I like Superheroes, they are awesome. Well, most of them are, some are a bit lame, some are hilariously awful but the bulk of them are awesome. I want Nate to like Superheroes, too. I sort of want him to be a comic book nerd; a gamer, book reader, film buff. Into science or computers. To be the guy who had Avengers posters on his wall as a teenager instead of pictures of some vapid FHM skank. The guy who wears glasses because he needs them and not because he is a wanky Hipster. Not the buck toothed, spotty stereotype of course but the one who gets the girl, like Peter Parker (not the creepy Toby Maguire incarnation). And it all starts with him liking Superheroes...
The keystone of the 'geek' foundations will be constructed from the things he is exposed to from an early age, these things will be influenced by us, his parents and we are, and this word will be overused in this post, geeks. We will pass our geek credentials to him, and him to his kids like some sort of sacred family legacy. It is a circle of life kind of deal. It is why his favourite toy is from a PS3 game (Sackboy), his favourite films are Pixar and he always wants to wear his Spider-man T-shirt - it is because I like them too. What it all all comes down to is that I want my son and I to have a common ground, a mutual interest we can share and appreciate together and I don't think that is wrong... is it? To want your child to be like you, but a better you, seems perfectly natural to me.
Nathaniel can say Batman, Spider-Man, Wolverine and Hulk - he recognises them. He takes his tiny Spider-Man figure and Sackboy toys with him everywhere. He sings 'na-na-na-na na-na-na-na BATMAN!' to me, he gets excited if any of these characters appear on TV and it all makes me smile more than it really ought to. It gives me this warm fuzzy feeling inside like I have succeeded in something fantastic. It is awesome. My son knows who Batman is! THIS IS AMAZING!...
Of course, if he doesn't explode when he sees the trailer to the next Marvel movie when he is a grown man I will still love him all the same and think he is the best boy in the whole world. Unless he becomes a nasty little chav who frequents establishments such as Lava and Ignite, if this happens then I will throw him in a bin, or lock him in the attic or do something akin to Clockwork Orange style aversion therapy.
The above also apply if he likes the Star Wars prequels.
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