Saturday, May 05, 2007

the darker side of me and spiderman 3



this image screams "look at me, who am i, really, behind all the masks?"

i went to see spidey 3 last night. the girls were having a night out so i went by myself. there is something about this movie i don't like. i don't like it because it speaks of something dark. the thing that i don't like about the dark is that i am too afraid to face my own darkness. i have hid behind masks before. truth be told, part of me wants to be famous. i would love for someone to give me the key to the city. with all my best intentions, i still can be tricked by greed and selfish ambition.

back to the image at hand, here are some questions to me and spidey:

who is the person behind the mask?
who is the true spidey, the person in the reflection, the person being reflected, or is it the person behind the mask in the reflection, or a combination of all three?
why is this image so powerful?
does it have anything to do with the fact that it is upside down?

at first glance the image seems to speak about external differences, but if one takes just a moment longer... the message shifts to internal conflicts. this morning i read a comment by elizabeth on candace's blog. that comment, so honest, so confessional in its tone, confronted me and prompted me to explore issues of darkness of my own. thank you elizabeth for your transparency, i hope your risk yields significant reward.

so go see the movie, see if you can't help but to be pulled into the story. i think i am going to take the girls to see it tonight. now that i am less concerned about about who wins, maybe i can experience the huge sweeping symbolic themes as the story unfolds. wouldn't it be great if i could do that in my own personal life narrative?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I loved the movie. There is something about identifying with the lust and seeking redemption from it that pricks my heart. I felt like taking a spiritual shower afterwards.

theBROWNtown said...

Movie failed in light of the first 2, but I loved the themes. Both versions of Spidey are amplifications of what Peter Parker is embracing inside. Reminds me of C.S. Lewis' observation in "The Weight of Glory". He says that if we could really see inside people, behind the mask, we would behold something with such glory that we'd be tempted to worship them. Or else we'd witness something more terrible than our darkest nightmare. Choice is a volatile thing!