One of the main criticisms about the RLSH is that of the costume and mask that some of them wear. Alot of people point to that and say "People would take you more seriously if you removed the costume and mask." Alot of people doing this happen to be RLSV's. Mind you not all of them are RLSV's but a fair percentage of them are. As I spoken before (and often) as to some of the reasons why a RLSH would wear a costume and a mask so I am not going to go over them for the billionth time (besides see the RLSH Manual online written by Night Owl for a really good take on the whole RLSH movement in general.)Another thing I often hear is "Why don't the RLSH drop the alternative identities and just come out as who you really are, with your real names."
So the other day while I was resting in my secret hideaway beneath Fenway Park and nibbling away on a rather healthy chunk of Swiss cheese that I "borrowed" from a local supermarket I started putting some deep thought to this. It was after I was halfway to fully consuming the Swiss cheese that I decided to cast a spotlight on this in order to point out the inherent failure of this logic. Alow this wee little mouse to explain as follows:
If the RLSV want the RLSH to drop the costumes (or outfits), masks, and alternative identities then why don't they do so themselves. Why do so many of them enjoy putting on those "dreaded" costumes/outfits, those dreaded "masks" and use those strange "alternative identities"? Here, let me point a few out...
Lord Malignance: Is that his real name? If he REALLY believes in his cause then what's with the bronze bedpan that he uses to cover his face? What's with those cheap ass sunglasses that he seemingly stole off the set of the first "Back to the Future" movie set? And that white lab coat. His high school science teacher must still be wondering where it is. And let's not forget all those Youtube videos he has - if anyone is an attention whore then he may be top of the list.
Poop Knife: You know that when you're alias translates to "edged weapon used to stir shit" that things cannot be completely right up in the cranium. Funny thing is old Poop Knife did not expose his real name on that fake ass MySpace page he created under another fake name called "Free Information" until I did. So Poop, if you wanted the RLSH to supposedly "come clean" then why is it so hard for you to do the same about yourself or that "king0Nazi@gmail" email address you have?
Malvado SV: Or is it Grodd? Or is it something else these days? As far as the name thing goes you might be the worst case of them all. You've changed your name more often that Tiger Woods changes mistresses. So why not use your real name there and why use some fake ass background story about Gorilla City (trademark infringement by the way) if you're SOOOOOO interested in the truth? Sidenote: If you're going to criticize the RLSH then by all means resolve you drug habits first (the public admission of alcohol issues and smoking pot.)
Black Sun: Another RLSV clown with another fake name. And his costume of choice? A black gas mask to cover his face. Of course this serves two functions - 1) conceal his identity and 2) protect him from the nauseating effects of his own flatulence and body odor. But seriously though, if you have a problem with masks, costumes, fake identities, (and apparently people stricken with cancer) then shed the mask and use your real name otherwise like I said your just a sadistic clown.
Agent Berylium: Well the first time I heard her voice I thougt to myself "So this is what a drunk woman sounds like in the middle of giving birth without the benefit of painkillers." But seriously though, what's up with the fake name? And why the goggles? Do you really need either to promote your delusional cause?
The Potentate: Supposedly the leader of ROACH, this guy is one of the most blatant hypocrites of all. Seller of cheap ass T-shirts (low quality twill mind you), he rallies his fellow RLSV's to combat the RLSH and push the RLSH to drop the costumes/outfits, masks, and fake names all the while using a fake identity himself and concealing his true form behind a VOLCANIC SMOG CLOUD!!! So Potentate, if you want to be a true leader then step up and lead by example. Shed the smoke and the fake name like you want the RLSH to shed their own garb and alternative names because if you don't then you're more full of crap than Poop Knife's toilet.
Ghost of Nixon: Well at least this guy did not spend alot of money on his costume - although La Quinta called and said that you still need to pay for that bed sheet you stole from them. Are you really the Ghost of Nixon? IS that what your mommie named you when she pushed you out? And what's your obsession with the letter "m"?
You remind me of an American version of Baghead and amazingly enough his method of hiding his secret identity as per his namesake is even cheaper than your own. Damn those ROACH paycuts.
And there are so many other faker RLSV's out there both in wardrobe and name. Names like Exit Nero, Calamity, and the Canadian one known as Crimson Nematode. Many of them hide their true names and facades behind false trappings and yet rage against the RLSH for their alternative names and appearance. How ironic that the RLSV who damn others are guilty of the very things they heap upon their accused.
So yeah, I'm not REALLY a 6 ounce mouse that works for the mythical being known as Krampus. I'm not REALLY scurrying around at night and spying on those that would do harm to others within the RLSV and RLSH. But since the RLSV like to run around in the land of make believe names and garish garb like goggles, cheap ass sunglasses, lab coats, paper bags, bed sheets, edged crap cutters, and alcoholic/doped up monkeys then who are they to question others about doing so themselves. Their original claim of wanting to put the RLSH back on the right track and keep them from getting out of control is a sham. How can the RLSV claim to want to do this when they cannot even do so within themselves? So my advice to the RLSV (not that they will take it because alot of them are just so screwed up to begin with) when it comes to the whole costume/outfit/mask/ alternative identity controversy is simple.... do not ask of others what you are obviously incapable of doing yourselves.
"When good people in any country cease their vigilance and struggle, then evil men prevail." - Pearl S. Buck
"The moment we break faith with one another, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out." - James Baldwin
About me.....
- Dragonheart
- I'm a dreamer and perhaps too much of an eternal optimist. I always try to look at the glass as half full. Defiant and ferocious towards those who would seek to unjustly harm others, I speak my mind...for better or worse. Where as some view compassion as a weakness I view it as a strength. I try not to live in the shadows of my regrets because doing so dims the light and the promise of a new day. I do not strive for perfection for this is the quest of fools and denies a man the blessings of humility. The bonds of true friendship and family are to be protected...sometimes by the cunning, stealth, and tenaciousness of a mouse but other times by the wrath and fury of the dragon. I am one and yet I am both. This is my truth.
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I think i can shed light on that pretty easily. It shouldnt be viewed as something hallowed and amazing to help people. Millions do it every day for different non-profit organizations, and it should be something that everyone should do, helping your fellow man. We are not out there whoring ourselves to the camera while we hand out goods to the homesless, we are not the ones trying to be symbols and promote ourselves through patrols. To pretend to make a major difference while we wear sometimes incredibly ridiculous outfits. We do not shamelessly sit on a high horse and proclaim ourselves better than others because they do not do what we do. In a lot of senses we are no better, but we are also no worse. Just because I do not come online every day and post a blog about how I helped clothe 500 people, or how I fed several hundred homeless in a weekend, or even participated in a neighborhood watch, does not mean I do not do good and I do not help others. I just do not do it because I believe that is something we all should be doing. The RLSH and their supporters need to stop projecting their feelings onto others, and just do the good they are supposed to do. Stop thinking that what you do is so fucking important, like I keep saying, they need to get over themselves. You are just men doing what you should be doing.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct. Helping people should be doing above and beyond all other intangibles. Let me respond to your points as follows:
ReplyDeletePart One
- "We are not out there whoring ourselves to the camera while we hand out goods to the homesless, we are not the ones trying to be symbols and promote ourselves through patrols."
Has it ever occurred to you that the RLSH who do get media attention or film themselves do so in order to encourage others through a more direct demonstration of good will. It's the difference between saying "I heard 10 people volunteered to pass out food to the homeless" and ACTUALLY seeing the people hand out the food to the homeless and interact with them, even to the point where they treat them with dignity rather than dehumanizing them as society often does to homeless. As for the attention, fun fact here - 80% of all knowledge known to mankind is gathered by the visual senses. Therefore it is imperative to understand how much more influential actions are when they are seen rather than heard or read about.
- To pretend to make a major difference while we wear sometimes incredibly ridiculous outfits.
This statement is very telling in that you use the words "pretend" and "major". First of all when a RLSH helps a single human being that is not pretend - bottom line is that person's life improves even if it's for a fraction of time. Secondly, it sounds like you are saying that if a RLSH does not change or improve the world on a grand scale that their actions mean nothing. Your posts are normally smarter than that. Stop being so myopic. It's not about major change or minor change, it's about positive change regardless of magnitude.
- We do not shamelessly sit on a high horse and proclaim ourselves better than others because they do not do what we do.
And neither do most RLSH. Aside from some who might do so most RLSH I know simply do what they do to help people not because they think they are better than others. I could say the same thing about the RLSV. What gives you the right to judge the RLSH on the high horse alot of you sit on? You have guys running around saying kids with cancer are pathetic, a guy whose email address is "King0Nazi", and another guy who comes off on a blogcast as a borderline drunk and admitted pot smoker. I for one do not think I'm better than anyone else but I do think that alot of people who point fingers at the RLSH in a negative way are too scared to look in the mirror and admit their own flaws.
Part 2
ReplyDelete- In a lot of senses we are no better, but we are also no worse.
I agree with you. I believe everyone is born with the same inherent potential but we choose to use that potential for the benefit or detriment of the world around us. I boils down to personal choice. On a recent blogcast an RLSV said "I am as Jesus decided to bring me into the world." Avoiding the religion angle, no divine power brought him into the world as an asshole - he just took it upon himself to become one.
- Just because I do not come online every day and post a blog about how I helped clothe 500 people, or how I fed several hundred homeless in a weekend, or even participated in a neighborhood watch, does not mean I do not do good and I do not help others.
But if you did then maybe it would inspire other people to do so. There is a difference between glorifying ones actions through the written or spoken word or thru visual means and doing so in order to maybe move a few people to positive action.
- I just do not do it because I believe that is something we all should be doing.
But not everyone does it. Not enough people do it. That's the problem. It's like Superhero said at a recent con panel in regards to apathy. If more people stopped seeing a problem and saying "that sucks" and got up and did something to turn it around then wouldn't we be better off? If the combined effort of the RLSH only saved or helped one life a year that would not otherwise get help isn't that better that life getting no help at all?
- The RLSH and their supporters need to stop projecting their feelings onto others, and just do the good they are supposed to do.
The RLSH and their supporters have a right to speak their mind and offer their opinions. The people who hear them or see the RLSH in action have the right to formulate their own opinion whether it be positive or negative. I don't like what alot of RLSV say and I think for the most part they are a motley bunch of friggin hypocrites but unless they become chronic belligerent trolls (as Malvado SV and others) I am not going to deny them an open forum. And as for doing good, the RLSH and their supporters like myself will continue to do so regardless of whether RLSV such yourself love us or hate us. Do not ever cling to the delusion that help people to meet your approval. We do so because it's the right thing to do.
- Stop thinking that what you do is so fucking important, like I keep saying, they need to get over themselves.
It is important to the people we help. A sandwich is important to someone who has not eaten in 2-3 days. A blanket is important to someone who normally sleeps in frigid and unhealthy conditions. Money raised at a charity to fight cancer or diabetes is important to those suffering the disease and those using the funds to research for a cure. Again you fall into the pit trap of imagining that any help a RLSH gives must be on a grand scale to be valuable. This way of thinking is where your logic fails whether you agree with me or not. Stop thinking quantity of those helped and start thinking improved quality of life (even if for a brief period) of those helped.
- You are just men doing what you should be doing.
Yes, at the end of the day we are just men and women with the same problems and responsibilities as anyone else, including RLSV parading around with costumes, masks, and fake identities that criticize the RLSH for doing the same. You are right. People should be doing what alot of RLSH do to help.
The problem is not enough people do. They are slaves to apathy. When we (we meaning everyone on this mudball of a planet) do then maybe things will start to turn around.
In any case thank you for voicing your opinion and doing so with a modicum of decorum. We are obviously at odds on many things but as you can tell that does not render communication between us impossible.
I appreciate your side and I do understand where you are coming from, but I am afraid you miss my point.
ReplyDeleteSince when did helping people become super? Why is it that there is an incessant need to post every single thing you do? I am not saying anything helpful has to be on a grand scale, or undermining their deeds at all, what I mean is that they need to realize that the things they do are not special, they are good and they are just, and certainly the right thing to do, but it is not super nor heroic. The reason it is recognized as such is because not enough people stand up to do it, like we should, so they think that putting on a mask and doing it changes things, it doesn't. But this isnt an ideal society. Again I speak on a personal bias being in nonprofit. I do not feel that they go about this the right way at all, and I agree with Z on that end whole heartedly. My point is that just because they are RLSH, they think it makes what they do so much more important than what I have already devoted my life to doing, to what organizations have been doing for a hundred years, and to promote yourself in that fashion and exploit something so wonderful as helping another human being, and to feel the need to be lauded by others for it is ludicrous.
Now onto the points you bring up, there are better ways to get yourself out there for promoting charities and crime prevention than plastering youtube and myspace pages with it. That is shameless self promotion. Now if that video was posted on a charity's website, that makes a world of difference in perspective to Joe Public. I would see that and think "oh, wow, cool, never thought I would see someone dressed up like a superhero that wasn't batshit crazy", and I would proceed to go and find out more, but instead I find a bunch of scrawny or overweight wannabe-heroes posting their false exploits and bragging about doing handouts. Imagine my disappointment. I should not have to post what good deeds I do. It is not important who does it as individuals, but uniting others so that it gets done. To think so short sightedly that you have to fight a one man war is just moronic. The smartest thing RLSH could do is trademark the name and start themselves as a food drive nonprofit company, taking donations, and hell they can serve in their costumes, learn to work together instead of being one man armies. The name Real Life Superhero should apply to every man that does anything to help, and those acting selflessly. That is what I mean by ego's as well, stop acting like some poor version of batman. They could be such a strong and great group if they just got over themselves.
I understand that everyone has different views, but one thing is unanimous- helping people- thats it. They need to stop thinking about themselves and what new improvements they made to their uniform/costume to brag to their friends about while they are helping people. None of that shit matters, none of it at all, all that matters, all it boils down to is helping people, and there is nothing you can say to debate that.
Helping people is not "super" in terms of accomplishing superhuman feats. It is super however in terms of what it accomplishes for the people that it benefits. To an affluent person who lacks nothing and has no worries someone handing them a sandwich or giving them a blanket is insignificant but to someone in dire need it means alot more. While what the RLSH do may not necessarily be super or heroic in the classic sense I must disagree with you when you say what they do is not "special". Alot of this depends not necessarily on the RLSH or what they do but rather who they are helping. If a RLSH helps a pregnant woman fix a flat tire then I do not consider that heroic. However, if that same pregnant woman goes into labor and begins to suffer a complication that is life threatening to herself & the child & the RLSH drives her to the hospital in time to save her & the child then I deem that special (but not super). I you disagree with me that's okay.
ReplyDeleteI'd be lying to you if I said the RLSH methodology is perfect. There are flaws in it & flawed individuals There is dissension amongst the RLSH ranks. However alot of these flaws exist in the RLSV as well. Yet, taking all of that into consideration I still feel that the RLSH get alot of unnecessary grief for what they do and their existence even in their current incarnation is worthwhile.
I disagree with you on the exploitation angle. I think the RLSH use of the media is often misconstrued. The media is just another tool for the RLSH to reach even greater numbers of people with their message of good will. The outfit also serves this purpose to a point. It's a visually grabbing element - I speak from experience. When do charity events in my outfit the response from parents & kids is almost unanimously positive. IMHO the RLSH in general don't expect anything in return or to be lauded. They'll help people with or without appreciation but just like you would not turn away gratitude from someone you helped why should they?
The Youtube and MySpace thing - that's a form of self-expression and an expanded way of telling people about them, the movement, and to build interest in what they do. It's not as nefarious or self-serving as some make it out to be but that's my opinion. I am not a RLSH. I am a costumed/uniformed activist. I have not done enough in this lifetime to be worthy of the title of "super hero". I do not patrol but I do attend panels, promote charitable projects & make appearances in my uniform to promote good causes like fighting cancer, promoting education, ect. And you are right - RLSH don't have to post their good deeds but many do. However, I wish people would stop assigning this to ego and see it from the perspective of encouraging others on a wider scale to do the same.
As for the term Real Life Super Heroes I'll tell you that I am not entirely fond of it myself. However, I am all for terms like "costumed activist" and such. A kid once asked me if I'm a superhero and I answered him by saying "There's one in all of us. Find yours and the world will be better for it." If someone calls me a super hero that's their choice.
Me and you are on the same page on one thing for sure- at the end of the day it's about helping people. Our disagreements lay beyond this. Seriously/with all honesty if you work in the non-profit industry & devote your time to helping those in need then you have my respect... well until if/when you say or do something really bad. But you seem like one of the more level-headed RLSV's and I'm cool with that. Good luck and stay safe.