From Wolverine to Warren, Origin Stories Matter

It can’t have escaped your attention that “origin stories” are all the rage. We’ve seen that comic-book creations not only have big-screen adventures but also are reimagined and given a more detailed history -- usually involving a triumph over adversity -- to provide the audience more depth and investment in their heroes.

The story of Wolverine, the apparently indestructible fighting machine, was arguably the most popular draw in the X-Men movie franchise, so much so that, to reignite interest, an origin story was created. In it, we saw how Wolverine became the superhero he is today, the way childhood trauma impacted his later personality, the wars he fought, and the growing enmity between him and his brother that shaped the whole film.

But it is specifically the molding of the character that appeals to me and, I suspect, much of the rest of the audience. The events and trauma experienced by the individual create motivations, fears, and drives. Arguably, it is these hardships that BESTOW character.

Which is why, sadly, there is hardly a politician around today who can resist embellishing his or her own origin story. It is a cheap ploy to convince unsuspecting voters that these empty vessels actually possess character of any description and -- dare we suggest it -- that they have been made heroic by their tribulations. This is at the heart of our revered and not-so-revered leaders’ tall-tale telling. They want you to think them ennobled from rising through adversity. The problem is, it’s little more than manufactured lies.

Let’s look at a couple of examples, one modern, one ancient.

We’ve all heard of the Fauxcahontas scandal that Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) endured. So with its shaky foundations, why would she highlight her heritage as part of her origin?

As she said in 2012, "Being Native American has been part of my story, I guess, since the day I was born."

Did she gain material benefit from a falsehood about her heritage? She claims not, and many of her previous employers have stated that her supposed Native American race played no part in their hiring decision. However, Harvard Law School, her employer for nine years, listed her as Native American in its federal affirmative action program.

Why would she state this so loudly and prominently, surely knowing that there was a chance it could easily fracture factually? Well, it comes back to the origin story, which has become so important in a political climate driven almost entirely by intersectionality and intersectional, ahem, principles. A white person cannot speak on issues of race, a man cannot speak on issues of abortion or women’s rights. Therefore, the moniker “a woman of color” gave Warren not only permission to speak but also positioned her as a member of a minority. She faced trials and tribulations, making her appear to the unwitting public, at least in Warren’s mind, heroic. Need I say more, “Beto”?

After she took a genetic test -- which showed she had considerably less Native American DNA than the average American, about 1/1,024 at best -- you might think she would avoid questionable statements regarding her past. But then she asserted that she had been fired from a teacher job for being pregnant, despite the fact that the recorded minutes of the school board show she had been offered a contract. Apparently, she didn’t learn a thing.

Let’s briefly mention the greatest origin story in recorded history, one mentioned in an earlier edition of the Rabbit Hole, of the twins Romulus and Remus. The story goes that they were raised by a she-wolf as brave fellows who got approval from the gods to form the most important empire in history in Rome. For centuries, the Eternal City was blessed by those gods.

It’s all lies. The she-wolf in question was in fact a euphemism for a prostitute, and the noble upbringing of the brothers related in the tale covered up the fact that the two were brigands and thieves who robbed their way to riches. But that doesn’t lend much of a legendary patina to the origin story.

Here’s another more recent example, that of Rosa Parks. There is no denying that she was a hugely brave woman, capable and of strong character, but her origin story might not be exactly the one we are taught today.

When I was growing up in the United Kingdom, I went to a school where we were taught from a national curriculum, meaning that all students were taught the same basic stuff. I recall learning about Rosa and, at the time, thinking she was amazing (which she is, but not for the reasons I was taught).

The story told in British schools is that she had just finished a long day of work and was exhausted. When she was asked to move, she felt so physically spent that she just didn’t want to -- and then she was arrested! Wow! What a surprise for her! Of course, as I later learned, that wasn’t quite the truth.

As Parks stated many years later: “People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was forty-two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”

Parks became a political activist who worked side by side with some of the civil rights movement’s greatest advocates, from Martin Luther King Jr. to Edgar Nixon. The incident on the bus and the heated reaction to it was planned, and even the bus driver, James F. Blake, had been carefully selected because of his attitude toward black folks in general and a grudge against Parks herself.

We can all be grateful that this incident took place because it eventually led to more fair and equal treatment of Black Americans. But generations of British children are taught quite a different origin story. Is it much different in the United States?

There is very little that is new under the sun, and the burnishing of the origin story seems to be expected. This sadly means few believe today they can achieve much without claiming to have the right background, credentials, and origin story, no matter how fanciful. That, of late, has led to some embarrassing comeuppances, as past tweets and videos prove contrary comments, actions, or opinions.

Origin stories play a prominent role throughout history. Why? Because they glorify the ordinary, elevating the hero in triumph. The prelude has remained the same, but perhaps the result is a little more important nowadays.

I’ll leave you with a lesson from Albert Einstein. When he was teaching physics at Oxford University in 1942, he presented his higher level class with an exam. Later, walking the grounds with his teaching assistant, the younger man asked Einstein, “That test you just gave this class -- wasn’t it the same test you gave the same class last year?” Einstein replied that it was. The assistant persisted. “Why would you do that?” Einstein answered that although the questions were the same, the answers had changed.

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Read more from Mark Angelides.