Review - Confessions of a Superhero
Superheroes are a curious creature largely because they are such a specific fantasy. There is really no real world equivalent for them — unlike fairy tales of old, superheroes are not supernatural ways to explain natural phenomena or to pose moral lessons to children. Despite some roots in mythology and tall tales — as well as scattered adventure fiction — superheroes really are a unique 20th century fictional construct with little possibility of existing in reality.
Matt Ogens’ documentary film “Confessions of a Superhero” tackles these notions in a fringe way, by focusing on people who dress up as famous superheroes and loiter on Hollywood Boulevard, hoping for tips as they pose for photos with tourists. A lot of people living in the area characterize the superheroes as panhandlers and even many of the superheroes acknowledge that they are. But what starts out as an examination of an odd and isolated social phenomenon shifts into a study of a more general one — an honest and sometimes depressing look at the compulsion to seek attention and, ultimately, fame to the point where the practice is an extreme dysfunction.
At the center of the film is Christopher Dennis, a longtime street Superman who demands a level of professionalism from the other practitioners, often seeming like the voice of authority at the center of a chaotic configuration. Also on hand are Maxwell Allen, who as Batman has gained a reputation for directness and a bit of danger; Jennifer Gehrt, who as Wonder Woman finds an income while she attempts to live out her small town, big dreams fantasies; and Joe McQueen, an amiable former homeless man who is serious about getting acting work and seems dubious about the veracity of some of his co-horts.
The film is structured in such a way that each superhero is presented within his own construct, but slowly the filmmakers move back to present the wider scope in which each operates. Family members are introduced, spouses, girlfriends, and, with each step of the way, the audience is left questioning not only how much of the life each superhero presents is exactly as stated, but, in fact, to what degree the superhero might be delusional. What starts out with the possibility of being an amusing depiction of eccentrics turns into a more studied look a person’s inability to tell the difference between reality and fiction — and to see how they have placed themselves too firmly into the latter. Only McQueen seems to have any real grasp of his place in the world and the difficult task of moving past it.
What becomes very apparent at a certain point in the film is that the rest of the world can help frame the fictions within which people can retreat — it is not so much their own creation, but an example of them taking an opportunity to build upon more universal myths.
For Dennis, it’s the equation of an obsession with the sweeping societal legends of Superman, a vague resemblance to Christopher Reeve and a surprising relationship to a deceased actress — as well as a supportive but equally as odd girlfriend — that buttresses his descent. Allen, meanwhile, builds on the need for mystique and building fear and begins to believe his own version of the truth so much that it’s pathological. By contrast, Gehrt’s single-minded pursuit is like an invisible thread of understanding in her life that doesn’t seem based on any reality of pursuing the Hollywood dream, but a sort of arrested development that never moved past the fantasies she had as a child.
By the end of the film, the superheroes are left to their own worlds — places that they have forged for themselves of walls that protect them psychologically. Self-made matrixes, as it were. The people in the film are treated with immense respect and an admirable gentleness — but it still comes off as very sad regardless of the dignity they are given. As a study of the things we tell ourselves in order to excel, of the dreams we latch onto despite all indications that they really are impossible despite motivational thinking, “Confessions of a Superhero” is a profound look at something that is probably inside each of us.
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