Opinion Editorial September, 2025: Superheroes
Heroes come and go it seems. But superheroes are eternal — at least in Hollywood. This year has seen the usual slew of superhero movies. But last month, Superman became the year's first to gross $600 million at the global box office. As was once said in a Hollywood movie about a real-life hero, that's a Freddie number.
Hollywood may have a monopoly on deciding who are our fictional superheroes, but there is no consensus on who are our real-life ones. For tennis fans last month, maybe Venus Williams qualified. For fans of the biblical Noah's Ark fable, perhaps it was Elon Musk.
If we are to consider pioneers, then, in my opinion, no conversation on the topic of superheroes can exclude Jim Lovell who died last month. Best known as one of the Apollo XIII astronauts who miraculously survived, Lovell's contributions to space exploration are immeasurable. Had he lived just a few months longer, he might have seen Artemis II emulate his Apollo VIII mission.
The term 'basket weaver' has come to signify someone pursuing a pointless or worthless activity. While that is a pejorative use of the term, actual basket weavers were critical in indigenous societies both nomadic and sedentary as well as in the pioneering transition from the former to the latter. So, people like the man in this month's photo might also be considered superheroes. In countries like Laos, where the photo was taken, basket weaving is still common in indigenous villages. The harvest there is undertaken using manual labor only.
Aviaja-Luuna Brønlund is not yet a superhero. She is, after all, just three weeks old. Born in Denmark, she will surely have the opportunity to reach her full potential though. In this year's Global Peace Index, Denmark ranks eighth in terms of the safest countries to live.
Unfortunately, ethnic background was not considered when arriving at that number. Aviaja-Luuna is Inuit. She was taken from her mother, Ivana Nikoline, an hour after her birth. According to Danish authorities, an illegally administered "parenting test" had revealed Ivana Nikoline might not be a fit mother.
That conclusion was based partly on her being a survivor of sexual abuse from earlier in her life. Some cultures are notorious for their acceptance of victimizing female sexual abuse survivors, but we don't typically put Denmark in that category. Ironically, it was only last month that Denmark formally apologized for a decades-long policy of forcing Greenlandic Inuit women and menstrual girls to undergo birth control. Today, that policy might be labelled genocidal.
Hardly reported in the mainstream media, those who plan to protest the treatment of mother and daughter this month are closer to heroes than any of the celebrities appearing in last month's slop.
I don't find it all that surprising that some journalists, politicians and Hollywood studio executives are becoming 'basket weavers.' We've had a problem since long before Jim Lovell spoke those immortal words.
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