The 2011 documentary Superheroes opens with a series of comic book panels that become illustrated as an anonymous voice narrates. “We were out on a patrol and I hear a scream in an alley,” the voice begins. “We start going into this dark alley, really dark. You know, the screams start getting louder. As we got closer and closer, they next thing I saw was this woman, and this guy was stomping on her head. And I got in front of my partner and I just shouted at the guy. I said, ‘Hey!’ And then he bolted so fast.”
The images flash by quicker now as two superheroes chase after the culprit. “He ducks into another alley and we back him up against the wall,” the voice continues. “He tries to get past us, my partner says, ‘Hey, don’t me make me take you down.’ And I have my hands up, open palms, kind of like a movie-type stance, and I just tell him, ‘Hey, man, back up, don’t go no place, just calm down, stay where you’re at.’ And he tried to get past us but we just blocked him in. All of a sudden, a squad car comes up. She puts him in handcuffs, throws him in the back. And he ended up getting thirty-four years.”
Despite the outfits worn by the narrator and his partner – as well as the illustrated nature of the visuals – the pair are not fictional comic book characters but real-world people who dress in costumes and patrol the streets of their city. And they are not alone. When Superheroes was released in 2011, a “Real Life Superhero” movement stretched across the United States, from New York to California, Florida to Utah. While director Michael Barnett intersplices the stories of multiple real life superheroes within the documentary, the narrator from the opening sequence is arguably the “glue” that holds the narrative together.
The stocky Mr. Xtreme – dressed in body armor and military fatigues, wearing a green helmet and goggles – lives in San Diego and resembles a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle more than Batman or Spider-Man. He is a member of the Xtreme Justice League but admits that he is currently the only member. His book collection includes Cheap Shots, Ambushes, and Other Lessons; World’s Deadliest Fighting Secrets; and The Brutal Art of Ripping, Poking, and Pressing Vital Targets, and he claims to have developed his own “Super Xtreme Death Metal Fighting System.” Scenes of him participating in a Brazilian Jujitsu competition in Superheroes, however, reveal that his fighting skills are limited at best.
“I don’t know man,” a San Diego police officer says of Mr. Xtreme. “I mean, I think it’s a good thing as long as he stays safe. If he gets into any problems, you know, he’s got to call the police because he’s got tasers and stuff but sometimes people carry guns and knives and stuff.”
A lieutenant in the SDPD is more cynical. “When the average citizen attempts to take the law into their own hands, they’re doing it for maybe noble reasons,” she begins. “But because they’re impassioned by something, perhaps they’re not using the most clear judgement or the most common sense. And anytime anyone acts without common sense or without good judgment, good things rarely happen.”
Although Michael Barnett treats each person that he interviews in Superheroes with respect, reactions to the documentary inevitably elicit differing viewpoints. There is a lot of skepticism regarding the Real Life Superhero movement, for instance, as well as sympathy and concern for its members. Then there are those who consider real life superheroes as “delusional,” building a fantasy world for themselves based on comic books, while others find their outfits and personalities humorous.
“I’ve been maced before,” Mr. Xtreme’s sometimes partner Vigilante-Spider tells the camera, giving credence to many of the reactions. “It’s unpleasant. I have been tased by my own stun gun before. Again, equally unpleasant.”
While Mr. Xtreme does indeed generate skepticism and sympathy – and may even come across as delusional and comical at times – he is in fact well-grounded and motivated by a simple desire to help people, especially when so many often choose otherwise. Early in Superheroes, Mr. Xtreme recites the story of Katherine “Kitty” Genovese, who was “assaulted, brutally attacked, raped and ultimately murdered” in the New York borough of Queens on March 13, 1964. Thirty-eight people living in a nearby apartment building heard Genovese’s scream but did nothing about it.
“I have a picture of Kitty Genovese on my uniform,” Mr. Xtreme says. “Thirty-eight witnesses, it represents the thirty-eight people that shut the window, pulled the blinds down. The people that just didn’t do anything. Things like that just shouldn’t happen but unfortunately it still does. There’s real faces behind all this violence, all this madness, all this chaos that’s going on out there. That’s part of the reason why this movement exists.”
Mr. Xtreme relates similar tales throughout Superheroes, offering insights into why he dresses in costume and patrols the streets of San Diego. “This dirt lot, a lot of college students use it as a shortcut,” he explains at one point. “Back in October of last year, a young female college student was followed by six men. They pinned her down and sexually assaulted her. I myself, I wish I was there that night. This senseless violence like this, what happened to this victim, it makes me feel very angry. It kind of also leaves me in a state of disillusionment about society in general.”
Later, Mr. Xtreme and his new partner Urban Avenger are seen standing on a street corner with lit candles in their hands. “Early Friday morning, a young girl, she’s only fifteen years old, was gunned down at the park right down the street from us,” he says. “She was just hanging out with some friends. No suspects, no arrests have been made. We’re out here holding this candlelight vigil to show support for the family. Fifteen years old. Her life hasn’t begun yet.”
Mr. Xtreme may not be capable of preventing crime from taking place, but he does try his best to prevent it. When a serial groper in Chula Vista attacked a dozen women over a span of multiple months, Mr. Xtreme and his superhero colleagues hung fliers in the neighborhood and spoke about sex offenders at a local community function. While Mr. Xtreme was not directly involved in the culprit’s arrest, Chula Vista Deputy Mayor Rudy Ramirez praised his efforts nonetheless.
“I really treasure that anybody comes forward with passion towards public service or doing something contributing to their community,” Ramirez says in Superheroes. “That’s a wonderful thing when people do that and we don’t have enough of that. The work that Mr. Xtreme has done with posting up fliers certainly contributed to an awareness that could possibly have had something to do with the capture of the Chula Vista groper. It’s all stuff that contributes, I think, in a positive way. Public awareness is something where he can really be very valuable and so I want to encourage them to continue and to do their work in a way that is safe for themselves and everybody involved.”
While Superheroes opens with a narration by Mr. Xtreme accompanied by illustrated panels that depict him as a comic book superhero, it ends with what is considered the premier comic book event in the country. As over 100,000 fans – many dressed as their favorite fictional superhero – pour through the door at the annual San Diego Comic-Con, Mr. Xtreme is a mile away, handing out food and water to the homeless. Like with Comic-Con, it’s also a meet-up of sorts as Mr. Xtreme has invited real life superheroes from other cities to assist with his efforts.
“We all need superheroes in our lives,” a homeless woman tells the camera. “People like these is how come we all live and survive. They take care of us. And if people say they ain’t real, then they don’t know what they’re talking about. Because this is true, this is real. We all need superheroes. And they’re the superheroes right there. We need them more than they’ll ever know.”
Mr. Xtreme doesn’t have any superpowers and his fighting skills are suspect. He is often met with skepticism and concern, and some may even consider him delusional or comical. But Mr. Xtreme is a “true believer” when it comes to taking a stand and helping those who need it – not within the pages of a comic book but the real world outside our windows – making him a legitimate superhero in the process.
Anthony Letizia