Fanboys Anonymous

The San Francisco area was saved today as BATKID came to the rescue. To fulfill his wish of being Batman for a day, the Make-A-Wish Foundation set up a spectacle for 5-year-old Miles Scott, who is in remission after being diagnosed with leukemia.

Credit: Jeff Chiu / AP Photo

The request went viral and over 12,000 people got involved, including members of the police force and media outlets. The San Francisco Chronicle (dubbed the Gotham City Chronicle, of course) put out a special edition to go along with the festivities, which included a mock crime scene.

Rolling up in a Batmobile (driven by Batman, not Miles, of course), Batkid helped save a damsel in distress, foiled the plans of the Riddler and the Penguin, and was given the key to the city by Mayor Ed Lee, amongst other things.

It seems over-the-top and a little melodramatic to point out, but things like this really do speak volumes to the power of superheroes and how they affect the human spirit. We have so much horrible stuff going on in the world all the time, and in particular, the news media relishes this and predominantly showcases all the bad. But no matter how many bad apples there are, deep down, people are essentially good. Oftentimes, it just takes the proper motivation.

The superhero genre is often talking about the importance of symbols. "People need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy," says Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins. Although they're fictional characters, their incredible popularity is not just because of how entertaining they are, but what they do to our hearts.

This is why "fanboys" exist. These characters mean something to us on a more complex level than simply being fun. They represent the ability to be incorruptible—the best that we can possibly be. They are not real, but the morals and the attitudes that they exhibit are, particularly to the young, impressionable minds of the children that follow them.

We argue about these things because we're so emotionally attached to them that we feel a sense of responsibility to honor what they mean to us. That's why we get upset if the characters are taken in directions that we feel don't live up to their purpose. This is why people get tattoos or name their kids after these characters, and argue how Superman and Batman should be symbols of hope or why Spider-Man can teach the shy kids that there's a life outside of being picked on.

Miles Scott has been dealt a heavy burden with his illness, but what is his wish? It isn't to hang out with a celebrity or to do anything that only he benefits from. It's to try to become someone who helps OTHER people. Whatever the future holds in store for Miles, he has already provided an admirable example of what the entire point of heroism is.

Batkid t-shirts are being sold with the proceeds going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. For more information, call 415-982-9474 or visit www.SF.Wish.org.