Do We Care: Superheroes and body image

The first trailer for the new reboot of Spider-Man was released earlier this week and the internet has been loosing it's mind ever since. Many people are excited to see "Spider-Man: Homecoming," but there are many who are tired of the reboots, this being the third version of the web-slinging hero.

This new installment stars 20-year-old actor, Tom Holland as Spider-Man. He differs from the former Spider-Man actors because he is closer to Peter Parker's age. Toby McGuire was 27 years old when he got the role of the high school superhero and Andrew Garfield was 29 years old. Some think that the age similarity may make him the best Spider-Man yet. Also, Holland has already impressed critics  and fans with is small appearance in "Captain America: Civil War," because of his ability to compete alongside the other Marvel heroes.



With that, why do people care so much about superheroes? David Wright, a writer for ABC News, said that people look to superheroes to "tackle problems that are too tough for mere mortals to handle." Alex Wilgus said superheroes are "colorful incarnations of the human soul," tackling the issues of humanity.

These heroes help us escape from our reality and jump into a false reality where people have super powers and the ability to save humankind from evil. Along with that, the heroes all have the perfect bodies, capable of picking up cars punching through walls.

These bodies depicting superheroes, people that young boys want to be, has had a negative effect on males. A McCreary Centre Society study found that 31 percent of healthy weight boys in Grades 7 to 12 were trying to gain weight. Not just young boys are looking to gain weight, older males have looked to protein powders and sports supplements to get the muscles like a superhero. A study in August 2015 found that only four percent of men are happy with their physique and 85 percent had been on a diet to attempt to achieve their ideal body.

Society has become so obsessed with having the perfect bodies, which had led to the rise of plastic surgery and body building and the decrease of health self-esteem.

So, do we care about superheroes and their bodies? It is clear that we, as a society, do because we are allowing their unrealistic bodies to be a comparison to our own.