what's good and what's evil.

00:03:04

Animals and myths have nothing to teach us if they confuse what makes the good guys good and the bad guys bad.

00:03:10

To many of those who tell our stories today, both fictional and historical, see the world through any of the various critical theories.

00:03:18

These are theories that deny eternal virtues, and binding ethical standards, and reject meta narratives as being mere power grabs.

00:03:26

The very best stories recognize that even though the best of us have flaws, rejecting notions of good and evil altogether will leave us unable to recognize the flaws.

00:03:34

Or learn from them.

00:03:36

After all, there's really no possibility of making a better world if we think that there's no such thing as better.

00:03:42

And there's no possibility of improving ourselves if we excuse away every fault.

00:03:47

The Christian vision of life and humanity is better because it reflects reality, and that means we should have better stories, both fictional and historical, to tell the world.

00:03:56

For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with Breakpoint.

00:03:59

Before I go today, a special thanks to Craig and Kathleen of Chico, California.

00:04:03

Thanks for being a monthly partner of the Colson Center.

00:04:06

You helped make this episode possible.

00:04:08

Today's Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr.

00:04:10

Timothy Paget.

00:04:11

If you're a fan of Breakpoint, please leave us a review wherever you download your podcasts.

00:04:15

That really helps others find us.

00:04:16

For more resources to live like the Christian today, visit us at Breakpoint.org.

00:04:25

Hi, this is John Stone Street, and I want to invite you to join us for the next Breakpoint Forum Live in Greenville, South Carolina, Thursday, April 3rd.

00:04:33

Joining me will be Dr.

00:04:35

Andrew Walker and Dr.

00:04:36

Kate McCoy.

00:04:37

We'll be talking about the possibility of Christians leading a new sexual revolution by living as image bearers, male, and female.

00:04:45

We live in a culture deeply confused about what it means to be human, especially what it means to be human, male, and female.

00:04:51

It's time for a new sexual revolution, just like Christians in the first century were known for their counter-cultural behavior when it came to valuing all human life and living faithfully with each other.

00:05:04

It's time for Christians today to spark a new sexual revolution.

00:05:08

It starts with understanding who we are.

00:05:10

Join us for an important discussion.

00:05:11

It'll be on the campus of North Greenville University.

00:05:14

It's a free event, but space is limited.

00:05:16

So secure your spot today at colsoncenter.org/greenville.

00:05:20

It's colsoncenter.org/greenville.

00:05:23

[MUSIC]

00:05:29

What Spiderman Got Right and Wicked Got Wrong

What Spiderman Got Right and Wicked Got Wrong

John Stonestreet and Dr. Timothy Padgett

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