Spiderman vs. Venom — A Metaphor for The Eternal Human Struggle
“Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” -Carl Jung
Since I woke up this morning, I’ve had this image of a man that fights to escape a web that has encapsulated him. A web made of his thoughts, but to make it more tangible it’s best to depict it as a costume. A costume similar to the one seen in the movie Venom, which I think is an excellent metaphor for our human nature and the domination of ego.
We’re all entangled in the web of whims, ambitions, and ego whispers that want to turn us into a beast that fights off the outside world with as much power as possible. It leads to insatiable glory that produces nothing but chaos. The real fight that can liberate us, is against this web.
Yes, it’s true that emulating this veil could give us temporary power, but it’s hard to keep its power under control. So this turns into a struggle worth calling an eternal fight that haunts the man until the end of his life.
We Have to Choose Our Costume
Just as Peter Parker has different capabilities depending on the suit that he’s wearing: the red suit or the black suit, we have to pick our suit too. The black suit means embracing our darkest demons and trailblazing through life with a ruthless vision. It’s the triumph of ego, materialism, and power.
The red suit symbolizes the original self, pure, authentic, and occasionally weak. Because weakness often means being way too sensitive and unable to stop the harm being done to you.
With this suit on, self-esteem is crippled by others’ opinions. You don’t have the power to draw lines anymore, and even if you do, they’re just lines in the sand. Another wave of others’ whims will zero them.
The real fight that can liberate us, is against this web.
Is There Really an Ideal Choice?
As Jung points out through his work, a man who wants liberation has to look within himself. When you’re unaware of the black costume that you’re wearing, you should take a breath and observe the monster you’ve turned into. How much did you achieve at the expense of others’ well-being?
When you’re wearing the red costume, you should look within yourself to embrace that good within you. In the end, you’re likely to find out that you don’t need the costume at all. You can be a hero without it.
Final Thoughts
The man’s quest throughout his eternity involves stepping on webs that he thinks might break off and hurt others. The threads are much similar to people’s feelings. Sometimes we have to step on them, in order to make space for our own growth.
There’s no reason to get sad. If you look up and observe the vastness of this creation you’ll see that there is no reason to. Whoever made these webs possible knew that they should break at some point. So fear not.
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