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Reflections on TEDxOrlando - Julian Chambliss - Superheroes and the U.S. Experience



My TEDx Orlando talk on the origin of Superheroes and their connection to the urban experience is on YouTube. I want to thank all those people who have sent me such nice comments and feedback.

It was a great experience. I think the talk went well, but of course looking at it now I can see those things I would do differently. My goal with this presentation was to give broad outline of the evolution of adventure stories and their link to anxiety facing Americans. Of course, I was also thinking about what makes a good TED talk. So, I tried to keep it clean and clear. There were characters I didn't talk about--Doc Savage being the obvious one and questions about race and identity that I did not flush out. For people who want to know more, my research is available through the Rollins Institutional archive. The article I co-wrote with William Svitavsky, From Pulp Hero to Superhero gives a much fuller explanation of the complex evolution associated with the rise of the superhero. So for those wanting to know more, there you go. I currently thinking about the re-emergence of the pulp character in popular culture. The neo-pulp phenomenon is bring back pulp inspire characters. The implication of this revival shed light on how contemporary U.S. society is expressing collective desire for heroic action.

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