It's all about identifying with a protagonist, unless it isn't.

[smurasaki]

 Ever try to put your finger on exactly why you like what you like? It seems like it should be easy, but it really isn't, at least for me.  (It doesn't help that there are many things I like even though they are full of problems. Just try to explain "Everything is wrong with this, but it is so awesome!")

An anime discussion on a friend's dreamwidth

Comments

[baeraad]

I have nothing much to add, I'm afraid. You're perfectly right - it's not about how unrealistically powerful the hero is, it's about whether the story gives the people around him some kind of right to exist.

While I am not the greatest of Superman fans, I also should point out that whether or not he's annoying depends very much on the writer - in theory, he's got a large and interesting supporting cast, all of whom run around doing interesting things on their own. It's just that creating interesting character-driven stories of mystery, intrigue and complex moral choices is hard, and creating one-dimensional stories about Superman being right about everything and breaking stuff is easy, so we get far more of the latter than the former. :P

[smurasaki]

Oh, yes, Superman is rather a special case because the set up to have stories that rely on his supporting cast, or even on his skills as a reporter rather than his powers is right there. And sometimes writers do take advantage of the fact. Or they just have Lois kidnapped by supervillains. *sigh*