Several major issues are dealt with by having a secret identity - You can't be normal - Readers often cannot comprehend this, because they want to be exceptional - Others have noted you can't (don't want to) be on call 24 hours a day - Doctors, lawyers, and other "exceptional" professions often note this as one of the worst expectations of the job. - Expectation is "if you could be available, you will be available" - Extremely difficult to have friends or other meaningful relationships - Your available pool of friends becomes {people who can associate with Superman} - Humans don't respond to celebrities the same way - Consider lottery winners, they hide for a reason, "friends" suddenly appear - You can't go to normal activities - Consider when a celebrity shows up to a baseball or basketball game. The cameraman focuses on them every shot to show the crowd their reaction. - Remember Biden going for a bike ride? ["Haha, the President fell down..."](https://www.google.com/search?q=joe+biden+bike) - Money - People often assume you don't need money (even though everything in America is expensive) - People often assume you work for free (out of "goodness") - Caveat - You might get a sponsorship (although this has its own issues) - You have all the celebrity detriments (taken from a subset of a [Forbes Article](https://www.forbes.com/sites/russalanprince/2016/06/27/the-downside-of-celebrity/?sh=728e490543ff) on celebrity issues) - Loss of privacy. - Helen Hunt has [An interesting Guardian article](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/sep/01/helen-hunt-interview-eureka-day) on loss of privacy and dealing with paparazzi. - Creepy beach photos that appear in every celebrity magazine. - What's Superman look like in his underwear? - Subjected to hyper-criticism - "Why didn't you save that kitten on the other side of the Earth?" - "My black grandma fell to her death, while you helped that white male" - Lies in the media - Spiderman suffers this a lot - People find a way to write you as a villain (often: you didn't do what we selfishly demand) - Taken advantage of by "friends" - "Can we join your entourage?" - "Can we borrow some money, you must be rich." - Taken advantage of by professionals and businesses - "Superman eats ______ every morning, based on our camera images through his window." - "Superman shops at our business." - Targeted by criminals - Everything you own is valuable, you're Superman - Automatic relics and mementos - Stalkers - Even your trash is valuable - Enemies always want to challenge you a fight - How many supervillains cause issues just to get heroes to fight them? - Heroes and villains in comics always want to prove they're the most invincible. - Batman and Superman are "friends", yet Batman spends [a lot of time thinking up contingencies for fighting Superman.](https://dc-comics-cinematic-universe.fandom.com/wiki/Batman%27s_Contingency_Plans#Superman) - [Miyamoto Musashi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyamoto_Musashi#Duel_with_Sasaki_Kojir%C5%8D)'s issues with duels are a reasonable historical example - All associates are targets - If someone can't win in a direct fight, they'll pursue other methods to hurt you. - Sometimes they'll hurt people near you just to make a point (consider Joker, Commissioner Gordon, and Batgirl in [The Killing Joke](https://time.com/4420487/why-people-are-upset-about-the-batman-the-killing-joke-movie/)) - Blackmail and other forms of leverage that make it difficult to respond - You're dangerous - People don't want to live near you - Might get a car thrown through the wall - "Superman can look through my clothes?" - Literal s*** magnet. People like Doomsday gravitate toward you. - Your fights [destroy entire cities](https://www.businessinsider.com/superhero-movies-that-destroyed-cities-2016-8#the-dark-knight-13). - Try getting an insurance policy (need catastrophic supervillain coverage) - Even if you're nice, you're still a security threat - Likely have a spy satellite (or two) aimed at your house constantly - Even if one govt. likes you, the others probably won't - Govt's will write laws directly related to you [Ex: International Oversight of the Avengers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_America:_Civil_War) - Govt's will demand you work for them - Legal issues of shooting deadly laser beams and knocking buildings over by breathing.