Is it okay to be older than your heroes?

One of the reasons Frank Miller created Batman: The Dark Knight Returns was that he didn't feel it was right to be older then his hero.

"I realized that I was about to turn 30, and Batman was permanently 29. And I was going to be damned if I was older than Batman."

Anyone have any similar feelings in regards to being older than your heroes?

In the words of Danny Tanner.... " Not Ok"

Why wouldn't it be?


And "older" in what sense?

Gear said:

Why wouldn't it be?


And "older" in what sense?

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Simply, in age.

I can understand the feeling, as it's hard to "look up to" those younger than yourself. But, for me, that's more of a real-life issue. I would have trouble considering a younger person as "my hero" if he/she were real. Although, if a real person were worthy of such status, I might see past it.

But in terms of fiction - no problem. As a writer or an audience member, I think a fictional hero should be age appropriate to his/her story. If I were a 60+ year old writer, I wouldn't be likely to write only about 60+ heroes. And when I'm 60+, I don't really want to see or read about 60+ heroes who are either in as bad a state as I will be (won't need the reminder) or are unrealistically spry (won't need the ego-bash).

I will admit, however, that my taste in heroes (as an audience member) has changed as I've gotten older. I find that I preferred heroic characters in their 20's and early 30's when I was under 35, and now prefer heroes from their mid-30's to 50's. That may be a function of the quality of actors, though, as I don't find the younger actors around today to be much more than pretty faces.

Luckily Harrison and Michael were older than me so im in the clear

JuniorJones said:

One of the reasons Frank Miller created Batman: The Dark Knight Returns was that he didn't feel it was right to be older then his hero.

"I realized that I was about to turn 30, and Batman was permanently 29. And I was going to be damned if I was older than Batman."

Anyone have any similar feelings in regards to being older than your heroes?

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You're not trying to tell us you have...Bieber Fever...are you?

HovitosKing said:

You're not trying to tell us you have...Bieber Fever...are you?

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I wish I did...but it makes my ears bleed doubt and my eyes melt!

JuniorJones said:

...... being older than your heroes......

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Well, if I didn't care for it at first, I better get used to it. Seeing movie heroes younger than me seems to be unavoidable!

However, I do find it annoying (having grown up in the 80s), that as the years go on, I get older and older while movie heroes get younger and younger. Superman Returns for instance. When he returned, he was a lot younger than when he left. The Daily Planet looked like a college newspaper.