Watching your superhero being hurt is painful, is sad, and sometimes tears you apart (depending on how much you are into that fandom). When you watch all these superhero movies (and by that, I mean Marvel), you are captured immediately by the drama. Suddenly, all your senses are being controlled by pictures, voices, and background music. You imagine yourself as another character of the movie, and maybe with powers that can help your superhero to win the battles and all the crazy stuff that happens. At that moment in the movie when the villain shows up, you immediately start to grow anger and hate towards him. Nobody loves the villain; in fact, some people don't just hate the villain, but they even want him dead.
I know, I know - it's not real. Those are just movies and the wonderful fictional world of Marvel. But have you not realized that there are superheroes in this life as well? In my case, my parents were the first people that were added to that list, along with some friends later on. Now, as I go through this adventure of life with people by my side, and as I cross paths with new ones, I also have come to know people who are real heroes. Real and admirable people whom you share good and bad experiences with. People who put others' welfare before their own, who are ready to give a hand, who would lay down their own lives for others. Those kinds of people you know you can count on always, and you feel proud for being able to call them your parents, family, friends, crush (lol), boyfriend/girlfriend, husband/wife.
These heroes also have their own journey in life, and this journey has its highs and lows. As their “fan,” my only desire is to be their support and encourage them, not to be a burden to their lives. And if for some reason they are passing through a rough time because someone hurt them, I don’t hesitate for a second before taking their side and defending them. I don’t even have to hear the whole story to know that they are “the good guys,” because I completely trust them and I know that they are always right.
What if, one day you ask them who hurt them, and they look straight into your eyes and answer, “You did!” How would that make you feel? I know! I know how it feels, because I have been there. Having had my heroes looking into my eyes with sadness and pain was the worst thing I have ever felt in my life. Watching the person you admire and love being hurt because of you is one of the feelings I cannot handle. How can you encourage them? How can you show them you are still there for them, if you were the one who hurt them this time?
If you hurt your hero, what does that make you? The villain? The one who nobody loves? The insignificant one that people want to kill? Well, I guess. All those other “fans” will turn their backs on you and will take your hero’s side, leaving you alone. All that people care about is who did the right thing, or who is the innocent one in the situation. Nobody questions if the villain is suffering. Nobody cares, because as you know, the villain never wins.
I have been on both sides. I have been hurt and I have hurt people as well. And I have to say, there is nothing comparable to the feeling of knowing that you hurt someone you love and care about. The aftermath of hurting someone is something indescribable. No, I am not being dramatic. People who have passed through the same situation know what I am talking about. And if you have hurt someone and have not felt bad, then you have no heart.
Yes,
it is horrible and I sometimes still deal with guilt. But you have to choose whether to get stuck in your own mistakes or learn from them. So, if you have at
least one person whom you admire, please take care of what you do and say.
Losing your heroes is not fun. You have to support them and make them believe
that this world needs them.