April 1, 2004
'NUFF SAID (via Will Herzog):
Quote from Spider-Man to cling outside AG office (EDWARD FITZPATRICK, March 31, 2004, Providence Journal)
When the former attorney general, Sheldon Whitehouse, took office in 1999, he installed a bronze plaque outside 150 S. Main St. declaring: "I will not cease from mental fight. Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand. . . ."The words are from one of Whitehouse's favorite poems -- written by the noted early 19th-century English poet William Blake.
[Attorney General Patrick C. ] Lynch, who took office last year, is now preparing to install a new plaque that declares: "With great power comes great responsibility." The words are from Stan Lee, the 20th-century American comic book pioneer who created Spider-Man.
Lynch said he was inspired by his 6-year-old son, Graham -- an avid Spider-Man fan who tugged on his father's pants and said those words moments before Lynch's inauguration in January 2003.
While the quote has personal meaning, Lynch said his press secretary, Michael J. Healey, and his chief of staff, Leonard I. Lopes, wondered if the plaque was such a good idea.
Lynch, 39, said that during his 2002 campaign some people commented on how young he seemed, and he said, "[Healey] hoped that a general officer of the state of Rhode Island wouldn't use a quote from a comic book hero. He held out hope that it was from Shakespeare or the Bible -- that Spider-Man had taken it."
"I was hoping it would be some cat like Thucydides," Healey said, referring to the ancient Greek historian.
But Healey said he did the research and found that the words were, in fact, attributable to comic book character Peter Parker's beloved Uncle Ben.
"He was dejected," Lynch recalled. "He said, 'You win, but you aren't going to use it are you?' I said, 'Let's put the sign up.' It's the right thing when you talk about this office: We are entrusted with enormous responsibilities."
Appropriate that it's in Providence, because it's always seemed providential that Spider-Man was the first big post-9/11 movie release. Posted by Orrin Judd at April 1, 2004 11:30 PM
Excelsior.
Posted by: M Ali Choudhury at April 2, 2004 3:39 AM". . . when historians sift through the pop-culture of America looking for hints and clues, they will notice that a character born in Vietnam-era 1963 reached a mass appeal in 2002, shortly before the Second Iraq War, and they will pay particular attention to the recurring phrase:
"With great power comes great responsibility.
"Go ahead; argue this is a sign of Western self-delusion, or a statement of solemn principles - that’s not my point. I’m just saying that that simple homily means something about the culture from which it came. Not: with great power comes great opportunity for burying your foes beneath the spiked wheels of your juggernaut! or with great power comes booty like you would - not - believe! Of course, the next question is, responsibility to do what? And there the arguments start. The EUians would mean we have a responsibility to sign Kyoto and join the ICC; others would insist we have a responsibility to reduce global income inequality, or smash states that are on a crash course to develop weapons of mass destruction. You could say that Spider-Man’s credo is the central dilemma of a unipolar world. But that would be silly.
"Accurate, but silly.
"If people can get PhDs today on the diaries of 18th century plantation wives (Matriarchs and Mansions: privilege and sexual politics in a slave-based culture) then they certainly can get a doctoral degree in 2102 dissecting a culture’s approach to the relation between power and responsibility, and why that concept popped up in 2002. They’ll probably miss the point, because the point is simple: do good, because that’s what good people do.
"We’re never as good as our myths, but surely it says something that our myths are good."
Posted by: Mike Morley at April 2, 2004 9:32 AMAs a Tolkien Geek, I must protest--Fellowship of the Ring was the first big movie release after 9/11, and that was similarly providential. And, as you'll recall, it had a similar line that meshes very well with the current era.
Return of the King was the first major movie released after the Iraq War, and it had an overlooked line that summed it up pretty well: "Stand, men of the West!"
Posted by: Timothy at April 2, 2004 9:47 AMMike:
That's excellent, thanks.
One thing to note though is many people, like John Kerry, would prefer to duck the responsibility our power imposes.
Posted by: oj at April 2, 2004 9:47 AM". . . when historians sift through the pop-culture of America looking for hints and clues, they will notice that a character born in Vietnam-era 1963 reached a mass appeal in 2002
Lileks is a good columnist but I disagree with him here.
Spidey's been popular since his creation. The movie just proved it.