I love a good summer blockbuster. I go to the movies to escape and enjoy a rollicking good time. I had just such plans when my kids and I went to see Spiderman 3 this past week, but I got a bit more than that.
The formula for your basic comic book flick is what is often called the Myth of Redemptive Violence. It works like this:
1) The world is at peace.
2) An evil arises that upsets the balance of this peaceful world.
3) A hero arises to confront the evil and vanquishes it and the world returns to its normal peaceful state.
This should sound familiar. It's the plot of many of our cultural stories, from Popeye to Superman, and it's widely espoused by politicians. It's also markedly UnChristian. In the Christian worldview:
1) The world is not at peace, but needs to be redeemed.
2) Evil is not external, but is part of us all.
3) Violence will not vanquish the evil for violence is the problem, not the solution.
I was amazed that all of the above themes are present in Spiderman 3. I don't want to spoil the film for any who haven't seen it, but Peter Parker's struggle is with himself as much as any external foe and the key to bringing peace is not violence, but forgiveness.