Upload
aaron-welty
View
37
Download
1
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
We Edit Out Weakness
Social media platforms undergird this Facebook edits newsfeeds and personal pages
according to likes and comments We post the best of our lives on social media
to give a false image of how we actually live Our cultural heroes are ones who project
success and strength Movie/TV stars, sports personalities, musical
artists, Wall Street wiz-kids
Superheroes embrace Weakness
Often a superhero’s weakness is present alongside their strength Iron Man Charles Xavier Yoda Black Widow
Iron Man
Billionaire industrialist captured and almost killed by terrorists
A heart disability leads to superhero tech and “terrible privilege” The realization that
the heroic can emerge from the terrible
Professor Charles Xavier
Charles Xavier’s mobility vs. telepathic ability In the 90’s cartoon
and most recent film his mobility and telepathy are linked
A professor’s desires vs. his destiny Xavier had to
relinquish his mobility to step into his telepathic ability
Yoda
A “foolish Muppet” with syntax issues - and a cane - squats in a backwater swamp
Later revealed to be a great warrior and Jedi Master
The Foolishness and Hope of Weakness
Both Yoda and Professor Xavier are “foolish” characters. Considered weak and incapable they actually disguise great power and strength
Their inner reality is bound up in the spiritual idea of hope, or “confident expectation of the future” Broken Charles vs. Aged Charles
Suffering, Perseverance, Character, Hope Yoda’s hope in the Son of Skywalker
Foolishness and Hope are the DNA of my own story
Aaron’s Story
Born ten weeks premature and expected to die
Diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy
Spent most of the early years in hospitals fighting for life
Almost died in the hospital as a teen
Had a dream to work on Capitol Hill and pursued it.
FENX Rising
Tricycle vs. Motorcycle accident in college
A need for greater speed and protection births a new idea – The FENX project
A custom, experimental handicap scooter inspired by aeronautics, Tron, Star Wars, and X-Men.
Black Widow
Former KGB Assassin On SHIELD’s radar in
a “bad way” SHIELD – Hawkeye -
saw potential and recruited her rather than kill.
Agent of SHIELD Uses the weakness of
her past to propel her desire for redemption and to wipe out the “red in her ledger”
Jennie’s Story
A struggle with an eating disorder and subsequent substance abuse led to intense rehab
In rehab, she found Hope and it turned her life around because Someone saw potential in her
Last year she finished law school and passed the NY bar.
Redeeming the Red Ledger(s)
Black Widow’s arc in the Marvel films involve seeking out redemption, coming to grips with a dark past, and embracing a willingness to make such weakness public.
Jennie has trod a similar road of redemption, found in a spiritual focus, and embraces a less than sterling past to publicly inspire others who may walk a similar path.
Just as Widow’s past qualifies her to both defend the world and speak honestly before Congress, Jennie’s story of weakness, brokenness, and perseverance enables her to speak honestly to others who see their own weakness as something negative.