The netflix daredevil series is pretty great. Especially for a superhero show. Right amount of violence, style, flair. And it feels like (even though it’s not the case) Daredevil is more of an anti-villain than a superhero, and I dig that so much more than batman and superman’s b.s.

Batman and superman are overhyped. There, I said it.

There’s a scene mid-way through the series, once Daredevil starts exploring his relationship with his love interest, and she’s starting to catch on to who he really is and what’s becoming, and of course it scares her. Daredevil, being the ballsiest bamf in NYC, is of course brutally honest.

Which is actually a similarity between him and kingpin. They both explore their romance in extremely similar ways) and the writing’s pretty kickass in likening the bamf levels of both characters, making them perfectly parallel, and even gives both the archvillain and protagonist the same dream, but gives both different backgrounds and resources establishes how they operate. That’s the difference between the two. (And that’s why I love good guys who aren’t good because it’s good to be good, and bad guys who have a good reason for being bad.)

Both characters are narcassistic. And equally as unpsychopathic. I like how their relationships work out.

After DareDevil admits that he likes to hurt people. He likes the violence (this’s actually why he’s a superhero – it’s said he’s got a touch of the devil. And, maybe it’s christian-derrived or not, who cares – the point is daredevil’s MO is to push his gifts and love of violence and uses it for good, without going too far. It’s like a man who loves to steal, but decides to steal from the rich, and not enough to make them poor, but also way different than robin hood.)

Well this of course scares his love interest Rosario Dawson. And it should, too. Rosario is a nurse – a healer – and she’s lived a life plagued by people who perpetrate unnecessary violence. Of course she’d abhor it as a concept. And what’s best, is she questions DareDevil if this is actually true. She questions it because she doesn’t wanna believe it, and of course, smart, lawyer DD is well aware of the weight of his answers.

Yet without apology, he doesn’t deny it anyway. (Sign of a great human? Putting forth truth, unabashed?)

Whats interesting to me here is when its important to not compromise and when its important to adjust. Says a lot about the character and what moves them. Anyway
Rosario knows DareDevil’s dreams, and DD’s ultimate ambition. Rosario even almost says she loves him, it’s on the tip of her tongue (it’s excellent how that’s done, it raises expectations that this’s a conversation about love before it dives into being one. Piques the audience)

She goes “I don’t know if you’re really the man I” (pause) “-that I believe you to be.”

This is part of the trouble with revealing an aspect of someone. But it’s still part of the magic of connecting. Growths lead to novel things.

DareDevil starts to get frustrated. Sez, “What do you want from me?”

She goes “What you do is important” she doesn’t want to change him, or make him a thing for her.

And then she unloads, “I just don’t think I can let myself fall in love with someone who’s . . . .so damn close to becoming what he hates.”

Which is a beautiful line.

Daredevil goes “You’re right . . .” *Starts moving* “. . . you shouldn’t.”

And then he walks away.

Kingpin’s relationship follows the same model.

I’ve got no closing point for that. Just, hello, this’s a superhero show, and it’s finally got deepening developing relationships with some of the boldest personality types possible. Which other comic flicks do this – Iron Man? The Watchmen?

No, it’s usually the case that the subject of a hero’s love can’t know their identity. And, all I’m thinking now is, the biggest tragedy of these characters is that they will usually live and die alone, doing what they were driven to do, being loved, abhorred, and painted, for standing out as aspects of what they are. It’s rare to find a character who leads a campaign under an alias, who’s also able to court and form true antagonism to loneliness. When you do dangerous, selfish, reckless things, when you’re that into your self, even if people say they love you – they might be Lois Lane, and have a courted and distant understanding that superman is somewhere between Clark Kent and SuperMan (which’s why Superman will always call Mom, mom.)

And, the audience knows that’s probably not the end. But that’s part of the conflict, and the tension that makes this so much more interesting than DD just getting . . . less DD. The strength of DD’s love for what he has to do overrules what potential this nurse can offer, and, to be true to himself, DD has to fight his own battle. Of course this’ll scare Dawson, but doesn’t the audience want to keep paying attention to see if something can grow instead of being boxed, and how?

I like it, and think this resonates because in the real world, where we don’t put on strange outfits to do strange things (unless going to Coachella.) I think to make real connections, you have to be brave and find the right opportunities to be bold about yourself. You have to accept that some people will despise and paint you poorly for trying to do the best towards your dreams. That should be ok, so long as folks pick the right folks. (Maybe the ones who really deserve to be in your life won’t lash out and tell you to not be you as you stumble and run through life’s journey.)

I also think boys (and me) admire daredevil cause he doesn’t trip or get it twisted. He doesn’t give up his dream, or get boxed into being one of his aspects.

Which doesn’t have to be the worst thing in the world, either. Tons of people settle for actually only being what they’re known for. I just think DareDevil’s a much more interesting superhero plotline if he can be DareDevil and find troo wuv for everything that he is, and so far that seems to be happening.