Published: January 14, 2009
Op-Ed Contributor
Is America Ready For A Gay Superhero?
By Robert Paul Reyes
"SPIDER-MAN creator Stan Lee is to unveil the world's first gay superhero.
High school basketball star Thom Creed hides his developing superpowers along with his sexuality.
Former Marvel Comics boss Stan, 86 - who also created the Hulk and the X-Men - will unleash the character in an hour-long TV drama being shot in the US." http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/article2128530.ece
America will soon inaugurate its first African American president, but are we ready for a gay superhero? Some would argue that Batman's sidekick (Robin, the Boy Wonder) has already broken that barrier. But Stan Lee will soon unveil the world's first superhero who is clearly and undisputedly homosexual.
I hope that the new superhero will not be a caricature of a homosexual, dressed in pink tights and making villains disappear by extending his limp wrist.
This is a wonderful development and I hope the new superhero joins the pantheon of the greats like Batman, Superman and Spiderman. But a superhero will only be a success at the box office if women swoon over him and the guys want to be like him. Will ladies go bonkers over a gay superhero? Yes, if he's handsome. There's this thing called "suspension of disbelief", females swoon over an obviously gay Ricky Martin.
But there's no way that most guys will identify with a gay superhero, there's still a lot of homophobia in our country.
The gay superhero might succeed as a TV show and in the big screen if he's an extremely handsome stud who's accepted by females, and warmly embraced by the gay community.
Robert Paul Reyes is a NewsBlaze writer on Politics, Pop Culture and Pointless Pontificating. Contact him by writing to NewsBlaze.
Robert Reyes
* The views of Opinion writers do not necessarily reflect the views of NewsBlaze
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