{"id":16262,"date":"2011-10-28T20:45:54","date_gmt":"2011-10-29T03:45:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reallifesuperheroes.org\/?p=16262"},"modified":"2011-10-28T20:45:54","modified_gmt":"2011-10-29T03:45:54","slug":"low-tech-real-life-crimefighters-aim-to-be-superheroes-in-fascinating-documentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/2011\/10\/28\/low-tech-real-life-crimefighters-aim-to-be-superheroes-in-fascinating-documentary\/","title":{"rendered":"Low-tech, real-life crimefighters aim to be Superheroes in fascinating documentary"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/reallifesuperheroesarchive.files.wordpress.com\/2011\/10\/superheroesdocu.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-32294\" alt=\"Superheroes the movie\" src=\"http:\/\/reallifesuperheroesarchive.files.wordpress.com\/2011\/10\/superheroesdocu.jpg?w=300\" width=\"300\" height=\"214\" \/><\/a>Originally posted: <a href=\"http:\/\/houston.culturemap.com\/newsdetail\/10-28-11-a-look-at-low-tech-real-life-crimefighters-at-14-pews\/\">http:\/\/houston.culturemap.com\/newsdetail\/10-28-11-a-look-at-low-tech-real-life-crimefighters-at-14-pews\/<\/a><br \/>\nBy <a href=\"http:\/\/houston.culturemap.com\/author\/Joe_Leydon\/articles\/\">Joe Leydon<\/a><br \/>\nThey don\u2019t have the super powers of Spider-Man, or even the firepower of The Punisher. But that doesn\u2019t stop the real-life <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hbo.com\/documentaries\/superheroes\/interview\/michael-barnett.html#\/documentaries\/superheroes\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Superheroes<\/a><\/em> of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0055953\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michael Barnett<\/a>\u2019s fascinating documentary \u2013 which has its H-Town premiere Friday and Saturday at <a href=\"http:\/\/14pews.org\/pages\/home.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">14 Pews<\/a> \u2013 from donning home-made costumes, strapping on gadget-stuffed utility belts and patrolling the meanest streets across America.<br \/>\nAmong those doing derring-do:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Mr. Xtreme, a San Diego security guard who moonlights as a crimefighter decked out in green helmet and dark goggles;<\/li>\n<li>Zimmer, a proudly uncloseted avenger who prowls Brooklyn in the hope of attracting gay-bashers for his allies to dispatch;<\/li>\n<li>Zetaman and Apocalypse Meow, a colorful married couple who dispense necessities to the homeless in downtown Portland, Ore.; and<\/li>\n<li>Mister Legend, who drives his beat-up van through the moonlit streets of Orlando and offers aid to the downtrodden when not grabbing beers from his well-stocked ice chest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Why do they do it? Many of them \u2013 including Lucid, a member of Zimmer\u2019s backup team \u2013 simply believe the police and other professional law-enforcers are \u201ccompletely unreliable.\u201d But director Barnett, who spoke with CultureMap this week, thinks the motivations of these caped crusaders may be a bit more complex than that.<br \/>\n<strong>CultureMap: Were you surprised to find something that happened way back in 1964 \u2013 the infamous murder of <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kitty_Genovese\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kitty Genovese<\/a>, who was stabbed while her neighbors reportedly failed to intervene \u2013 motivated so many of the superheroes you interviewed?<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Michael Barnett:<\/strong> Well, if you think about it, the case became bigger than the case. So, somewhere along the origin of this community [of superheroes], they began to rally around this case of Kitty Geonvese. And it became the defining case of modern apathy in America. They rallied around what the case meant as much as the specific case itself. Because apathy is their villain. So it\u2019s a unifying thread among the community at large.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>With these guys, there is no rulebook, there is no manifesto. They go out and be whoever they want and try to help the community in any way they see fit. It\u2019s a real grassroots movement that may not galvanize, that may never get too organized, because the reason they do it is to make up their own rules.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div><strong>CM: Were you ever worried while making <em>Superheroes<\/em> that one of these well-intentioned folks might get seriously hurt?<\/strong><\/div>\n<p><strong>Barnett:<\/strong> Yeah, certainly. I mean, they\u2019d do this anyway without the presence of a camera. But it\u2019s always a concern that you might be creating a moment that wouldn\u2019t exist if you weren\u2019t there with the camera. And that moment may turn tragic.<br \/>\nThe interesting thing with these guys is, it\u2019s such a growing population that, inevitably, one of them <em>is<\/em> going to get hurt, whether there\u2019s someone there with a camera or not. So, hopefully, the people who get into this understand the risk they are taking by choosing to become part of this community and putting themselves in these situations.<br \/>\nBut, yeah, occasionally, we did get into some pretty hairy situations. Because, basically, we were shooting in America\u2019s Skid Rows, across the country. Sometimes at 2 o\u2019clock in the morning. It was unpredictable, to say the least.<br \/>\n<strong>CM: How did you find out about this amazing subculture?<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Barnett:<\/strong> I just sort of stumbled across it on line. And, actually, I didn\u2019t think it was true at first. I thought I\u2019d just found maybe a couple of people who were doing this. But then we started doing a little research, and we quickly discovered that all you had to do is Google \u201csuperhero\u201d to come up with a <a href=\"..\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">webpage<\/a> with names of people doing this all over the country, along with news clips and magazine articles. I spent days perusing through it all, and ultimately became fascinated.<br \/>\n<strong>CM: How many of these guys do you think have been traumatized by some violence in their past?<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Barnett:<\/strong> Actually, that\u2019s one of the few commonalities that I found within the community. I usually don\u2019t generalize, but I did find very quickly that most of these guys had some level of trauma or tragedy in their lives. And this is how that trauma or tragedy has manifested itself. They\u2019re doing this, and getting over that \u2013 and possibly over-compensating by going in the opposite direction, and trying to find light in the darkness, if you will.<br \/>\n<strong>CM: Maybe they view becoming a \u201csuperhero\u201d \u2013 even one without super powers \u2013 as a way of regaining control of their lives? \u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Barnett:<\/strong> Possibly. We found some pretty dark souls out there. And to find them wanting to better themselves, to almost find therapy in doing this \u2013 it was fascinating.<br \/>\n<strong>CM: Were you ever tempted to tell any of these guys that, hey, maybe you\u2019re not really cut out for this sort of thing?<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Barnett:<\/strong> Well, some of these guys that we worked with are untrained, while others are very trained. I\u2019m certainly concerned. I wish they all had a real-life superhero school that they could all go to. So that they could at least know how to handle a situation. So that, rather than inflame it, they could defuse it. Because that takes training \u2013 that\u2019s not instinctive. If you don\u2019t have training, then your adrenaline kicks in. And when that happens \u2013 people tend to make situations worse. That\u2019s just human nature, you know?<br \/>\n<strong>CM: Just to make sure potential audiences understand \u2013 these guys aren\u2019t like the <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Guardian_Angels\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Guardian Angels<\/a>, right?<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Barnett:<\/strong> They are and they aren\u2019t. You could say [the superhero community] is an evolution of the Guardian Angels. I mean, the Guardian Angels started out small, and grew to something like 500 chapters. And it\u2019s a really politicized movement now, with a lot of bureaucracy.<br \/>\nSome of these guys used to be part of the Guardian Angels, and they decided they wanted something with less bureaucracy, less rules. They wanted to be able to do it their own eccentric way. The Guardian Angels have a uniform method, and a rulebook, and politics and presidents and leaders. With these guys, there is no rulebook, there is no manifesto. They go out and be whoever they want and try to help the community in any way they see fit. It\u2019s a real grassroots movement that may not galvanize, that may never get too organized, because the reason they do it is to make up their own rules.<br \/>\n<strong>CM: During filming, did you find yourself tempted to try some superheroics of your own?<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Barnett:<\/strong> I have to say, I get asked that question a lot. And my answer always is: I\u2019m a filmmaker. I want to tell stories. And I thought this was a fascinating story. It\u2019s changed my life in profound ways to see these people \u2013 often times with no resources \u2013 put everything on the line in order to help other people. So I think I learned a lot from these real-life superheroes. But I\u2019m not going to join them anytime soon.<br \/>\n<strong>CM: OK, we\u2019ve talked about the possible dangers facing superheroes. But turn the question around: Ever worry one of these guys might get too carried away with their derring-do?<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Barnett:<\/strong> Well, <a href=\"http:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/US\/citizen-superhero-phoenix-jones-arrested-seattle\/story?id=14704985\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Phoenix Jones<\/a> was arrested just last week in Seattle for pepper-spraying people.\u00a0 He thought he was breaking up a fight, and he started pepper-spraying the crowd \u2013 and now he has assault charges against him. So, yeah, that\u2019s overstepping the line. Once again, it goes back to, there\u2019s no rulebook for these guys. They don\u2019t have a set of guidelines. So you\u2019re putting yourself in situations where you\u2019re acting instinctively.<br \/>\nAnd in the case of Phoenix Jones \u2013 it was probably not the right protocol. He pepper-sprayed some girls. That\u2019s not good. That\u2019s not a good result. That\u2019s not heroic. I hope the activities of a few superheroes won\u2019t undermine the whole cause.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With these guys, there is no rulebook, there is no manifesto. They go out and be whoever they want and try to help the community in any way they see fit. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[174,396,1109,1353,1620,1673,1761,2181,2296,2477,2548,2564,3018,3021],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16262"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16262"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16262\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}