Why does everyone have a tragic childhood now?

[GrandKaiser]

..but you got me on Green Arrow, not sure what his New 52 origin is.

His origin remains untouched except Lemire went into more detail about the time he spent on the island

But, like I said earlier, he did have a tragic childhood. Parents were slaughtered by lions and he was raised by an abusive uncle.

Children secretly want to kill their parents. The kid who loses both parents and gets super-powers in the bargain is the ultimate wish-fulfillment for a child. Those little ankle-biters can't be trusted. No wonder Billy Batson was the most popular kid in America.

I really hope you're joking...

[Buried Alien]

His origin remains untouched except Lemire went into more detail about the time he spent on the island

But, like I said earlier, he did have a tragic childhood. Parents were slaughtered by lions and he was raised by an abusive uncle.



I really hope you're joking...

Well, there *are* Freud's Oedipus/Elektra Complexes.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[BohemiaDrinker]

Only Post-COIE, however. Pre-COIE Rudolph West was Ward Cleaver-style, model father of the 1950s/early 1960s Americana style. [/color]

Fair enough. I was going by the period most relevant to the character. COIE was 30 years ago, though, so this would also not qualify as a "new" adition.

[GrandKaiser]

Well, there *are* Freud's Oedipus/Elektra Complexes.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

Nothing about Freud's theories say that children want their parents to die so they can become superheroes. That's just idiotic. Yes, younger children may have a stronger connection to a certain parent rather than both, but it doesn't mean they want them to die. I'm actually kind of disgusted by this

[Jim Kelly]

I was joking, but pop psychology says that children fantasize about being free from their parents--just as children fantasize about getting super-powers. So Billy Batson got the two-for-one combo.

Of course, it's much more complicated than this. Children also want to feel secure--so they are conflicted in their psychology, imagining something that is both desirable and terrible at the same time. But that's why fiction is so attractive--because as children and adults we can imagine those conditions that we dare not consider in real life and experience them vicariously with no danger to the status quo in our existence.

[Güicho]

Why does everyone have a tragic childhood now?

Because ..............Angst!
Modern writers can't imagine or write a hero without some tortured past or driving event. Or rather it's an easier trope to fall back on.
But the truth is it works, it adds drama.
A person who does something just for the right sake/reason alone, is not interesting or "believable"* to them or the readers.
It reads as fake because they can't imagine anyone doing that.

*Yes "believable" as in motive regardless of the context of the fantastic.

[RobinFan4880]

Because ..............Angst!
Modern writers can't imagine or write a hero without some tortured past. Or rather it's an easier trope to fall back on.
But the truth is it works, it adds drama.
An actual honest brave person who does something for the right reason alone, is not interesting to them or the readers.

You can't mine being an All-American boy scout for interesting stories in the same way you can mine a child whose parents were gunned down in front of him.

[Jim Kelly]

In reality, people who have traumatic childhoods often end up with problems when they grow up. They need help to sort out the bad things that happened to them so they can get on with life.

Whereas, people who have good childhoods already have a leg up in life. With so much support they can get on with their lives and achieve their dreams.

It's nice to see stories of people who have overcome their difficulties--but I think the standard model from the comic books is one of those "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" allusions that is apt to do more harm than good to a child who is trying to get over a serious trauma. In an advanced society, none of us should have to feel that we must get through life on our own without support and strength from our community.

[Robotman]

The mood of the "modern" superhero comic can also be seen as a big reason why Superman's popularity has plummeted over the past 30 years. The idea of a hero helping because he thinks it's the right thing to do and not because he's some agent of vengence has become antiquated. But it's the reason why Superman will always be my favorite superhero. He's derogatorily called "the big blue boyscout" because he helps simply for the sake of helping and being a good person.

[Black Angel]

It's not everyone, but it makes the hero stronger and flawed imo.

[vitamin]

Why does everyone have a tragic childhood now?

Obviously because only children with scarring emotional traumas can grow up to become true emotionally stable heroes.

[Jim Kelly]

The mood of the "modern" superhero comic can also be seen as a big reason why Superman's popularity has plummeted over the past 30 years. The idea of a hero helping because he thinks it's the right thing to do and not because he's some agent of vengence has become antiquated. But it's the reason why Superman will always be my favorite superhero. He's derogatorily called "the big blue boyscout" because he helps simply for the sake of helping and being a good person.

I think that people think the idea is antiquated--and not all people, just some people who shape opinion on these things--but I don't think the idea itself is antiquated. I know many people who do the right thing simply because it's the right thing to do. The idea hasn't fallen out of favour in society at large (I don't think civilization could survive without it)--it has just fallen out of favour with writers in the entertainment industry.

[Dr. Cheesesteak]

That's not really tragic.

And her whole life a lie. That's a bit of an exaggeration. The only lie was how she was born.

Arthur was like 17 when his Father died that's not really childhood, and not knowing his mother isn't tragic maybe sad but not tragic. Diana even though her childhood was a lie she still grew up as a normal Amazonian.

Still, Aquaman's youth is anything but normal. He had the experience of his only known parent dying before he reached adulthood. Just another in a long line of "I have no parents" DC superheros. It's a tiring, unoriginal trope that has been discussed here before. I know plenty of Supes fans were angry when he was New-52'd w/ dead (adoptive) parents. I personally didn't mind too much, but...yeah, I still preferred him to be driven by goodness only instead of goodness and tragedy.

As for WW, she was made fun of during her upbringing b/c of her (false) birth story. She felt like an outcast due to her not being a true Amazonian (at least in Azz's origin story). She, too, did not have some great childhood. And to compound it, all that teasing and feeling of isolation was based on a lie. Yes, I know the lie itself doesn't drive her, since she learned it later as an adult, but the point I made in another post was that ppl can have good, wholesome, somewhat "perfect" upbringings and still be compelled to do sincere good.

Again, to think goodness is only compelled by tragedy, sadness, mistreatment, whathaveyou, almost defeats the purpose of intrinsic goodness.

[upgrayedd]

Well, there *are* Freud's Oedipus/Elektra Complexes.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

Hey! save that Elektra talk for the Marvel forums! (kidding)

[The World]

Superman's parents die when his world is destroyed.
Batman's parents are murdered before his eyes.
Flash's mother is killed.
Green Lantern sees his father die in a crash.

This was how I remember things back in 03' '04 besides Barry Allen, I mean Superman's adoptive parents were alive but before that they were dead. Before I read american/european I read some Japanese and the dead parents trope was a pretty common trope there. Campbell had a name for that stage in storytelling something like 'leaving the normal world behind' no different the Shmi Skywalker dying or Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. dying in Star Wars. It's just a sign of the hero leaving behind the first stage of their life.