Through Hellboy's adventures, Del Toro overturns the American superhero's preconceived image by having our own worst enemy be our greatest hero.
Credit: Universal Pictures
Throughout Scott Poole's Satan in America, Poole argues that pop culture is inextricably intertwined with American religious faith, informing and shaping it while furthering America's perception of itself as a bastion of morality. Through the mediums of pop culture and prominent religious movements, the "American Devil" concept arose, meaning a scapegoat and metaphor Americans use to shift blame for the responsibility of the nation's misdeeds. In other words, by their nature, Americans would prefer to blame an evil outside force rather than consider that evil is inherent in all humans to varying degrees.
Media & Religion
The media and religious entities fuel this tendency, allowing America to conveniently avoid having to face a scarier question: isn't it possible that evil is part of man's inherent nature? The devil's portrayal in popular media has helped fuel America's fascination with supernatural elements while serving as their excuse to commit violent and evil actions because a greater good justifies them. Tying a victim's identity or motives to a satanic force is the seeming justification for America's refusal to accept moral responsibility, giving us a common enemy to unite against and blame. America has always been at its most prosperous when it has an enemy, when it's at war, and using the massive influence pop culture has on people's minds, America has invented the ultimate scapegoat. However, the Hellboy character is no scapegoat and actively defies this stereotype by shedding new light on America's penchant for scapegoating.
The Captain America Complex
The overarching narrative of both films is Hellboy's internal journey to defy his destiny as a destroyer of the world. He was born a demon but raised as a human, using his powers to fight for humanity. Poole mentions America's Captain America Complex, "the concept of America's profound innocence, the idea that somehow the United States represents a great exception in human history." This practice masks the black marks on the nation's history and turns every decision into a noble cause.
This is embodied through the superhero Captain America, who Poole describes as having "perfect moral intuitions." Using these morals alongside his extraordinary power of strength, Captain America protects humanity from evil, a common practice in the superhero genre. It just so happens that Hellboy is a superhero as well, using his own strength and morals to protect humanity from what the world deems as evil. Both perform the same actions; however, it raises the question of what makes Hellboy any different from Captain America. The only fundamental difference between the two is that Hellboy is not human in his outward appearance. While other pop culture portrays the devil as evil, here he's the hero. In that regard, Hellboy is the antithesis of the American Devil.
Obsession with Innocence
Through Hellboy's adventures, Del Toro overturns the American superhero's preconceived image by having our own worst enemy be our greatest hero. Hellboy saves the day, but unlike Cap, his work is never appreciated. Hellboy is used as a scapegoat and feared, but he's the most human of us all. He truly is the good guy because he is willing to act against his own interests when he believes it is right. Much of his struggle is to be accepted by a society that despises him and sees him as evil incarnate. This perfectly fits how Poole describes America's obsession with being innocent, continually looking for a monster to blame. In essence, Hellboy is embodying what Poole hopes to address. How America, as a society, bears responsibility for the evils that society pins on these monsters.
Manning
This is best exemplified through the character Tom Manning, Hellboy's human boss at the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. Unlike Hellboy's adopted father, Bruttenholm, Manning has always seen Hellboy as nothing more than a monster and a tool for him to use against others. Despite all the good Hellboy has done for the world by eliminating these monsters, it never sways Manning's view of him.
-Hellboy: What are you trying to say?
-Manning: This whole thing is a farce, because in the end, after you've killed and captured every freak out there - there's still one left: you.”
-Manning speaking to Hellboy, Hellboy (2004)
This quote embodies Manning's character. As the boss of the B.P.R.D., his job is to keep the world safe from monsters at all costs. Poole mentions that Satan has been used to "characterize human enemies" throughout America's social history. By linking this ultimate evil to the perceived threats to America's stability and identity, it encourages us to double down on these notions. To fight against this enemy, no matter how cruel or inhumane, we must be to do so. Any evil is justified when defending ourselves against the demonic, as long as it's in the pursuit of maintaining our perceived innocence. However, this makes us no different from the devil, as we resort to his levels and become the very monsters we fight against.
Manning is a shining example of this mindset, seeking to defend his country from what he perceives as evil. In this case, it is the paranormal, anything that is not human. Hellboy is an ingenious character in that way. He is a demon who's doing good things to protect humans. He is ironic: the physical embodiment of the idea of the American Devil. But if he is a demon, how can he be doing things that America deems good? And if he is doing good things for America, how can he be a demon? The point is that we should address the challenging question of the duality of our nature without looking for a scapegoat, as things are never as black and white as American society would like them to be.
In essence, the Hellboy stories are good food for thought for a society that wants a "sound bite" answer to complicated questions. Man's capacity for evil is a complex, multifaceted issue that cannot be answered merely by blaming a demonic scapegoat. As illustrated by Hellboy, the truth is that no one is 100% demon or 100% angel. We must look at ourselves and try to reconcile that, rather than looking for something external to blame.
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