Superman: My wife isn’t very happy with you.
Innocent Dilemma: And why’s that?
S: I don’t know if you remember it, but a while back, you chided me about my lack of charity work.
ID: So that’s why you cancelled our usual session?
S: No… though I suppose the two are related. I’ve been working a lot on promoting Wonder Woman Day. It was founded in part by Diana and some charitable minded folks to promote awareness of women’s issues and raise money for domestic violence centers and hotlines. My wife says I’ve been overworking myself. I cancelled our usual taping because I… I couldn’t get out of bed. I think- I’ve told Lois- it’s just fatigue flitting between Portland, Oregon and Flemington, New Jersey- which is at least close to home here in Metropolis.
ID: Okay, so you’ve told your wife it’s fatigue, but is it- do you honestly believe that’s what it is?
S: I don’t know. It’s all… experimental, really. Kryptonians on my planet were actually analogous to humans on this one- so there’s nothing on record like this. Maybe I had a bad day. Maybe I was just, depressive isn’t really the right word but there’s a, a weight to mortality- and I mean imminent, inescapable mortality. There’s an animal thing squirming inside you that does not want to go yet. And it can be exhausting. So, I think fatigue is probably right, though I think my wife had the cause, and more specifically the culprit, wrong.
But I’d sort of like to hijack the conversation. You know, I’ve only got so many words left, and I’d, I’d like them not to all be expended on navel-gazing; I’d like them to matter as much as they can.
So Wonder Woman Day. It hasn’t, uh, taken on the following yet that I might have liked, or that I think befits a person of Diana’s stature, frankly, but it does a lot of good. One of the main fundraisers is an art auction. The pieces are being shown at the Lara Sydney Framing Gallery, 1230 NW Hoyt St., Portland, Oregon until the 24th, and they’re being auctioned online at wonderwomanmuseum.com. If you want to help a good cause and get some original artwork, go there.
ID: Hmm… even though it’s for a good cause, I can’t help but feel like a shill.
S: You started this.
ID: Fair enough. But physically there isn’t a Wonder Woman museum, right?
S: Not yet.
ID: But that reminds me of something I’d wanted to talk about: the Super Museum. In Metropolis, Illinois. Located in Superman Square.
S: Yes.
ID: And I assume you’ve met the curator.
S: Yep.
ID: And how did he strike you?
S: As an ardent and particularly devoted fan.
ID: To be clear, you didn’t mean peculiarly devoted fan?
S: He’s a fan. Perhaps sometimes bordering on fanatical, but that’s where the word comes from. Honestly, to me he’s never been anything but kind, humble and genuine.
ID: So you’re saying you’ve had worse fans, then. Care to talk bad about them behind their backs?
S: I swear sometimes you’re a five year old scientifically aged by Lex Luthor to make me hate humanity.
ID: That might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said about me. Ooh, they’ve got a George Reeves dummy dressed as you- but it looks like Richard Nixon out trick-or-treating.
S: Just had to get in the holiday reference?
ID: Hey, if you can shill for a good cause, I can shill for hits- which consequently gets your good cause more word-of-mouth.
S: Fair enough.
ID: So, for the record, do you think you’re going to be able to keep up with our regular taping schedules?
S: I don’t know. I- I hope so. I know I’m going to try.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Tuesday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Showing posts with label benefit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label benefit. Show all posts
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Heroes for Hire?
Innocent Donut: I want to continue by picking up a thread I think we left hanging last week. Why do you think costumed vigilantes tend towards insularity, looking within the community for lawyers and prison guards, people with experience rather than looking outside?
Superman: I think experience may be the operative word, but some of it has to do with trust issues- which, as you can imagine, are more prickly among people who use a separate identity- and some of it just has to do with general skepticism. We’ve seen “normal” police and “normal” corrections officers try to handle superhumans, and, frankly, they’re woefully ill-equipped, sometimes fatally so.
ID: Okay; well what's stopping you from using your expertise to train the regular prison staff?
S: Most of us who do this, and I think it’s become clear I’m reluctant to use the word “hero” because it’s a term I’ve never been comfortable self-applying, but we don’t do this for a living. With a few exceptions, most of us don’t receive a paycheck, or a government stipend- anything. This is a calling, to be sure, but when people are already donating their time on things of life and death importance, it’s hard to further impose upon their lives for what amounts to, at the end of the day, administrative work- for nothing.
Constructing the Super Max cost Bruce nearly a billion dollars, that’s with a b. I love that Bruce has willingly put up vast amounts of cash, not just for Super Max but for everything, and we even talked about it, when we started the League back up, about paying a salary. In the end we decided against it. The problem is, that creates a change in the mentality of what we do- it stops being about helping people, and being an example, and starts being about money. It would cheapen what we do, cheapen the very real sacrifices people have made and will make, and tarnish what the League needs to represent if we’re going to remain a beacon to the world.
I remember we got so far as to bring it up for a vote. I think, from the discussion we were having, that we were pretty divided, but it was Plastic Man who stood up and gave the speech that I think cemented the issue for us. It was odd, because he often affects a materialistic, even greedy demeanor, but he said he was voting against it, that he wouldn’t want to see the greatest people he’d ever known reduced to mercenaries, he wouldn’t want to live in a world where our slogan became the same as the legal profession: “the best justice money can buy.”
What’s that they always say about the wisdom of a fool? Sometimes the least among us, and he often strives to live up to that title, but sometimes the least among us really understand us the best. But I may be too close to it; you’ve been pretty good about affecting the layman- what do you think?
ID: I don’t know. I think I’ve been on both sides of that fence, as a salaried writer and a freelancer- and the money does change, fundamentally, the paradigm. But at the same time, I think a lack of money also changes it, too. I guess what I’d say is if professional politicians can take home a paycheck, I don’t see why the Justice League shouldn’t.
S: But politicians, for a variety of reasons, end up beholden to special interests; even when a politician is able to separate his campaign from his work and legislates without bias, that perception of impropriety still weighs on them. It’s imperative that when members of the League intervene that there never be a question as to what interests they’re serving. We’re here to help. I worry bringing money into the equation would dilute that.
ID: But you’ve already admitted that Bruce Wayne donates billions of dollars to the League for operations. Doesn’t that represent a potential conflict?
S: It could. I think, if Bruce were any other billionaire, it might. But you have to remember that up until a few months ago, Bruce was donating that money anonymously- and there has never been a moment where I felt Bruce’s mind was on business rather than on saving lives.
ID: Okay, I'm curious, given everything you've said, how you feel about heroes who do offer their services for pay. And I'll preface your answer by saying this is nothing new; off-duty policemen work as bodyguards, special forces often leave the military to work for security companies.
S: I'm not going to badmouth anyone who has ever done this work. Frankly, anyone who donates any time whatsoever should be commended- and we all have expenses, a mortgage, car loans, some of us have kids with tuition. Personally, selling my abilities, it just wouldn't feel right- but by and large I'd trust the people I've worked with to make the right decisions about how they conduct themselves. We all have to live- I just hope they're making choices they can live with.
ID: Um, I have heard that the League does, and always has, offered an exceptional benefits package- medical, dental, even a scholarship program.
S: That’s true, as well as an, and I always cringe bringing it up- it seems like bad luck, but a life insurance policy. And for those who aren’t in the League, there’s a pretty cost-effective buy-in program, like what SAG and the Writer’s Guild have.
ID: Speaking of that, I seem to remember a rumbling a few years back of a superhero strike.
S: There were some people agitating for that, actually. Most of us in the community have day jobs. We work a nine to five, although I think Oracle actually did a kind of a census, a few years back, and there were far more blue-collar workers with strange schedules than there were people working strictly nine to five. But we quashed that. Basically, it came down to a few of the, I’ve heard them called “street-level” heroes, wanting a strike. We said, “No,” that it was going to hurt innocent people, and there was really no guarantee state and local authorities wanted us enough to pay us anyway. I really would strongly encourage the government, state, local, whomever, to consider it- some of these people are making the choices between eating dinner and fighting crime- and they already give so much it’s not right to ask them to make that choice.
ID: How did turning down the pay resolution affect the League members who'd been pushing for a strike?
S: It was actually fascinating to see how it divided people. I think the strike, fundamentally, was an attempt to find a socially acceptable place for them- not quite within the classic police force, but in a complementary system to it. And really, if I thought there was a stronger likelihood of pushing it through, I'd have at least been willing to advocate for it politically, because it's an idea I can get behind. But the pay measure was different. Deep as Bruce's pockets are, none of us want him to have to foot the bill; there are some of us, like Ollie, who are reluctant to give him any more influence than he already has, which I personally think is a little paranoid. There are some, like myself, who simply think he does enough already. We may operate in an imperfect system, but it wouldn't be right to ask Bruce to buy us a better one- and it'd be harder to live up to the name on the door if we did.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Superman: I think experience may be the operative word, but some of it has to do with trust issues- which, as you can imagine, are more prickly among people who use a separate identity- and some of it just has to do with general skepticism. We’ve seen “normal” police and “normal” corrections officers try to handle superhumans, and, frankly, they’re woefully ill-equipped, sometimes fatally so.
ID: Okay; well what's stopping you from using your expertise to train the regular prison staff?
S: Most of us who do this, and I think it’s become clear I’m reluctant to use the word “hero” because it’s a term I’ve never been comfortable self-applying, but we don’t do this for a living. With a few exceptions, most of us don’t receive a paycheck, or a government stipend- anything. This is a calling, to be sure, but when people are already donating their time on things of life and death importance, it’s hard to further impose upon their lives for what amounts to, at the end of the day, administrative work- for nothing.
Constructing the Super Max cost Bruce nearly a billion dollars, that’s with a b. I love that Bruce has willingly put up vast amounts of cash, not just for Super Max but for everything, and we even talked about it, when we started the League back up, about paying a salary. In the end we decided against it. The problem is, that creates a change in the mentality of what we do- it stops being about helping people, and being an example, and starts being about money. It would cheapen what we do, cheapen the very real sacrifices people have made and will make, and tarnish what the League needs to represent if we’re going to remain a beacon to the world.
I remember we got so far as to bring it up for a vote. I think, from the discussion we were having, that we were pretty divided, but it was Plastic Man who stood up and gave the speech that I think cemented the issue for us. It was odd, because he often affects a materialistic, even greedy demeanor, but he said he was voting against it, that he wouldn’t want to see the greatest people he’d ever known reduced to mercenaries, he wouldn’t want to live in a world where our slogan became the same as the legal profession: “the best justice money can buy.”
What’s that they always say about the wisdom of a fool? Sometimes the least among us, and he often strives to live up to that title, but sometimes the least among us really understand us the best. But I may be too close to it; you’ve been pretty good about affecting the layman- what do you think?
ID: I don’t know. I think I’ve been on both sides of that fence, as a salaried writer and a freelancer- and the money does change, fundamentally, the paradigm. But at the same time, I think a lack of money also changes it, too. I guess what I’d say is if professional politicians can take home a paycheck, I don’t see why the Justice League shouldn’t.
S: But politicians, for a variety of reasons, end up beholden to special interests; even when a politician is able to separate his campaign from his work and legislates without bias, that perception of impropriety still weighs on them. It’s imperative that when members of the League intervene that there never be a question as to what interests they’re serving. We’re here to help. I worry bringing money into the equation would dilute that.
ID: But you’ve already admitted that Bruce Wayne donates billions of dollars to the League for operations. Doesn’t that represent a potential conflict?
S: It could. I think, if Bruce were any other billionaire, it might. But you have to remember that up until a few months ago, Bruce was donating that money anonymously- and there has never been a moment where I felt Bruce’s mind was on business rather than on saving lives.
ID: Okay, I'm curious, given everything you've said, how you feel about heroes who do offer their services for pay. And I'll preface your answer by saying this is nothing new; off-duty policemen work as bodyguards, special forces often leave the military to work for security companies.
S: I'm not going to badmouth anyone who has ever done this work. Frankly, anyone who donates any time whatsoever should be commended- and we all have expenses, a mortgage, car loans, some of us have kids with tuition. Personally, selling my abilities, it just wouldn't feel right- but by and large I'd trust the people I've worked with to make the right decisions about how they conduct themselves. We all have to live- I just hope they're making choices they can live with.
ID: Um, I have heard that the League does, and always has, offered an exceptional benefits package- medical, dental, even a scholarship program.
S: That’s true, as well as an, and I always cringe bringing it up- it seems like bad luck, but a life insurance policy. And for those who aren’t in the League, there’s a pretty cost-effective buy-in program, like what SAG and the Writer’s Guild have.
ID: Speaking of that, I seem to remember a rumbling a few years back of a superhero strike.
S: There were some people agitating for that, actually. Most of us in the community have day jobs. We work a nine to five, although I think Oracle actually did a kind of a census, a few years back, and there were far more blue-collar workers with strange schedules than there were people working strictly nine to five. But we quashed that. Basically, it came down to a few of the, I’ve heard them called “street-level” heroes, wanting a strike. We said, “No,” that it was going to hurt innocent people, and there was really no guarantee state and local authorities wanted us enough to pay us anyway. I really would strongly encourage the government, state, local, whomever, to consider it- some of these people are making the choices between eating dinner and fighting crime- and they already give so much it’s not right to ask them to make that choice.
ID: How did turning down the pay resolution affect the League members who'd been pushing for a strike?
S: It was actually fascinating to see how it divided people. I think the strike, fundamentally, was an attempt to find a socially acceptable place for them- not quite within the classic police force, but in a complementary system to it. And really, if I thought there was a stronger likelihood of pushing it through, I'd have at least been willing to advocate for it politically, because it's an idea I can get behind. But the pay measure was different. Deep as Bruce's pockets are, none of us want him to have to foot the bill; there are some of us, like Ollie, who are reluctant to give him any more influence than he already has, which I personally think is a little paranoid. There are some, like myself, who simply think he does enough already. We may operate in an imperfect system, but it wouldn't be right to ask Bruce to buy us a better one- and it'd be harder to live up to the name on the door if we did.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
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