Whether we like it or not, tragedy is a part of life, and unlike the silver screen or the pages of our favorite comicbook — superheroes rarely save the day. In the recent case of a New York crane collapse, unforeseen disaster befell the neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen in a series of events some think could have been stopped by a certain wall-crawling good guy. Go figure.
After footage of the chaos found its way onto the internet this morning, pop culture fans everywhere began to draw the same conclusion. This looked like a job for Spider-Man.
First of all, this is absolutely terrifying. I’ve always thought crane operators have nerves of steel, and this is why. Moreover, at least 12 people have been injured because of the event, and that’s not something to joke about. While superhero quips get thrown around, its important to keep some perspective in mind.
That said, plenty of people began retweeting the footage with the phrase “Where’s Spider-Man?”
On one hand, it’s clever. Cranes falling all over the place are kind of Spider-Man’s bread and butter. Whether it’s Toby, Tom, Andrew or any other spider-centric hero out there (animated or otherwise) — the multiverse of spider people know how to handle industrial equipment failure.
Still, this isn’t a movie. This is real life. People got hurt. Property was damaged. What does it mean for all of us as a society if, at the first sign of catastrophe, we turn to baseless humor? To memes and social media? We just wonder whether anyone reposting this video understands that these images aren’t from the set of Marvel’s latest movie.
Now, this might be the part where you say — but joking about something works as a coping mechanism, and a little levity goes a long way. Which it does, sure. It’s just important to consider both realities at once. Recognizing what’s important, while accepting how we deal with it. Case in point, and I’m going to get real nerdy here: Hell’s Kitchen isn’t Spider-Man’s territory.
Daredevil probably would have been the one to solve this problem. If he could solve it, that is. Without web-shooters or super strength, I’m not quite sure how he would have handled all that debris.
Frankly, that doesn’t matter. Pop culture aside, as of writing no one has died as a result of this incident, and that’s the thing to be most thankful for.