Hanging with Heroes

LIVING ROOM COUCH—At the dawn of summer freedom, I thought that fulfillment would come from an internship or a temp job and a few weekends at the beach. I had no idea that I would also spend the next three months destroying mythical monsters, cavorting with Greek gods and repeatedly saving the world from the schemes of a mad scientist.

Fortunately, one small device can give me the power of a genie, a demigod and a high school-aged James Bond—my television remote. This summer I have rediscovered cartoons on cable, and life has been as glorious as a never-ending Saturday morning.

While my travel budget and my own physical limitations prevent me from saving the world myself, I can still visit the corners of the globe and thwart the many forms of evil I find there. And I can do it all in a quick thirty minutes, by living vicariously through the characters I watch: Aladdin, Hercules and Kim Possible. Genius, your name is Disney.

At college, my television cartoon watching was limited to a weekly dose of “The Simpsons” and, occasionally, an episode of “The Family Guy” a roommate had downloaded onto his computer. But my summer cartooning mixes the comic and the action, and the protagonists of these shows are heroes—they display great courage, defeat their enemies and always do the right thing.

Aladdin and Hercules are household names because their cartoons are spinoffs from successful full-length animated movies. “Kim Possible” is a new, original series starring a red-headed high school cheerleader who saves the world when she’s not in class. These cartoons are meant to target kids six to 14 years old, but I proudly admit to being an addict.

“Hanging with the Heroes,” the name of Disney’s block of hero cartoon shows, is the perfect escape for the burnt-out college student. The medium of animation allows for imaginative freedom from reality. Aladdin elicits the help of a genie and a magic carpet to outwit murderous mud monsters. A young Hercules battles giant spiders and multiple-headed lions. Kim takes down colossal robots and magma guns.

And even with the constantly changing foes, the shows, unlike the real world, are soothingly and refreshingly predictable. I know to look for danger at the 10- and 17-minute marks, right before the commercial breaks. If you think you can relax after minute 15, think again—your enemy is surely coming back to life, stronger than ever.

Finally, while the real world may be plagued with disappointment or failure, my cartoon heroes always succeed in overcoming the life-threatening burdens placed before them.

Some might say that the time I’m absorbed by the exciting cartoons on television could be better spent. But the heroes from these programs have not only entertained me for countless half-hours and allowed me to escape the real world. They’ve taught me lessons I couldn’t learn from the practical career training of an internship or summer job.

First, there is always a time and place for comic relief—especially in the heat of battle, when you need a little laugh the most. Second, sometimes being a hero can simply come from doing the right thing—although it often involves slaying a fire-breathing dragon as well.

But the most important lesson I’ve learned from my heroes this summer is that I’d never want to be one. Their greatness is their curse. They are constantly being called upon to be heroic. Kim has to go to Tokyo, Paris and Wisconsin on school nights; Hercules is on call whenever someone in ancient Greece has a problem; and due to the incompetence of the royal guards, Aladdin has to single handedly keep danger out of all of Agrabah.

The heroes I wanted to be as a child would never get to just lie on the couch and watch others struggle against evil. As soon as they saw trouble, they would have to help fight it by joining Aladdin, Hercules and Kim in their attempt to protect the rest of us.

Hero cartoons provide excitement and adventure and offer an escape from everyday life. But they also teach the beauty of living in the real world—we do not always have to be successful and defeat our enemies. And while we may hope to spend our lives doing good for the world, we shouldn’t demand it from ourselves all the time. While Aladdin, Hercules and Kim must spend every half hour righting wrongs, overcoming burdens and saving the world, we can take thirty minutes off to watch them.

Judd B. Kessler ’04 was editorial chair of The Crimson in 2003. He spent the summer of 2002 living at home in New York City where he found a very comfortable spot on his couch.