You take a character who has a moral err, but not a sinner entirely, and you try that person with troubles so supernatural that their life becomes a kind of horror movie.
Watching Spider-Man as a kid, the moments that were the most important and memorable to me were the ones where Peter Parker first got his powers – slinging his first web, climbing the walls, jumping over buildings, sucker-punching Flash, defeating the Goblin, and kissing Mary Jane.
Spider-Man 2 was even more memorable – the interesting 8-limbed Doctor Octopus, that train sequence, the bank heist scene. Every time I watched and rewatched that movie there was an urge to lift my own heap-of-meat body and start climbing walls. “Spider-Man, Spider-Man does whatever a spider can. Spins a web of any kind, does whatever a spider can.”
A week earlier, as I was sitting down to do the most unproductive work – rewriting an entire project in handwriting – I decided to put on the movie while I copied text into paper for one of my assignments. If I was going to spend time doing something so mundane, I might as well put on a good movie and not worry too much.
Finished Spider-Man 1, then started Spider-Man 2. And then came this scene.
The Daily Bugle’s society party, hosted by James Jonah Jameson to celebrate his astronaut son John Jameson’s success. Peter, an employee at Jameson’s Bugle as a photographer, was asked to come and take photos.
But the way the events unfold in that fancy New York high-society hall, for Peter it becomes an “all-at-once humiliation scene.”
Here’s what happens at that event:
• Harry confronts and slaps Peter in public for protecting identity of Spider-Man.
• Mary Jane announces her engagement to John Jameson, devastating Peter.
• James Jonah Jameson belittles Peter in front of the crowd for failing his photography duties.
• Peter’s powers fail him again (he can’t take proper pictures, his webbing isn’t reliable).
• Peter feels sidelined in his own life, watching Mary Jane commit to someone else.
In picture it might just be a scene, but in narrative it’s the fall of Peter’s identity.
Harry slaps him, furious Peter won’t reveal Spider-Man’s identity. If Peter had told him that Spider-Man was really him, and that his father didn’t die at Spidey’s hands but as the Goblin, Harry’s life would’ve been crushed. Peter was protecting him by not saying it – but Harry couldn’t see the context and that really broke Peter’s heart.
Mary Jane announces she’s marrying John Jameson. This crushes Peter emotionally. And honestly, this Mary Jane character: why is she the lead of the movie and not Ursula Ditkovich? I wish there was a Spider-Man 4 and Peter married Ursula instead. Give your character the name of the mother of god, but no any traits, Mary Jane is written so inadequately. Not even a superhero who stood by her through highs and lows is enough for her – she always finds a way to move on. Dating John Jameson, and even getting engaged.
Then James Jonah Jameson ridicules him, Peter is belittled in public for missing shots and failing his duties. And there also is that Spider-Man power loss problem. His powers are fading. He can’t even perform as a photographer. He can’t deliver Spider-Man photos because he’s losing his abilities. Jameson embarrasses him for it. And beyond that, Peter even loses his pizza job because he keeps missing deadlines.
From another angle: Doctor Octopus is a villain born out of Peter’s scientific world. Peter admired him and feels partly responsible. The city turns against Spider-Man because of the Bugle’s smear campaign (“Menace!”). Even strangers heckle him despite his sacrifices. Uncle Ben’s death still looms large – his absence as a father figure in Peter’s life is also shaping Peter’s guilt.
But poor Peter, he can’t confide to any one. He can’t confide in his aunt, his best friend Harry, or the girl he loves – Mary Jane. He’s emotionally alone in a crowded city.
The School life isn’t so great either. Always late, always behind. Dr. Connors warns him he might fail out. He literally can’t balance being Spider-Man and a student.
Looking at the whole picture, Peter is failing on all fronts: A friend (Harry), A lover (Mary), A nephew/son figure (Aunt May), A student (college), A worker (pizza + photography), and even as Spider-Man (powers failing, city hating him).
Throughout the film, Peter’s life spirals out of control – jobs lost, friendships dissolving, financial trouble, grades dropping – all rooted in being Spider-Man. And the party scene is the culmination, where everything unravels at once.
Man, that hit so hard. Peter lying awake in bed, contemplating: Who am I? What have I done? Is it too much to ask to be understood, when you’ve given everything?
I literally felt constriction and anxiety watching it. I wasn’t even writing my stupid assignment anymore. Because man – this happens in our lives. What do we do then? I needed that clarity in life. By then, I was watching that scene as though it was a religious ritual unfolding before my eyes. A cinematic symbol of what every person goes through. For someone faint-hearted, Peter’s collapse would’ve been unbearable.
Late at night, Peter contemplates: Who am I? He realizes he’s a nobody. But even at his worst, he is still Peter Parker. He is himself – the best, the worst, and everything in between.
Peter is hit on every front: Romantic failure, Friendship failure, Professional failure and Moral guilt. Feeling like a complete failure – powerless, unworthy, isolated. His inner voice is guilt, grief, and self-recrimination.
WHAT HORROR ! HORROR !! HORROR !!! Like a horror film where the punishment for human failings is externalized into physical and social crises.
What is horror? When you’re punished for human limitation and fear. Horror is not demons clawing your heart out and eating it before you. Horror is social, romantic, professional, and personal failures colliding all at once. Horror is Peter collapsing, unable to act, speak, or even think rationally. Horror is the fear that life has no balance – that the world moves on without you. Existential anxiety.
What does Peter do? He contemplates. He represses.
But momentary collapse precedes self-realization. He then recommits to responsibility. He decides to live only as Peter Parker: catching up on school and just focusing on himself. And I was encouraged – I too felt happy when there was a time when I focused on studies. For the first time in years, Peter feels relief: eating hot dogs, smiling at the city, living without the burden.
But we all knew, and so did Peter, that this peace was only temporary. A respite. Life is irony – you fall in one pit, climb out, then stumble into another. That is Peter’s fate: he can’t just be Peter, because when Peter stops suffering, the city starts suffering.
Some people have a fate like Bernoulli’s brachistochrone – the straight, easy path is actually the wrong one. Sometimes we fall deep to the lowest point, but the bounce back takes us further than we imagined. Wishful thinking? maybe. But wishful thinking is just another name for survival instinct.