Superheroes have been a part of pop culture for many decades. They fight bad guys, save lives, and have made the impossible possible with their superpowers. They have inspired countless movies, television shows, video games, movies, toys, etc. However what happens when we look at these superheroes from a semiotic perspective? If we look at pictures of these superheroes from a semiotic perspective, we can go beyond the image to get a deeper look of who these people are. This essay deals with how we interpret superheroes through semiotic theory.

   When you look at a picture of Superman we immediately see him as a superhero. This leads us to a destination. While it’s true that we see Superman as a superhero, there are other words that define him as well. Not only is Superman a superhero but he is also an alien from another planet. He is also an immigrant as well. Looking at images without words does not give us a clear definition of an image. If we look at an image of Superman without words then we are left with many interpretations. Some may recognize Superman while others may not know who Superman is or what he does. However with the power of words we can have a clear interpretation of who Superman is along with the rest of the superheroes.

   For each of the characters, I used three words. These words are used to help describe the characters. They can also be used to help people arrive at different viewpoints. For example, Batman: Billionaire. Orphan. Hero. I want people to see Batman (along with the other superheroes) from another viewpoint. Batman was an heir to a billion dollar fortune whose parents were killed by a mugger which led him to be an orphan. I used three words because there was no need to go to a long explanation as to who these people are. The words along with the pictures gives us different viewpoints of the characters. It is with these words that help us define these characters. Without these words we would not arrive at these viewpoints.

   Although each word in the caption has a linguistic anchorage they all end with the word “Hero.” I placed the word “Hero” at the end of each caption because all of these characters have one thing in common. They are all heroes. Despite the fact that Superman, Batman, and all the other characters are different people it sends a message that no matter who you are or where you came from, these people have the power to make the world a better place. When we see messages like these, people will realize that these characters are different but will not shy away from fighting the bad guys.

Slide Show:

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