My Review of the "Waiting for Superman" Video

I loved “Waiting for Superman” since I first heard it and was able to apply the lyrics to my life. I could not wait for the video and I was not disappointed at all. As with the song, the video spoke to me.

Storyline

The video begins with four characters that are in distress, setting up the story of our everyman hero. He is not buff; he is not polished. He looks to be a bit down in his luck, rough around the edges. As he’s walking down the street, he notices a woman on the other side of the street is about to be mowed down by a guy on a bike. Our hero runs across the street and pushes her out of the way in time. Instead of being grateful for keeping her from getting hit, she is angry and gives him a piece of her mind.

We next move on to a business woman with the fancy bag and is that one of the gold iPhones in her hand? Anyway, a burly guy comes running past her and relieves her of her bag. She screams for help and our hero chases the man down and tackles him. The police arrive and not only do they secure the mugger, they also rough up our hero as if he was part of the mugging. The woman just wants her pricey bag and is seen trying to tug it away from the mugger.

As our hero man turns the corner, he comes across a crowd who are looking up at a man standing in an open window of a tall building. He’s a jumper, suicidal, and no one in the crowd seems to be doing anything with the exception of a few who have their cell phones out no doubt Tweeting the incident and waiting to capture the man’s last moments as he falls. But our hero once again comes to the rescue and pulls the man back from the window. As with our other antagonists, the man is not grateful. He is angry that this stranger kept him from taking his own life and ending his pain.

And finally we come to the last individual our hero saves. She is a young girl, scared, and appears to be a possible runaway being bullied by street kids. We have seen her briefly through the video indicating that this saving is maybe different than the others. Our hero chases the bullies off and then offers his hand to the girl. She takes it and he walks her back home, hand in hand. Her mother is happy to see her daughter. Once again, the cops arrive and assume that our hero is up to something nefarious. The mother talks some sense into the peace officers and our hero turns and walks away. This time, however, we see gratitude for his help as the young girl runs and gives him a hug. Our hero has finally been validated.

My Analysis

Each vignette in the video represents a different way in that humans experience loss that can be avoided if we were not so wrapped up in ourselves or our souls were not hurting. Our hero’s first saving represents the self-imposed isolation that happens so easily anymore even as we are walking down the street. Too many people don’t look out for others (as shown by the biker) yet the woman is to blame also. She seems to be on a mission and unaware of what’s going on around her. We see these types of people often as they walk down the street or through a store disconnected from people around them by plugging their ears with earbuds and getting lost in their music. There is nothing wrong with getting lost in music but when you are out in society, I feel you have a responsibility to be aware. The woman wasn’t and nearly was rundown. She shows a high level of irritation with our hero which is something we see sometimes in society also. We do something nice for someone and it goes without gratitude or, for some unknown reason, angers the person.

Our businesswoman with her luxury bag and phone represents our focus on material things. It is another area where we get lost; we need to have the best, the latest and greatest. We need these things now; we are often overcome with a need for instant gratification. The woman nearly lost her bag but afterwards, are we seeing a slight change in her as she looks down on the mugger and police? Is she remembering that things can be replaced but people can’t?

With the two final saves, we see how people are saved from losing themselves when their souls are hurting. We do not know the story of our jumper although he is dressed like a businessman. Has he lost a lot of money? Did he just get fired? Is his wife sleeping around on him? Has his depression overcome him? We don’t know but he is clearly upset and distressed and not feeling like he can go on. His soul is hurting. He’s teetering on the edge and as the crowd looks on, our hero runs up and pulls the man from the window. The man is angry with our hero for keeping him from ending his pain. Yes, suicide is not the answer but there is an anger that can consume a suicide survivor. They are angry they survived and still must face the pain. I know this anger well. The anguish our jumper exudes is immense as our hero is once again denied any gratitude.

The final person our everyday hero saves is a young girl. Her soul is also hurting as it appears that she is a runaway. Something in her life – friends, home, parents, boyfriend – has affected her soul to the point where she is trying to run from her pain but she finds herself on the dangerous streets and being bullied. Our hero shows her that not everyone is out to hurt her; that even a stranger can help us. I think this is the biggest lesson to be learned from the video that is also hinted at with the other people – when we need help, it’s not just those we know who can help us. Strangers can have our back; strangers can care. Strangers can keep us from irreparably hurting ourselves. We need to see that even if a person doesn’t look like a classic Superman, they can still be our hero.

And sometimes, our Supermen don’t even know that they are keeping us from harm. Their presence is enough to keep us, keep me, going. I have not been shy (I have a few blog posts referencing this) in saying how much Chris and Deanna and the band and their wives and the music have meant to me especially during my gray days. They are my Supermen and Superwomen.