Growing up, I never fully connected to Spider-Man. As a kid, his fantastical adventures felt connected to extravagant, adult problems that I couldn’t quite relate to. But when he finally swung his way onto the PS4 last September and then again into theaters with Into The SpiderVerse, he clicked. It was like a blossoming explosion in my mind - I had finally understood the appeal of the character who I had known my whole life. It took the culmination of years of adult experience and even worse, a death in the family, for me to really see Spider-Man for what he truly is: a totem of the human experience, and a supportive guide for our journeys through hardship.
When Insomniac’s Spider-Man came out, my father was a week away from entering the hospital for what would eventually become palliative care. At first, I felt guilty that I was enjoying my time playing a video game to escape the sounds and smells of an ICU, but in his last days, my father explained something to me: as a child, he would buy me games like Spider-Man because he loved watching my imagination grow. If I took joy in a game, comic, book, or movie, that was enough for him to know my mind was blossoming and expanding. While he would rest at the hospital, I dove into Spider-Man PS4 and was absorbed back into the world of Peter Parker and Miles Morales. I took respite swinging through the New York City skyline, webbing crooks, collecting backpacks, and being a friendly neighborhood hero. I fell hard for Spider-Man.
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When Insomniac’s Spider-Man came out, my father was a week away from entering the hospital for what would eventually become palliative care. At first, I felt guilty that I was enjoying my time playing a video game to escape the sounds and smells of an ICU, but in his last days, my father explained something to me: as a child, he would buy me games like Spider-Man because he loved watching my imagination grow. If I took joy in a game, comic, book, or movie, that was enough for him to know my mind was blossoming and expanding. While he would rest at the hospital, I dove into Spider-Man PS4 and was absorbed back into the world of Peter Parker and Miles Morales. I took respite swinging through the New York City skyline, webbing crooks, collecting backpacks, and being a friendly neighborhood hero. I fell hard for Spider-Man.
Continue reading…
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