Not so long ago, my friend Jess strongly suggested that I check out "Confessions of a Super-Hero". I thought it was going to be some sort of comedy show or something related to convention goers. Nope.

Instead we're taken to California where the viewer meets the world of Hollywood streetwalkers. I think it is entirely appropriate to call these folks panhandlers, but they seem to state that, "we work for tips". The difference between these folks and most unemployed income-achievers is that the group we see here dress up as superheroes. It only got weirder from here on out.

I would suggest watching the movie yourself. I find it rather fascinating. Hulu has it for free here. (Since it is rated 'R', you will have to click a little thing saying that you agree that you're over 18. But it's only one extra click and it's free, what do ya want?)

All good? All watched? Good, because I'm too lazy to warn you about spoilers.

First impression? I thought these folks were a little silly. Look, I'm the first one to admit that I've donned a pair of tights in my day. Okay, more than one. I've dressed up for at least four comic book movies and a few others beside. I do not think I would do it on a day to day basis. Certainly not in the California sun. (Tights are hot. Especially when you pair it with a cowl and cape... it gets toasty.)

Here's the thing. You want to wear whatever you want to wear? Fine. I may not approve of your attire, but who the sam hill am I? You wanna wear fishnets for leggings? Whatever. You think Marilyn Monroe had the best fashion sense ever and you wish to don a white dress like hers everyday? So be it. You care to dress as Superman everyday and try to squeeze some money out of it? Well...

To start with, these characters are copyrighted. DC and Marvel actually share a trademark on the phrase "Super Hero". A lot of time and work have gone into crafting and caring for these creations, so I'm not a huge fan of other folks making a buck just from dressing up as them. That's the first thing that gets me.

Secondly, they are panhandlers. I understand that acting jobs are hard to come by, but are they filling out tax forms for this? Is this really a viable source of income? They seem to be doing alright, but it certainly isn't a vocation that any guidance counselor would recommend.

Really though, whatever other complaints and criticisms I may have about these folks get smooshed under my last concern. Everything else I can just chalk up to people living their lives differently than I would choose to. I wouldn't give my work schedule to anyone, so why complain if they do things differently. I may not understand it, but for the most part I can just let them do their thing and I'll do mine. Except for that one last, gorilla-sized complaint I've been saving up.

If you're going to dress up like someone else, you gotta play the part. Don't go out pretending to be a character and then cause disrespect for that character. Do right by the creation that you're portraying. Hulk doesn't go around trying to beat up kids. Wonder Woman is quite happy to twirl for the cameras. Probably the best example of this is Superman. I may think he's too into his hobby (which for me, is saying something), but he at least respects the character. You see him smoke in costume (which I'm not a fan of at all), but that's in the privacy of his bedroom. You don't see him smoking out in public and he is quick to get other characters to knock it off. (Some contentious points could be made for Wolverine and his cigars, but since Marvel now won't let him smoke anything in his comic and you don't talk to anyone dressed as Wolvie, I'll just let it go.)

Batman gets most of my ire. He's abrasive, he's confrontational, and he's looking for a fight. If you see this guy in his therapy sessions, you get the impression that he's trying very hard to come across as a tough guy. Claiming he's sorry for the people he "may have possibly" killed when he was "maybe under the employ of people who might have been mob figures", blahblahblah.

The laws where these folks operate dictate that you the "customer" doesn't have to tip and that the characters can't approach the civilians. They can talk to them, they can wave, but the tip/picture/posing has to be initiated by them. Well, Batman doesn't play nice in this area. He'll go after people who don't tip. He'll verbally berate them until he gets money. He'll swear, he'll follow... he's just not a polite guy. That doesn't fly to well with me.

Batman was created in 1939. Seventy years ago. If you're going to go out dressed as a character who hundreds of thousands of people have labored to upkeep and enrich with stories and tales, pay respect to that heritage. Don't go whining like some simpering thug because people aren't paying you for standing out on the street. All these kids out there who see you want to have a hero that they can look up to and respect. Not someone they run away from crying because you were yelling and threatening those who didn't treat you exactly how they wanted. Criminals are supposed to fear Batman, not little kids.  I'm just a fan, and I care about this stuff.  They're getting income from this, so ideally they'd care more than I.

I think the same can be said for Christianity. I don't think that I have encountered anyone who strikes me as glaringly hypocritical, but my coworkers tell me they exist. Apparently the rudest customers in the world are those who have just come out of church and are celebrating their days off with the families and friends. From what I've been told, they check their kindess at the pews.

For all the love and kindness we're supposed to exude, there's always plenty of opportunities to show our ugly side. We're not perfect, I get that. We have our flaws. Still, it's all well and good to sit and read in our bibles about loving one another. It's an entirely different thing to let someone merge in front of you in traffic or let the frazzled gal take the last seat on the bus. I ain't perfect, I'll tell ya that up front. But as a wise woman said to me? We're broken. We sin. Okay, get over it. Move on. How are you going to try to improve? What steps are you going to take to be a better person and get closer to that God-lead person you want to be?

Mainly I hope that Christians will be the kind of people that they're called to be. That we won't just look the part, but we'll actually take steps to fully own the person that we want to be. In short? Be more like Superman than Batman. Shoot, you wanna be Christian? Be better than Superman. (You don't need the pecs or the X-Ray vision. At least I hope not.)

-PC, wouldn't mind flying away from it all every once in a while. Y'know, gettin' "Up, Up, and Away!"

I think there's a fine line to balance when it comes to punishing someone. Sometimes the angry side of me just wants quick and simple justice.

Take Lai Jiansheng, for example. I want him in jail now. The fellow he pushed off of a bridge has been charged with "disturbing public order", and Jiansheng has been charged with "causing intentional injury". There are all kinds of things about ths story that bother me. There's Chen, the jumper, who wanted to kill himself (a bad idea), but wanted attention on the way out (also something I'm not keen on). But the very idea that someone would willingly push another person off of a bridge? What the sam hill is that? Almost as disturbing is that there are people online who are encouraging others to behave the same way. They claim that jumpers like this "deserve it". Call me crazy, but I was always told that hitting someone, or trying to kill someone, was a bad thing. That you shouldn't wave to a crowd after you've pushed someone off of a bridge, let alone do it at all. Basically, I want Jiansheng in jail. Now. For attempted murder.

Then there's a guy at work who has been trying to pull quite the little sting job on us. Several hundred dollars of items have been purchased with checks. Empty account checks. I call that fraud. I don't really care about the guy getting help (he's buying non-essentials. We're not talking Robin Hood antics here), I just want to see him arrested. Punished.

Micah 6:8 instructs, "He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth Jehovah require of thee, but to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God?" God's shown all this mercy to us, and we're supposed to do the same to others. Myself, I'm quite happy to jump straight to the "justly" and skim over the "kindness".

Perhaps culture is too blame. Maybe too many violent comic books have rotted my brain. Personally, I think it is just human nature to want to get back at someone who has wronged you. People do all sorts of morbid things to get back at others who have hurt their loved ones. (They tell stories about dads cleaning guns when a date for their daughter comes over. Stories tend to have at least some truth to them.)

I think it could all be linked to payback. Someone infringes on our happiness and we're only to happy to try to make them suffer in return. Of course, if ya listen to Ghandi, "A tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye leaves the world toothless and blind." Wisdom dictates I think about it, read scripture, pray, and consult comic books.

Look to Batman Begins and you'll hear that vengeance is about making yourself feel better, and justice is about balance. I think we all tend to be a little to vengeance-focused and not quite forgiving-focused. Something I certainly haven't mastered yet.