Monday, May 10, 2010

If I was Daredevil

If I were Dardevil...

Daredevil or Matthew Micheal Murdock is a Marvel Comics Character portrayed by Ben Affleck in the 2003 Daredevil movie. Matt Murdock was abandoned by his mother and raised by his father the boxer "Battling Jack" Murdock. Interestingly as far as I know it wasn't the acquisition of his powers that caused him to become a super hero. He was just happy to become a lawyer in order to help those who needed help. It was the death of his father that inspired him to become a master martial artists and get a more tangible revenge on the criminal element. So from then on he took on a costume inspired by his childhood nick name "Daredevil" Yep a costume with tiny little horns on them like you would find on a devil costume. If I'm not mistaken early super hero costumes were actually inspired by circus performer costumes.

Daredevil acquired his powers from having radioactive waste dumped on him. It destroyed his sight but enhanced the rest of his senses even giving him senses humans do not possess. His senses are enhanced to a degree that as an example he can read printed documents by feeling the ink on the page or that he can track a person by their scent even in a crowd. He can also identify all the ingredients in the food he eats or hear people's heart beats at a distance. As impressive as that is his added senses are equally as impressive. Most well known is his "radar sense" that gives him a 360 degree "view" of the world around him similar to the way radar does. Another related ability is his capacity to sense other forms of electromagnetic magnetic energy like x-rays, gamma rays and radio waves. He can even sense colors by that means. I have to admit that is a new thing for me. I haven't read a Daredevil comic in awhile so I have no idea when he started doing that.

I shouldn't neglect the fighting skills he acquired. In the movie it seems he taught himself to fight but in the comic book he learned from a blind "mystical martial artist" know as Stick. From that time he spent with him he created his own fighting style that took advantage of his enhanced senses. So he's not just a guy with enhanced senses he's one of the world's best hand to hand fighters.

With powers like Daredevil's I would have become a private detective. As much as it would be tempting to become a chef or a perfume inventor I would have to do something to help people. If you've seen the movie you might remember the scene where he is tired and wants to get some sleep but he can hear a woman getting raped. He ultimately decided to sleep. You see when he takes his costume off that he has a number of scars from various fights. He goes to sleep in a sensory deprivation tank so he can't hear what's going on in the city. He doesn't just ignore the woman callously. He's torn by his decision but as we can see from the scars he bears that he's learned that he just can't run around saving lives twenty four hours a day without paying a price so he lives with the burden of deciding who to help and who not to help. It's clear to me in the movie that even though his father's death lead him to fighting injustice it's the constant awareness of people's pain that keeps him driven. I can sympathize with that and that's why I would become a private detective. I mean other than not knowing any mystical martial artists I can train with I find myself preferring to solve mysteries. Don't get me wrong the enhanced senses give an incredible advantage in combat, I just would rather spend my time solving problems rather than escalating them with unnecessary violence. After all with the enhanced senses you're basically a walking crime lab. You're your own forensic department. Why not take advantage of that and leave the fighting to others. Also I'm at a point in my life when I realize I don't have to do everything myself that in fact the world doesn't really work that way. You get the most done when you gather others to help you in a cause so although I would still fight if I had too I would spend more time tipping off police then actually doing the take downs myself. Or at least I would hire someone to do it for me.

If I had Daredevil powers I may also consider working part time at a medical clinic. It is now officially accepted that dogs can detect cancer in a person. Imagine a human with similar and even greater senses. Even without going to medical school I could soon figure out what passes for a healthy human and what doesn't. I could conduct the exams under a doctor's supervision. This way I wouldn't have to go to medical school and I could start helping right away. Also like I said about being a detective I'd be my own medical lab. What doctor would pass on that?

With what I would do aside superhero comic books are driven mostly by action. I'm sure if Daredevil would have been invented in a different genre he would have ended up more as a Sherlock Holmes style crime-fighter. He would use his super senses to help him outwit the criminals he faces and only use his fighting skills as a back up. But like I said since super hero comics are mostly action driven he became more action oriented.

No comments:

Post a Comment