We finally saw Spiderman 3 this past weekend. Fellow bloggers, Brian (here & here) and Donna (here), have already given an affirming nod to this movie. Now I'll add my two-cents.
In the movie, a symbiotic life form from outer space attaches itself to one of Peter Parker's Spidey costumes. The costume turns black and Spiderman's baser instincts come to the surface. The black costume is to Spiderman what red kryptonite is to Superman. It brings out his dark side.
When Peter Parker wears the black costume under his street clothes, his selfish inclinations emerge. He uses people, he is rude, and he is most significantly prompted to act upon his temptations toward vengeance.
This is a story about revenge, forgiveness, reconciliation, and redemption. As with Spiderman 2, it is again Parker's wise Aunt May who summarizes the moral of the story. She warns that revenge "is like a poison. It can take us over. Before you know it, it can turn us into something ugly." At least three characters in this movie struggle with the grudges they are bearing which have the power to destroy them.
The movie admonishes against allowing our anger, or other dark leanings, to engulf our character. Parker concludes that "Whatever battles we have raging inside us, we always have a choice. It's the choices that make us who we are and we can always choose to do what's right."
Spiderman surprisingly chooses to do what's right, shedding his darker self, while in the shadow of the cross which seems to play a symbolic role in the movie. As a symbol of redemption it's only in the shadow of the cross that Spiderman can abandon the darkness for the light. Yet even at the foot of the cross, we find hypocrisy. One man goes to church so he can return to the light. Another man goes with a selfish agenda, becoming worse than before. I'm probably reading more into this movie than the producers intended, so just consider this a "viewer response" critique.
At any rate, I think this movie strikes a chord with those honest enough to admit that we all have a dark side. Some days I feel that I've let my light shine, while other days I feel as if I'm wearing the black spider suit beneath my clothes---as if an intoxicating "venom" is coursing through my veins. And it infects those who come in contact with me.
But as I turn back to the cross I want to scream, "But that's not me! I really do have a compassionate heart! I just don't always understand what I do." And didn't Paul say something similar? (Romans 7:15). But thanks be to God, Christ can deliver us from this body of death (Romans 7:24-25). Over time, the "venom" can be purged from our system.
Spiderman 3 well dramatizes the struggle between the old man and the new man--between light and darkness. It's a story that explores the motives people have for what they do. We even sympathize with the villains who are themselves tortured souls with painful backgrounds.
Perhaps if we made the effort to understand each other and our common propensity toward the darkness, then maybe forgiveness and reconciliation would come easier. But on the other hand, as Peter Parker said, "Whatever battles we have raging inside us...we can always choose to do what's right."
