Spiderman 3

I've been anticipating the opening of Spiderman 3 for the past month, and it didn't disappoint. The character development is excellent! The plot's twists and turns create a tapestry of conflict and intrigue. However, the most attractive part of the film was the way it dealt with the themes of good vs. evil and revenge.

(If you haven't seen the movie yet, go see it before you read on. I need to reveal parts of the plot in order to make my point.)

Typically, superhero films glorify the character's superpowers and unwavering determination to always do good. Spiderman is more like us, though. He's really just a normal guy, Peter Parker, with plenty of skeletons in the closet and lots of emotional baggage. Throughout the film, we discover with Peter that he is selfish, jealous, insecure, loves attention, and carries deep-seeded anger about his uncle's death. The anger, in particular, drives him to do things that he later regrets. Aunt May describes Peter's situation well: "Revenge is like a poison that can take us over, and before you know it, it can turn you into something ugly."

Here's where the puzzling part of the movie comes in. At the end of an intense fight scene, Peter faces the man who killed his uncle. Marko apologizes and shows regret. Peter forgives him. But why did he forgive? Some of the girls who saw the movie with me verbalized the same question that was rolling around in my head. When you get wrapped up in the plot, you begin to feel the frustrations Peter felt: lost love, lost relative, lost sense of control, lost reputation for being a "good" superhero. I would have felt defeated and angry, a far cry from forgiving my father-figure's killer. But here's what I think. Like Marko, Peter was also wrestling with his imperfect qualities. Peter was hoping that someone would forgive him for the wrongs he had done, yet he knew he was unworthy of that forgiveness. I think Peter forgave Marko because he knew he could not go on living without being forgiven himself.

Here's the spiritual tie-in you've been waiting for: The only way to fight revenge is to forgive the person who's harmed you. The only way to truly forgive is to realize that you, too, are imperfect and unworthy to receive forgiveness, yet our heavenly Father forgave us. He didn't forgive us because he had to. He forgave us because he made a choice to keep loving us. When we realize how unworthy we are of forgiveness when it's offered, all we can do is respond in love. We've been forgiven; we know how it feels to hold the weight of guilt and then to have it taken away by words of pardon. Knowing we are forgiven, we want to be like the one who forgave us. We desire to forgive others when they are sorry even if they don't deserve it. Spiderman 3 is an example of grace!