Secret Identity Heroes
(And Why We Love 'Em)

Scarlet Pimpernel

Since Baroness Orczy created THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL shortly after the turn of the 20th century, the secret-identity hero has become a staple in fiction. Literature, comics, motion pictures,and television have all adopted the device with varying degrees of success.

I, a child of the late 1950s, early 1960s, and the Cold War grew up on the televised versions of SUPERMAN, THE LONE RANGER, ZORRO, and BATMAN. The dark rural nights of my childhood echoed with eerie laughter as I, my cousins, siblings, and other neighborhood children re-enacted The Wonderful Word of Disney's THE SCARECROW OF ROMNEY MARSH. Even then, I knew there is something very special, very romantic, about the hero who performed his good deeds in disguise.

I knew then, too, that the mask/glasses weren't only to deflect the villain, but also because a true hero doesn't need credit for his escapades. A true hero does the right thing because he is inherently good.

In 1982, I watched the made-for-TV version of THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL, starring Jane Seymour and Anthony Andrews. The tension between the characters of Sir Percy Blakeney and Marguerite St. Just was exquisitely believable. I fell in love. I dashed out and bought the book.

Here was a hero. A true, secret-identity guy who risked his life to rescue the French aristocracy from the guillotine. But Sir Percival Blakeney was much, much more than someone with a gift for theatrical make-up and derring-do. He also created a secret identity in which to live, one that very nearly cost him the love of his life.

Ah, yes.

In the 1990s, Warner Brothers resurrected Superman in the form of LOIS AND CLARK: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN. The spin was a little different on this updated version of my childhood hero, but one I could easily embrace. Dean Cain's portrayal of Superman didn't hurt, nor did Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane. And this incarnation of Lois was someone with whom I could identify. Even better, the sexual tension between the two characters was believable.

And explosive.

The first season of this series simply blew my mind. I didn't like it as much once Lois learned that Clark Kent was really Superman, and I really didn't like it when Clark told Lois, "Clark is who I am, Superman is what I do."

Wrong. Completely dead wrong.

The unique thing about Superman as opposed to other comic book superheroes is that Superman - Kal-El - is the character and Clark Kent the disguise. Bruce Wayne became Batman, Peter Parker became Spiderman - even Percy Blakeney and Don Diego de la Vega became The Scarlet Pimpernel and Zorro.

Kal-El became Clark Kent.

Superman

The Clark Kent identity was created to disguise the alien baby. The whole "mild-mannered-reporter" persona originated, exactly like the "fop" persona of Sir Percy Blakeney, in order to distract the everyday world from the true character. Percy and Clark shed their disguises to do the right thing, using their inherent abilities as opposed to hiding behind masks, gadgets and nuclear mutations/lab accidents, etc. (It's my understanding that this is also the Phantom's m.o., but I've never read the comic.)

Neither the Scarlet Pimpernel nor Superman is motivated by revenge. Peter Parker wants to get back at the men who killed his uncle; Bruce Wayne wants the men who killed his parents.

What does Superman want?

He has no hidden, personal agenda for helping.

Same with Blakeney. He is a wealthy man, a baronet, and could easily live a stress-free life. Indeed, in the original book, he claims he goes into revolution-ridden France to rescue those sentenced to death for 'sport'. Pretty noble, if you ask me, when others in his time sported with dog/cock fights, fox hunts, wenching, and gambling.

So it's not surprising that given my penchant for the secret-identity hero whose every day life is the identity he sheds in order to be his heroic self, that my books feature characters of the same ilk. But Tokarz, Stoker, Restin, and the gang - er, pack - aren't from mysterious planets or privileged societies. They're down-home guys who value family above all else, patriots of the nation that granted sanctuary to their ancestors when the old country was awash in revolution. Okay, things get a little hairy when the moon is full, but no one gets hurt - unless the core values of these heroes are threatened. Then there is no stopping a pack of crazed werewolves bent on revenge.

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Metaphysical Links

SUPERHEROES

IRONMAN
Ironman
VS
Batman
THE DARK KNIGHT

I have always been more of a
DC Comics person than a
Marvel Comics person. That's why I was shocked when I loved IRONMAN and didn't like
THE DARK KNIGHT at all. And I saw them in reverse order of release, THE DARK KNIGHT before IRONMAN.

I loved Michael Keaton's 1989 portrayal of Bruce Wayne. Keaton was incredibly erotic in the role, and director Tim Burton knew that creating atmospheric darkness involved more than turning out the lights.

(An aside: why are some movies filmed in the dark? Don't directors understand that movies are a visual medium?)

I probably wouldn't have seen THE DARK KNIGHT if Heath Ledger hadn't died, and my husband, son, and I wanted to do something together the night before we abandoned the kid in a college dorm hundreds of miles from home.

Heath Ledger was as wonderful as everyone said. My problem was that I kept getting distracted by his make-up. I expected him, at any moment, to say, "Ich bin ein berliner -- I am a jelly donut."

I came away from the movie more annoyed than entertained. Beyond the make-up issue and the "ooh-this-is-a-dark-plot-let's-turn-off-the-lights" irritation were Christian Bale's insipid portrayal of Bruce Wayne and the plethora of flash, which seemed like attempts to hide a lack of substance.

A motion picture with the title THE DARK KNIGHT should have been about Batman, but I left the theater thinking the movie was about everyone and everything else except the title character.

The chase/fire/explosion sequences went on waaaaaaaaaaaay too long, and there were far too many of them. They seemed gratuitous rather than plot-driven. "Hey! We have the technology to blow 'em up, bang 'em up, and we have the budget . . . let's go for it!"

Yawn.

A few weeks later, TV Stevie asked me if I wanted to watch IRONMAN. I didn't want to. I knew nothing of IRONMAN's mythology, I wasn't a huge Robert Downey Jr fan . . . but I said yes. Okay.

I fell in love.

First of all, I thought that updating the time frame to the Afghan war was terrific. The current time frame made the story that much more relevent. Showing Tony Stark as he was (his ordinary world) made the inciting incident that much more powerful.

While there were a lot of pyrotechnics in IRONMAN, they weren't gratuitous because they were in a war zone, but more importantly, Tony Stark is a munitions manufacturer. Munitions being sold to the enemy was key to the plot -- discovering this is a large part of why Tony Stark wants and needs to change...not only his business, but also himself.

Tony Stark was believably human. His character arc -- the story of his growth as a person -- was very well done. And plausible.

But, in my opinion, the most important difference between THE DARK KNIGHT and IRONMAN is how the character arcs impacted the romantic elements in each story.

Both men are wealthy, good-looking, and single. Love doesn't come easily to either of them.

When Bruce Wayne found a woman he could love, she rejected him and what he was. His desire to change was rooted in trying to win her love.

Tony Stark faced death and realized he had to become a better person, had to be more honest in his dealings with the world -- and with himself. In becoming that better person, he won the love of the woman he's always respected.

And that is why IRONMAN is a better hero -- and a better movie -- than THE DARK KNIGHT.