Supermen

John Ondrasik performs under the stage name “Five for Fighting” which comes from the hockey expression when a player gets a five minute penalty for fighting. His music tends to be a reflection of his values in family, honor, and morality. Ondrasik uses his songs to personify struggles that any person can encounter. Since the beginning of time there have been those everyday men and women, who for only the luck of the moment, are thrust into situations that are extraordinary. These everyday people find the inner strength to put aside their own safety and wellbeing for the sake of others. Society has decided that these remarkable people are to be called “heroes.” Hero is defined in the Webster’s Dictionary as “a person, usually a man, admired for courage fortitude, prowess, nobility, etc” (Webster’s.) Over the years society, has adjusted this definition to include those admired for sports, acting, singing abilities, or political views. Once the community recognizes a hero the standards to which they are held become so much higher than that of the average person. These people are put on a pedestal, thought to be more than human and to be exempt from human emotions and frailties. This aspect of society is revealed in the song, by “Five for Fighting,” “Superman (it’s not easy).” The song takes society’s views to the extreme and is told from the view of a hero with super human powers. Yet the song truly shows how society can elevate a person to the point that they are no longer able to live up to the expectations of the public.
Ondrasik’s recorded “Superman” in the year 2000. Soon after the release of the song, the United States was rocked to its core by the attacks of September 11, 2001 when the country was wishing for a real superhero to fly in and make it possible for people to “sleep sound tonight” (Five for Fighting) again. The song, already considered a success, was propelled upwards. The song speaks of the inner feelings of the fictional comic strip superhero Superman. Superman is not actually named, other than in the song title, but the mention of the powers he possess, his costume and kryptonite it is clear to whom the song is referencing. Superman seems to have lost his desire for fighting against the villains of the world. He seems to be looking for his real self, to become more than just the hero that swoops in to save the day at the last minute. He feels that he is no longer allowed to dream or better himself in any way. The myth of Superman is that of a man who has no other reason for life other than to beat the villain and save the world.
Our society is very good at this over blown hero worship today. Sports is a good illustration of this, we find an athlete that is good at their sport and base all expectations in achievement on that sport. An example would be a baseball player that is good at hitting homeruns therefore he is good at everything on and off the field. Where an everyday person might sit and think that all of their problems will be solved if they had the fame and money that goes along with it; this song shows how a famous person can wish for the simple non-descript life. Those who are in the public eye are forced to bear their sorrows with the masses watching. The heroes are not permitted to show that they can bleed or show their pain. We have seen many new celebrity moms who are experiencing post partum depression, they are mocked in the tabloids for having problems. The very real fact is that growing numbers of new mothers within the populous are experiencing the same thing is often over looked. Superman states several times in the song that he “can’t stand to fly” (Five for Fighting.) The man known for leaping tall building in a single bound is scared to fly which has a real life example in John Wayne, who was known for his western movies, but was deathly afraid of horses. According to the lore of Superman, kryptonite is deadly to him. In the song he says that he looking for kryptonite, which can be taken as a thought of maybe wishing for the release of death, not unlike those super stars who commit suicide with drug overdoses. “I am only a man in a silly red sheet,” (Five for Fighting) which can be used to reference actors or actress who play various professions such as a doctor being asked in real life “why can’t you save this life.”
Heroes are human, they are not from other worlds and have the same feelings that the everyday person feels. They are not immune to the pitfalls in life that the rest of society faces. When stress, fear, or the unknown faces them why should they be thought to be above the feelings of the rest of the planet. Ondrasik illustrates the double standard in which society expects our heroes and celebrities’ to live with. He takes the extreme of Superman and humanizes him with an emotional plea for understanding, for all his powers there is another side the emotional side of our life.