Can a man confront the forces of darkness without giving in to them?

This was the question I answered in the Spider-Man 3 website as well as the millions of fans swarming on it just to get a glimpse of Sam Raimiâ??s 3rd Installment. I was supposed to watch the movie on my birthday during its first day of screening but many of my friends came and brought food and beverages (itâ??s another story actually). But today, I, my nephew and niece was able to squeeze our way through the crowd to watch the flick. We came in time for the screening. Most of the moviegoers were in throngs and groups. We were lucky to even have a seat to sit on, some of them already sat on the stairs of the cinemas. Anyhow, the movie was spectacular. Just like its other installments. But the action was a bit cartoony for me especially the fight scenes with Flint Marko (the Sandman). I was expecting of a more one on one combat in his human form and not the monstrous-marshmallow man look alike at the battle scene. Though the fight scenes was average and not that really good compared to spideyâ??s confrontation with Dr. Octopus in Spider-man 2, but the storyline was great. It was very rare in a superhero flick wherein the villains had the realizations and resolutions. But the question on the website was not just merely a catch phrase to sell the movie. For me it was more of a personal question rather than a publicity stint.

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“Signal Fire” OST Spider-Man 3 by Snow Patrol

The movie was not just a science fiction-slash-superhero flick, It was a window on the human realities that often haunts us all, in our quest to be happy, to be fulfilled, to better ourselves, to fight our own battles, to clash with our own weaknesses and darksides and most especially to be a superhero in our own right. The movieâ??s storyline has no formula on how to become strong and heroic. It just simply showed the realities of human existence in the most salvific form, often in the realization of the characterâ??s psychological limits and personal issues which somehow reflects on every human event.The battle of good versus evil was not really about the peers nor the opponents. The battle was deep inside every human character. Peter Parker battled himself when he became so much drunk with fame that eventually led to his â??involuntary insensitivityâ?? towards MJ. Ms. Watson however fought herself when she was succumbed to her deep longing for Peter Parkerâ??s understanding and presence, in which she fell on the comfort of Harry. Harry on the other hand battled his own pride, his own insanity, giving way to revenge instead of opening his mind to the truth. The Sandman fought against his own freedom. Freedom to choose between being good and being the societyâ??s most wanted, all for the sole reason of her daughterâ??s cure. In addition, Eddie Brook clashed between his selfish side and his evil side. From just being self-centered, he became the ultimate evil. Though all of these characters have shed some â??darksideâ?? of their individual personality, I canâ??t help I myself wonder if there is any parallelism between the fictional characterâ??s experiences and of my own.

Too many times, I have been drunk with fame in the past and only found myself underneath the rubble and stumbled upon by my own stubbornness. Too many occasions that I have been unfaithful to my calling, to my own faith, to my friends and even to my past relationships just because of my immaturity in handling my human needs and failing to differentiate what is love and what is infatuation. Too many times that I have wished to avenge myself to those people who betrayed me, hurt me, humiliated me, treated me disrespectfully and who are continuously debasing my ego and dignity. Too often than not that, I wanted to play Robinhood: robbing others of their right and freedom just to protect or save people close to me. And to many times that I have been changed from my simple selfishness to an ultimate monster which knows no charity towards people. I too have experienced these dark sides, which are forever etched, in my personal history.

The main protagonists and antagonists were given the choice: the option to change what has been wronged in the past. Peter Parker saw his monstrous self and the loneliness that comes with it that he eventually tried to remove every inch of his flaws from himself, symbolically done in the stripping of his black suit. MJ awakened on the mistake she has done when she kissed Harry and tried to resolve everything by isolating herself from the two men, to give her time and space to think over every mistake she did. Harry however made a 360 turn from vengeance to forgiveness, and later, to manifest what matters most in his life: friendship. Sandman (Marko) asked forgiveness in all his humility from Parker who eventually was given what he asked for.

All of us in real life have the choice and the option to turn our ways. It is the stripping of ourselves, the isolation, the forgiveness, the acceptance and the humility that makes a superhero. Eventually in the movie, and for some shallow moviegoers, the resolution scenes are silly and ridiculous for it is an unchartered territory in the superhero realm, to inject forgiveness and mending from the evil ways. Often we see in the movie that evil start and end as it is: Evil. But in the movie, it showed the innate goodness of every man, despite and in spite the psychological incapacities and bitter-sweet traumatic experiences that the characters had. Realistically, to those who watch movies by their vision and not through their sight, the scenes are as real as the effects themselves. For in every circumstance, man has the capacity to change his very own history. It is a choice, thus destiny, happiness and dreams are fully realized in the freedom of our own choices.

The redeeming factor of the charactersâ?? change of heart was not solely attributed to the human nature, there was also a divine involvement, that if you did dwell deeper on the scene of spider-manâ??s struggle with himself on the top of a bell tower, the cross was focused for several seconds. For movie critics this is just another cinematographic effect. But to us Catholic Christians, we see that scene in a different light. Spider-man stripped off his black suit in the tower while he constantly bangs the large bell. Bells usually symbolizes â??callingâ??, â??alarmâ??, and on that scene, the Divine Master symbolically calls every man to change his ways, repent, begged to get back to the fold and strip ourselves from every unnatural and inordinate attachments that makes us blind and evil. It is a symbolical scene in the movie, that without the help of the bell, the alien life form called Venom would have never get out from his host, unfortunately finding another host to prey. It is always a constant call of the Lord to detach ourselves from any attachments that would lead us to perdition

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It is somewhat significant to quote what Spider-man said in the last fight with Venom: â??I know the feeling; itâ??s good; Iâ??ve been there, but it will eventually destroy youâ??. In our life, our attachments have been our greatest security. From our tattered security blankets to our latest gadgets, we all deposit our trust in these materials. It makes us feel good. It keeps us afloat among the average. It gives us the sense of control and power in our life. But eventually, these same securities will cause our own downfall.

When I first got my super-duper high-tech 4mm mega pixel camera phone, all I could talk about and think about are its features, its slickness and the status symbol it gives me. I sleep in my room having it on my side. I walk around the university listening to the songs it plays. I browse my mail and chat with friends through its GPRS. I can have a two-way camera conference with it. I can take photos of everything and send it within a few seconds anywhere in the world. In short, my life revolved around that phone. But when the data of my phone overloaded, its memory crashed together with the files in it. I was devastated. I could not use the phone anymore. I felt helpless for a week. I then realized that I was so attached to it that even my moods depended on that piece of gadgetry. That was the saddest part of my existence as a human being. I depended so much on a 5-inch toy that I forgot that I am more than that. I eventually stripped myself from attachments both human and inhuman: those that control me and those that held my will in captivity. And I succeeded. Looking back 1-2 years ago, I could almost see myself half-robot from the gadgets that surrounded me. Today I still use them, but I seldom put my trust in them.

The hero in all of us, aside from doing well and helping others, is to fight our own weaknesses to better ourselves in very choice we make in our lives. It does not matter if we did mistakes in the past; this is the reason why pencils have erasers. What matters is that we make a free choice. And the choice to do good.

All of us in our everyday life face difficulties and personal issues. Somehow, it makes us incapable of care and charity towards others. However, the struggle to live according to what is good will persist as long as we live. Spider-man saved Eddie brook from the clutches of Venom. He was given the chance to choose. But unfortunately he chose to live in darkness and was unable to give up his attachment to power that led to his own destruction, along with his parasite. In our real lives, away from the special effects of the movies and the costumes of the characters, we are also given the choice. Every single difficulty we encounter regardless of seriousness and gravity, are given to us for us to decide. The result will eventually depend on the choices we make. For every hero in all of us has the chance to choose. Either good or evil. Can a man really confront the forces of darkness without really giving in to them? YES!