In this blog post, we’ll examine the unethical behaviors that are often condoned in the name of “heroism” and consider whether heroes can truly transcend law and ethics.
Introduction
As children, we were thrilled to watch heroes like Superman defeat villains in spectacular fashion, and we wanted to be just like them. The little boy who used to play Superman on the playground has now grown into an adult. I still enjoy watching superhero movies, but strangely enough, I no longer feel the same sense of exhilaration I did as a child when witnessing a hero’s actions. Watching the hero’s actions, I actually find myself thinking that he seems more like a villain. As a result, my admiration for the hero who was once my childhood idol has gradually begun to crumble. And regarding the unethical actions committed by the hero in the movie, I found myself asking, “Can wrongful acts be condoned simply because they are committed under the name of a hero?”
Main Body
Ant-Man is a hero who shrinks people to the size of ants by reducing the distance between atoms. To do this, he needs the Ant-Man suit, and ethical issues arise right from the moment the protagonist, Scott Lang, acquires it. A former convict, he is unable to lead a normal life after his release and ends up committing theft again with a friend. They break into a house to steal an item—which turns out to be the Ant-Man suit. Even though it was a situation deliberately orchestrated by the homeowner, Dr. Hank Pym, the theft he committed was undeniably wrong. Later, Scott Lang is caught by the police for theft and imprisoned, but he transforms into Ant-Man and escapes from jail. This throws the police into a state of emergency. Following the theft, the prison break constitutes a serious felony, and the perpetrator must face the full force of the law. Although the fugitive should receive appropriate punishment, Scott Lang ignores these legal procedures and rationalizes his theft and escape. Moreover, the audience does not judge his actions as wrong simply because he is a hero. The audience believes Scott Lang must escape the detention center at that moment, hopes he won’t be caught by the police, and feels a sense of satisfaction when he escapes safely. They view his theft and escape as part of his journey to becoming a hero, and no one questions these actions.
Dr. Darren Cross, the villain, also attempts to develop the core technology of Ant-Man: the ability to reduce the distance between atoms. To perfect this technology, he recklessly conducts biological experiments on countless sheep, sacrificing many due to his failures. Furthermore, when someone questions the legality of this technology, he responds, “What law? Human law? The laws of nature transcend human law. I have already transcended the laws of nature,” arguing that, as a being who has transcended human law, he cannot be regulated by it. He then justifies his scientific technology by using his imperfect shrinking ability to eliminate the person who raised the question. Witnessing the reckless biological experiments performed on a live sheep and his behavior that treats human life as cheap as a fly’s, we realize this is unethical and hope a hero will appear soon to stop him.
However, if we rewind time a bit, the person who first developed the organism-shrinking technology is Dr. Hank Pym, the creator of the Ant-Man suit.
Yet we do not consider his research unethical. This is because the film only shows Dr. Darren Cross’s experiments and reveals nothing about the earlier experiments conducted by Dr. Pym. Dr. Hank Pym developed not only the organism-shrinking technology but also a method to control ants via electrical signals. Using this technology, he issues commands to the ants, and they have no choice but to obey him. To Dr. Pym, the ants are merely tools to handle his tedious tasks. As evidence of this, unlike Scott Lang, who gives the ants names, he refers to them only by numbers. While Dr. Darren Cross deserves criticism for conducting unethical experiments, Dr. Pym could arguably be considered even more unethical. Despite his unethical experiments and the way he destroys the ants’ normal lives, the film is impressive in how it cleverly hides this fact from the audience. Since people tend to believe only what they see, we naturally assume that only the villain, Dr. Darren Cross, is unethical, while we turn a blind eye to the unethical actions of Dr. Hank Pym—who stands on the side of the heroes—because we perceive him as acting to save the world.
Furthermore, the protagonist, Ant-Man, uses his ability to control ants to cross water on a raft made of ants or to send ants charging to block enemy bullets. Although countless ants die as a result, neither the protagonist nor any member of the audience mourns their loss. While this is an act of disregarding life similar to that of Dr. Darren Cross, we apply a double standard simply because he is a hero.
Throughout the film, Dr. Pym often treats people as mere means to an end. His goal is to thwart Dr. Darren Cross’s ambition to use organism-shrinking technology for military purposes and to destroy that technology. However, Dr. Pym tempts Scott Lang to become Ant-Man by saying, “I believe everyone deserves a second chance. If you help me, I’ll help you get back with your daughter. (…) This isn’t about saving the world. It’s about saving them.” He uses these words to entice Scott Lang to become Ant-Man. He persuades Scott—who struggles to find work due to his criminal record—with the promise of a fresh start, telling him that thwarting Darren Cross’s plan isn’t about saving the world, but about saving his daughter. In fact, Scott Lang already knows that Dr. Pym is using him as a pawn, and in the movie, he says, “I’m just a disposable asset. That’s why I’m here. You have to realize this: he’d rather lose this fight than lose you.” In reality, Dr. Pym’s daughter was more qualified to be Ant-Man than Scott Lang, but because of his experience of losing his wife, Dr. Pym does not want to lose his daughter and thus seeks to use Scott Lang as a means to his own ends. We have learned countless times how unethical it is to use people as means to an end. Yet in the movie, we raise no objections to Dr. Pym’s actions of using people as tools; rather, we are subtly led to believe that sacrifice is inevitable to become a hero.
Finally, this is a problem found in most superhero movies: in our society, preventing and punishing crime is the role of the state. Only the state can punish individuals according to the law. Yet Ant-Man does not report Dr. Darren Cross to the police to stop his ambitions. Instead, he breaks into the company where Darren Cross works, blows it up, and, after a duel with him, enters his suit to destroy the internal mechanisms and eliminate him. Because he is a hero, he places himself above the law, arbitrarily destroying another’s property and carrying out a death sentence. Despite this, we cheer him on.
Conclusion
“Can a hero rise above the law simply because he is a hero?” That was the question raised in this article. The answer is, of course, “No.” Yet, even though we know the obvious answer, we fail to recognize it. Movies introduce villains to facilitate the plot, hiding the truth from the audience and leading them to condone or accept unethical behavior simply because the character is a hero. Many people, like me, grew up watching superhero movies and still enjoy them today. In this process, many people accept unethical behavior without recognizing it, and there are cases where they fail to judge what is wrong as wrong. That is why we need to be aware of this. Perhaps, until now, many things have been condoned under the name of “hero” and taken for granted. We may also have accepted falsehoods as facts. What is clear is that a hero cannot rise above the law simply because they are a hero.
