Lifted straight off the script of a 1960s Western; the idealised world, in which a few true and honest men muster the means, against all the odds, to always save the day. If pushed I really couldn't pinpoint the precise script but then, on the other hand, it's the sort of line that's almost certainly been roughly approximated in a great number of films, Westerns or otherwise.
Ah, the escapism of Hollywood, a place where wrongs are inevitably righted, evil usurped by the forces for good, another day snatched back from the very brink of disaster, by those with an unerring desire to seek out justice for all. Watched thousands of times upon the silver screen, re-enacted thousands of times in the playgrounds of children, over decades. If only life were quite so simple.
Alas, there comes a time when many of us are forced to face a rather more stark reality. Admittedly, it's unlikely to be one in which, for example, cyber-robots have declared war upon humankind, but the flip side of this is that neither is the solution just a conveniently scripted couple of hours away. Our's is a world of accumulated greyness, in which the bold, "hand of history upon my shoulder," and other over-rehearsed speeches are often delivered by characters who appear to be far more representative of the darker forces, where often those who enforce the laws of the land or convey the 'intentions' of god(s) might fit more comfortably within the disingenuous than the saviour's role.
If only, we might lapse into thinking, whilst watching global forces conspire to do the right thing upon the silver screen, the real world possessed a few of those magnificent specimens. If only there were a few more characters who were prepared to ride roughshod, over the duplicitous rules and regulations that shackle us, goodie mavericks maybe, like the Magnificent Seven, Batman or the characters of the Bullingdon Club.
Then reality drags you back, by the scruff of the neck, and reminds you, in no uncertain terms, that this is all just make-believe; in another thirty-five minutes the world may well be saved upon the silver screen, but the outside world is still going to be sliding, like a recently extruded stool, down the pan. Common sense, as ever, usurps the magic moment. Of course it does, what kind of moron could really believe that a bunch of arrogant blockheads, given enough undeserved power, might be able to drag the country/world up by its bootlaces, and 'back' into prosperity for all? Kids, in a playground, re-enacting last night's sci-fi blockbuster, just maybe, but only until break time's over, obviously not supposedly intelligent adults?
Obviously not! For a start such naivety would, by necessity, exclude a vast chunk of the aforementioned intelligence, wouldn't it? Either that or, heaven forbid, the guys in the superhero outfits would have to be lying through their teeth.
Which brings me conveniently round to The Earth Summit, or The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. And, of course, given the undeniably finite nature of our planet, in all of its evident fragility, should we correctly choose to define it as a whole item rather than, irresponsibly, as its constituent parts (or 'resources'), this would surely be where our super heroes might be best employed, saving the planet from the forces of destruction. Where better?
Over a hundred Heads of State attended the last Earth Summit, and closer to two hundred nations were represented in one form or another. So, rather a large gathering of 'important' people, as, one would hope, befits such an immensely important topic. Were it possible to question any of the gathering illuminati, prior to a meeting of such gravitas, one would expect to hear of nothing less than a wholehearted commitment to our multifaceted and immeasurably diverse jewel of a home. Go, go Super Heroes!
Let us together dream of a world where public transport aspires to address the accumulating gridlock curse of so many cities, where forests and woodlands, together with the seemingly almost infinite diversity that they shelter, will be guaranteed a longterm future, even encouraged to spread, where diversity of habitat and environment can be acknowledged and protected from the pernicious claws of the misnomer 'developer', where societies might function as societies, rather than vastly unequal competitors upon an ever-tilting and uneven playing field, where any species lost is recognised as symptomatic of the far greater threat that it actually is, where 'partial solutions' to these global concerns are more correctly identified as gross failures. Go, go, Super Heroes!
A finite planet? Finite resources, finite (as things currently stand) energy sources, finite means to produce food, finite living spaces? Common sense would suggest that an acceptance of such would have to be the basis of any meaningful discussion; how could it possibly be otherwise?
Alternatively, the collective illuminati might just have overlooked all of this and voted to endorse a global drive towards, 'sustained development.' If it weren't real we could all have a jolly good laugh about the stupidity of it all. But it is real, alarmingly so!
Imagine, if you will, Batman, crashing in upon the Joker's self-serving plans to carve up the riches of Gotham City, entirely for his own consumption. Biff, Bosh, Kapow! The Joker's underlings are carted off to serve their time, but it transpires that the Joker has actually been operating strictly within the letter of the law, thus will certainly be continuing to reap 'his share' of the apparently-not-after-all-ill-gotten gains anyway, no doubt unencumbered by such inconveniences as taxes.
The Gotham City media circus demands that a full and well-remunerated enquiry should ensue, whereby the Mayor, Police Commissioner Gordon, perhaps Bruce Wayne himself, along with a number of equally elevated public figures, will be able to further feather their own nests, and so it carries on, ad infinitum. The Earth Summit simplified for the world, in easy access graphic novel form!
Anyway, must go now; a few old drinking mates are coming round for pizza and a few hands of Bridge. I think I've seriously underestimated with the pizza; one wonders if I shouldn't have ordered three or four times as much.
Perhaps I'll give that Sustained Eating a go; one pizza, six hungry mates, what could possibly go wrong?
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