"I heard you could talk to fish."
Aquaman is a long overlooked and underestimated superhero.
He's a founding member of the Justice League, and one of DC Comics' "Big Seven,"
and holds dominion over most of the planet.
And yet, many know him merely as a pop culture punchline.
"Aquaman, you go... talk to some fish."
[Laughter]
For a while, he was the star of a bumper on Adult Swim.
In Entourage, the mere existence of an Aquaman movie
is treated as a running joke.
"No way I'm gonna be on a 70-foot screen looking like an underwater Elton John."
So how has this oft-memed character brought us a big-budget James Wan motion picture
that's being hailed as "the best DC movie since the Dark Knight"
and "an undersea star wars?"
The secret to Aquaman's success is that he embodies a character archetype
that's resonated with humans for thousands of years:
the reluctant ruler.
"I want to be left alone."
This unwilling monarch doesn't want power, but he's destined for it --
"Father, I cannot be king of Asgard."
and it's precisely this resistance that makes him the only person for the job.
"And I'm bringing the wrath of the seven seas with me."
"I can't let that happen."
So let's take a look at Aquaman and how --
beyond all the laughs --
he shows us what it takes to be a great leader.
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"I am no king."
Aquaman, also known as "Arthur Curry," is one of the few superheroes
who's also a king.
His superhero duties come second to the larger concerns of running a kingdom
and protecting his people.
Most superheroes feel bound to protect all people,
but this is a more abstract duty compared to feeling personally responsible
for a particular group of people --
which is like feeling the weight of parenting a whole kingdom.
In Joseph Campbell's "The Hero's Journey," the second step in the monomyth
is that the hero must "resist the call to adventure."
"You must learn the ways of the Force, if you're to come with me to Alderaan."
"Alderaan?
I'm not going to Alderaan.
I've got to go home.
It's late, I'm in for it as it is."
This refusal underlines the high stakes of what the hero's being called on to do,
and it makes the hero more relatable to the audience,
as most of us would be pretty freaked out
if asked to suddenly give up everything in our lives to go questing.
"I do not believe in fairy tales about chakras or energy or the power of belief.
There is NO such thing as spirit!"
In The Hobbit, Bilbo resists the call for 40 minutes and 32 seconds.
"We do not want any adventures here, thank you, not today, not--"
The reluctant ruler takes this resistance even further.
"I don't step up to being leader, Troy.
I reluctantly accept it when it's thrust upon me."
This is a person chosen or destined to lead,
but who feels unworthy of leadership.
"I'm no leader.
I'm not a king."
Think: Aragorn, Jon Snow, and Simba.
"You're the king!"
"Nala, we've been through this.
I'm not the king."
And it's no coincidence that Arthur Curry shares the same name
as one of the most iconic reluctant monarchs of all time --
King Arthur.
"You'll become a great legend.
They'll be writing books about you
for centuries to come."
Both Arthurs are raised by commoners away from royal court.
They learn about their new cultures from experienced mentors,
"You can't grow up without a decent education, you know."
"I already know how to swim."
"Not even close."
and prove their worthiness to the throne by obtaining legendary weapons,
Excalibur and Atlan's trident.
"In the hands of the true heir, it would unite above and below."
But, most importantly, both deny the throne.
"I don't want to be king."
"I can't be a king, Archimedes."
The reluctant monarch is typically embodied by a few noble traits.
They are raised amongst the people.
"Me?
A princess?
Shut up!"
The idea of a commoner king is prevalent in fiction
because we want a ruler we can relate to.
Someone we can have a beer with.
"They put George W. in office because he can Laura seem like
a fun couple to have a beer with."
Or, in Aquaman's case, an entire bottle of whiskey.
"It's on him."
There's also a sense that, in order to rule,
one has to suffer with their subjects to experience the difficulty of life firsthand,
and not just learn about living through books and a high-brow education.
The reluctant ruler is often unaware of their royal heritage, or keeps it hidden.
"This is no mere ranger.
He is Aragorn, son of Arathorn."
They're satisfied with a carefree existence,
"Hakuna Matata."
"What?"
but this simple lifestyle is threatened --
sometimes by a force of nature, like the White Walkers,
and sometimes by a villain who is abusing power, like Scar.
"I am a king.
I can do whatever I want."
When the hero sees the corruption caused by absolute power,
they have to face the truth that they would be a better ruler --
and there's nobody else who can take their place.
So they're forced to abandon their worry-free lives
to stop a greater evil and save their people.
In Aquaman, Arthur has to stop his half-brother Orm
from becoming Ocean Master and destroying the surface.
"The only way to stop this war is for you to take your rightful place as king."
So why are reluctant rulers so popular in stories?
As Douglas Adams wrote in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,
"It is a well-known fact that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto,
those least suited to do it...
anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President
should on no account be allowed to do the job."
Those who pursue power for its own sake are unlikely to put the best interest of people
first.
Dictators seize control by pretending that power is thrust upon them by the people.
"I love democracy."
"Unlimited power..."
But the truly reluctant ruler is someone most of us gravitate towards --
someone we'll follow into battle.
Crucially, the reluctant ruler doesn't feel they deserve to wear the crown.
"I'm from the surface.
No one's going to take me seriously,
I don't even know where to begin."
"By winning the hearts and minds of the people,
by proving to them that you're worthy."
And this humility is important because it means they'll rule
for the people, not for themselves.
Ultimately, the reluctant ruler is defined by sacrifice.
"Billions will die unless you help us."
Ruling is a burden for which they must give up
a more pleasurable life they'd prefer --
and this is what makes them worthy of being responsible for their people.
"I came because I have no choice.
I came to save my home.
And the people that I love."
"I've never really embraced the sea or the land.
I've been a loner my whole life."
Arthur's role as monarch is even more demanding than most --
because he doesn't just have to rule;
he's tasked with uniting the two worlds of land and sea.
"You think you're unworthy to lead because you're from two different worlds.
But that is exactly why you are worthy."
In this way Aquaman fits another long standing trope in literature:
the child of two worlds.
This story usually involves a hero of mixed ancestry,
who feels like an outsider among their own kind --
like Hercules or Ambassador Spock.
"You will always be a child of two worlds."
Or the hero might come from one world but be raised in another,
like Superman or Buddy the Elf.
"It seems I'm...
I'm not an elf."
"'Course you're not.
You're 6'3'' and had a beard since you were 15."
In the film, Aquaman is
the firstborn son of Atlanna, the queen of Atlantis,
and Thomas Curry, a lighthouse keeper.
"My parents were from different worlds...
and I was the product of a love that should have never been."
The lighthouse symbolizes Arthur's dual existence
between the land and sea.
It also protects ships from colliding with the surface,
just as Arthur protects the surface from Orm's destructive plans.
The aquarium scene visually represents that Arthur is trapped between binary spaces,
the land and the sea.
The cracking glass represents Arthur himself.
He's unable to keep these two realms separate,
the only person with the power to reconcile them.
So Arthur's greatest destiny is to act as a bridge his two worlds.
"You are the bridge between land and sea."
Aquaman also shares several parallels with Moses --
another child of two worlds who never wanted to be a leader.
Both Moses and Arthur bring together several tribes to create a unified nation.
So Aquaman's reluctance makes a lot of sense,
given the enormity of what he's expected to do.
"What could be greater than a king?"
"A hero."
Even from birth the expectations placed on this baby are a little absurd.
"You could unite our worlds one day."
Arthur's selflessness gives us an example to follow in our own lives.
If we want to be leaders, we have to be in it for the right reason --
because we know we can do the best job of serving people
and building a better community.
And we must understand that being a good leader usually means giving up an easier life.
The Reluctant Ruler resonates with us because --
while we don't all have such big things expected of us --
we can relate to the dilemma of a duty we'd rather not accept,
or a difficult job we don't feel cut out for.
Aquaman shows us that our self-doubts are a good sign that we are up to the task.
Embracing what's hard can lead us into the most magical of worlds.
And there's no reason we can't have a lot of fun while we're at it.
"She didn't' have a parachute."
"Redheads, you gotta love em."
It's Debra.
And Susannah.
You're watching ScreenPrism.
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