As Utahns watch ICE encroach on families and witness legislative queerphobia taking the reins, it’s clear there are significant threats to our community.
Spider-Man, known for his heroic selflessness and dedication to others, always defends his home turf of Queens, New York, despite facing aliens and billionaires. While we don’t struggle with the same villains as Spider-Man, there are a lot of threats to our Utah community.
We must draw inspiration from his commitment to protecting his community, as we also step up and defend our own, without a superhero like Spider-Man to do it for us.
With great power
“With great power comes great responsibility” is a well-known Spider-Man reference, but it didn’t come from the bug himself. It was the dying words of his Uncle Ben, whom Spider-Man failed to protect. This serves as a lesson for us all. We need to protect the people around us before it’s too late.
Utah is home to at least 304,000 immigrants, 175,000 of them being non-citizens. Earlier this year, President Trump confirmed his intentions to begin mass deportations across the U.S., with over 180,000 children in Utah having at least one immigrant parent. These deportations threaten to tear Utah families apart.
Even just the threat of separated families can increase the risk of mental health problems in young children.
These families are part of our Utah community. If we have the power to stand with and protect those in our community, we have a responsibility to do so.
Look out for the little guy
One of Spider-Man’s biggest motives for being a selfless vigilante is looking out for those who can’t defend themselves. In “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” Spider-Man said, “Someone’s gotta look out for the little guy, right?”
Our Utah community is under attack in many ways, with our “little guys” being consistently targeted. There are an estimated 104,000 queer Utahns under judicial attack.
Utah was the first state to ban gender-affirming care to minors and has continued to blaze a trail in unprecedented transphobic legislation. Transgender minors in Utah have lost access to hormone replacement therapy, and all transgender Utahns have lost access to the right to use sex-designated spaces that orient to their gender identity.
Spider-Man is a crime-fighting, web-slinging superhero who spends most of his time fighting muggers in the streets of Queens. But his moral compass always aligns with protecting innocent people.
Our Utahn underdogs, whether they’re queer, immigrants or otherwise, number among these innocents.
Anyone can wear the mask
Spider-Man, while best known as Peter Parker, isn’t just one guy. There are an infinite number of Spider-Men of all genders, ethnicities and identities within Marvel’s universe. In “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” Spider-Man, named Miles Morales, said, “Anyone can wear the mask. You can wear the mask. If you didn’t know that before, I hope you do now.”
Miles Morales and these hundreds of Spider-Men prove that change can happen with one person. They might believe that they are the only Spider-Man and that their work is entirely unique. But every action changes everyone around them, and that’s true in the real world. The social impact of one person is enough to make an impact on others.
Research shows that being close to someone can influence your morals in many ways. One person taking inspiration from Spider-Man could influence the lives of those around them for the better. If we all take the initiative to be a little more like Spider-Man, we can better serve our community.
Through comics, movies and TV shows, Spider-Man shows a necessary message of responsibility, selflessness, and morality. This message can only go so far. It’s up to us to take the next step.
Be like Spider-Man
One of the villains who tries to take Spider-Man down is J. Jonah Jameson, a bitter news tycoon who believes Spider-Man to be a masked menace. Jameson publicly shames Spider-Man, calling him a bad influence and a selfish freak.
However, despite Jameson’s mistreatment of Spider-Man, the vigilante has saved Jameson’s life on multiple occasions.
In 2024, the number of documented threats against Congress members had nearly tripled since 2017. This is unacceptable, even if we don’t always agree with these people.
If we don the mask like Spider-Man does, we make a commitment to our entire community. That includes everyone from our fellow Spider-Men to our Jamesons.
Whilst our attention should be on Utahns who are under active attack, we need to remember that we cannot pick and choose who we protect from violence. Being like Spider-Man means being ready to protect your community, even if it gives you a few supervillains.
You can wear the mask. We can all protect our community. It’s up to us to look out for the little guy.
e.van.leuven@ustudentmedia.com
The post Opinion: Be More Like Spider-Man first appeared on The Daily Utah Chronicle.