1 00:00:11,365 --> 00:00:14,068 First of all, I really want to thank you 2 00:00:14,068 --> 00:00:19,925 for letting me speak to TEDxGateway in India about superheroes. 3 00:00:20,275 --> 00:00:24,865 I wish I could be there in person, but this is the next best thing. 4 00:00:25,035 --> 00:00:26,818 I would really love to share 5 00:00:26,818 --> 00:00:29,975 some of the things I've learned over the years 6 00:00:29,975 --> 00:00:34,865 and share them with any artists and writers in India 7 00:00:34,865 --> 00:00:38,215 who might be wanting to create new superheroes 8 00:00:38,215 --> 00:00:40,765 and new superhero adventures. 9 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:45,990 India has been on my mind a lot lately because I've been working 10 00:00:45,990 --> 00:00:50,660 with my good friend Sharad Devarajan and with Graphic India 11 00:00:50,660 --> 00:00:56,420 to create a new Indian superhero named Chakra The Invincible, 12 00:00:56,450 --> 00:00:57,970 who lives in Mumbai. 13 00:00:58,070 --> 00:01:00,770 My goal with Chakra was really simple. 14 00:01:01,350 --> 00:01:05,490 I wanted to bring an Eastern concept, like the chakras, 15 00:01:05,530 --> 00:01:08,760 to the Western world of superheroes. 16 00:01:09,468 --> 00:01:14,775 And for me, superheroes will always spark the imagination 17 00:01:14,775 --> 00:01:18,615 of people around the world regardless of their background, 18 00:01:18,635 --> 00:01:23,255 because I think that people are always looking for something 19 00:01:23,275 --> 00:01:28,675 that represents the ideal person or the ideal situation. 20 00:01:31,196 --> 00:01:35,586 Almost all of us have loved fairy tales when we were young. 21 00:01:35,908 --> 00:01:40,198 Just remember stories of giants and witches 22 00:01:40,198 --> 00:01:42,368 and wizards and monsters 23 00:01:42,368 --> 00:01:46,758 and things that were so colorful and bigger than life. 24 00:01:47,218 --> 00:01:52,238 But then, you get a little older and you're too old to read fairy tales. 25 00:01:52,359 --> 00:01:57,959 But you never outgrow your love of that type of story. 26 00:01:58,864 --> 00:02:00,684 And if you think about it, 27 00:02:00,684 --> 00:02:06,504 superheroes stories today are really like fairy tales for grown-ups. 28 00:02:06,814 --> 00:02:10,984 The characters are bigger than life, just like in fairy tales. 29 00:02:11,217 --> 00:02:14,517 They have the same type of superpowers: 30 00:02:14,797 --> 00:02:19,487 some can fly, some are extra-strong, some can be invisible. 31 00:02:19,744 --> 00:02:23,344 It gives the viewer and the reader 32 00:02:23,344 --> 00:02:29,444 a chance to relive the excitement he or she had when they were young. 33 00:02:29,574 --> 00:02:33,268 They're really reading fairy tales for grown-ups 34 00:02:33,288 --> 00:02:38,008 when they read or when they see superhero stories today, 35 00:02:38,018 --> 00:02:40,648 and that's why I love them so. 36 00:02:41,571 --> 00:02:45,036 To me, the human aspect of superheroes 37 00:02:45,036 --> 00:02:48,601 has always been, perhaps, the most important part. 38 00:02:48,601 --> 00:02:55,393 By that, I mean: OK, we assume your superhero might be extra-strong, 39 00:02:55,393 --> 00:02:59,733 or might be able to fly or run as fast as a comet, 40 00:02:59,733 --> 00:03:04,383 but unless you care about the superhero's personal life, 41 00:03:04,383 --> 00:03:07,243 you're just reading a shallow story. 42 00:03:07,267 --> 00:03:10,647 Just because a person has a superpower 43 00:03:10,647 --> 00:03:15,457 doesn't mean he might not have the same personal problems 44 00:03:15,457 --> 00:03:17,317 that you or I might have. 45 00:03:17,367 --> 00:03:19,547 Maybe he doesn't have enough money, 46 00:03:19,547 --> 00:03:21,507 maybe he has a family problem, 47 00:03:21,507 --> 00:03:23,907 maybe the girl he loves doesn't love him. 48 00:03:23,966 --> 00:03:28,200 Or maybe the girl he loves doesn't want to be involved with a superhero. 49 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,090 There are so many things you can think of 50 00:03:31,090 --> 00:03:35,550 that round out the character and the personality, 51 00:03:35,590 --> 00:03:40,010 so the superhero isn't just one or two dimensional. 52 00:03:40,029 --> 00:03:46,659 You want a three-dimensional superhero who lives and breathes and worries 53 00:03:46,690 --> 00:03:50,655 and experiences things just the way you and I do 54 00:03:50,655 --> 00:03:54,725 except for the fact that she or he has a superpower. 55 00:03:54,875 --> 00:03:58,035 One thing I might mention, most writers - 56 00:03:58,035 --> 00:04:00,705 and I think it's an unfortunate thing - 57 00:04:00,705 --> 00:04:02,871 they try to write something 58 00:04:02,874 --> 00:04:06,785 that they think a certain audience might enjoy. 59 00:04:06,995 --> 00:04:08,975 I've never been able to do that 60 00:04:08,975 --> 00:04:13,515 because I can't put myself in the mind of other people. 61 00:04:13,965 --> 00:04:19,635 I only know what I enjoy, so every time I've written a story, 62 00:04:19,635 --> 00:04:23,005 I've always tried to write the sort of story 63 00:04:23,005 --> 00:04:26,265 that I, myself would enjoy reading, 64 00:04:26,265 --> 00:04:29,905 a story that would interest me while I'm writing it 65 00:04:29,925 --> 00:04:32,985 as I'm waiting to find out what happens next. 66 00:04:33,345 --> 00:04:37,952 And I can't know what other people think, 67 00:04:37,952 --> 00:04:40,672 but I can know what I think, 68 00:04:40,672 --> 00:04:46,162 and I feel I'm not that unusual if there's a type of story I like. 69 00:04:46,226 --> 00:04:50,806 There must be lots of people who like the same type of stories. 70 00:04:51,047 --> 00:04:56,283 Therefore, I have always written to please myself, 71 00:04:56,283 --> 00:04:59,703 not to please a certain type of audience, 72 00:04:59,979 --> 00:05:06,009 because you can't know the audience as well as you know yourself. 73 00:05:06,158 --> 00:05:10,668 And if I write a story that I'm enjoying while I'm writing it 74 00:05:10,668 --> 00:05:13,651 and I can't wait to see what happens next, 75 00:05:13,651 --> 00:05:18,371 then I'm hoping that a large proportion of the public 76 00:05:18,371 --> 00:05:21,321 will feel the same way, and they'll enjoy it too. 77 00:05:21,321 --> 00:05:27,911 So to sum it up, I have always tried to please myself, not other people. 78 00:05:28,071 --> 00:05:31,041 And somehow, it seems to have worked 79 00:05:31,041 --> 00:05:35,081 because I guess I'm not that different than other people. 80 00:05:35,617 --> 00:05:37,687 So, to wrap it up. 81 00:05:37,687 --> 00:05:41,664 What I suggest is, use your imagination, 82 00:05:41,664 --> 00:05:46,534 don't be afraid to come up with the wildest thought in the world 83 00:05:46,534 --> 00:05:51,056 if what you create is truly different and colorful, 84 00:05:51,076 --> 00:05:54,656 and if it's written well, people will enjoy it. 85 00:05:54,656 --> 00:05:56,156 Now when I say "written well," 86 00:05:56,156 --> 00:06:01,306 what I mean is you might have the most fantastic notion in the world, 87 00:06:01,306 --> 00:06:05,926 suddenly you have a man who can fly faster than the speed of light. 88 00:06:05,929 --> 00:06:07,679 That could be interesting, 89 00:06:07,679 --> 00:06:10,109 but you have to make him believable, 90 00:06:10,109 --> 00:06:12,799 you have to give the reader or the audience 91 00:06:12,799 --> 00:06:17,669 some reason to think he really has the ability to do that. 92 00:06:17,849 --> 00:06:19,949 How did he get that power? 93 00:06:19,949 --> 00:06:23,941 Origins of superpowers are always very interesting. 94 00:06:24,021 --> 00:06:26,611 If you get the right origin, 95 00:06:26,611 --> 00:06:31,831 like, for example, Spiderman being bitten by a radioactive spider, 96 00:06:31,831 --> 00:06:36,071 at least, then the viewer has something to hold on to 97 00:06:36,071 --> 00:06:40,202 and to say, "Well, it might have happened, now I'll enjoy it." 98 00:06:40,202 --> 00:06:42,373 So even though you're writing 99 00:06:42,373 --> 00:06:45,752 what amounts to a fairy tale for grown-ups, 100 00:06:45,752 --> 00:06:52,132 try to keep enough facts and try to give enough detail 101 00:06:52,132 --> 00:06:56,897 that the reader or the audience will say, "Well, it could have happened," 102 00:06:56,897 --> 00:07:01,287 and then your public goes along with the fun. 103 00:07:01,587 --> 00:07:03,827 But if you make it too wild, 104 00:07:03,827 --> 00:07:09,407 and you don't give any reason why it is as wild as it is, 105 00:07:09,407 --> 00:07:12,387 then sometimes it can be overkill. 106 00:07:12,597 --> 00:07:17,887 So what I'm trying to say is, let your imagination flow freely, 107 00:07:17,887 --> 00:07:23,337 but always base what happens on some sort of provable fact 108 00:07:23,337 --> 00:07:27,047 so that the reader or the viewer will go along with it 109 00:07:27,047 --> 00:07:30,577 and enjoy it as much as you enjoy writing it. 110 00:07:30,627 --> 00:07:32,297 So good luck to you! 111 00:07:32,327 --> 00:07:36,467 Thanks for listening and I really enjoyed talking to you. 112 00:07:36,507 --> 00:07:38,636 Excelsior!