Virgins, Vampires & Superheroes

Just listened to the podcast of this weeks “The Spirit of Things” from ABC in Australia.

The Spirit of Things - 20 August 2006  - Virgins, Vampires & Superheroes

Popular spirituality is not a new phenomenon, but the media, cinema and the internet have conspired to make it more diverse than ever before. Miraculous sightings of the Virgin Mary have generated recent cult followings in Australia. And the darkly erotic mythology of vampires and hyper-real superheroes like Superman and Luke Skywalker are attracting young women and men in growing numbers.

Each of the topics could have had an entire programme dedicated to them, though I especially liked the last interview with Adam Possamai on links between spirituality and superheroes. Wouldn’t agree with his definition of superheroes (it would exclude someone like Batman), and the notion that their powers are totally secular (what about Dr. Fate or Wonder Woman?), but on the whole I enjoyed the interview. Nice to see someone working in that area.

BTW - It’s a shame they couldn’t think of a third noun beginning with “V” to keep the alliteration going, but the title should boost their hit rate in the search engines.