One hero can arguably be described as “the face of superheroes” regarding relatability and strength: Spider-Man. With his young perspective and personality on the world, Spider-man is one of the most relatable characters to not just young audiences but people of all ages; whether it’s with school, work, or balancing two lives, Peter faces multiple different mental and physical challenges that he must overcome as he goes through life.
Peter Parker’s age appears differently throughout the years, which shows relations to people of all age gaps. Parker’s age differentiates comics from movies. The film shows Peter in late high school and early college. In contrast, Peter is shown at the beginning of the comics at a younger age (1962). As more of the comics come out, he ages; however, it is prolonged. This article by WordPress says, “… if Peter Parker was 17 in 1962, and using 2011 as a benchmark, that would mean 49 publications years have passed. Using the three-to-one rule, that would mean roughly 16 years have passed, making him currently 33 years old.”.With multiple ages being referenced throughout the comics and movies, the audience is given a chance to relate in many ways.
When Peter is in high school, he struggles to balance his work life and his Spider-Man life. Not only is he behind on work, but he is constantly getting bullied by Flash Thompson. This can be, unfortunately, a relatable thing to some students. This article states, “In the United States, about 1 in 5 students ages 12-18 experienced bullying during the school year.”, just like Peter Parker. Bullying can create deep depression, self-doubt, and anxiety in students. Peter has to balance out these emotions while playing Spider-Man.
He’s not only struggling with bullying. Peter has to battle many villains. Examples are Doc Ock, Peter’s inspiration as a scientist, and The Lizard, who used to be Peter’s mentor. While people with four robotic tentacle arms or a human that can mutate into a lizard don’t exist, there are, unfortunately, many crime cases of robbery, assault, or even murder. People of all ages experience physical abuse. Unfortunately, some of these cases were from people they think they know the most, just like how Peter thought he knew his Mentor and Inspiration would attack him. That could be from bullying in school or even in their own homes. The statistics show that “Over 1 in 3 women (35.6%) and 1 in 4 men (28.5%) have experienced physical violence.”. Because of this depressing truth, many can relate to how getting physically hurt like that can be highly challenging and anxiety-inducing.
Spider-Man has to balance out all these challenges that people can relate to. His use of balancing out his Spider-Man life and Peter Parker’s life inspires many more to do the same and always strive for what they believe is important to them. I know he has been a great inspiration for me when it comes to reaching my potential, and it’s good to know what inspires you to do the same.
