Hetain Patel’s work explores the idea of identity. From imitating his father, to building a working-class Transformer robot out of his old Ford Fiesta, he examines the assumptions people make about others based on their race, gender, age, and class.
The Jump (2015) ©Hetain Patel
Spider-Man is just one of the cultural influences Patel uses to do this. Created in 1962 by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, Spider-Man wore a costume that covered his entire body. Stan Lee said, that underneath the costume “…you could be any kid. You could be black, you could be Asian, you could be Indian, you could be anything… and that made it relevant to everybody, everywhere.”
Reading the comics, Patel saw that he, too, could be Spider-Man without having to be the Asian Spider-Man or the Indian Spider-Man. “For me, it's not about having super powers but more about the joy of being able to be defined by your actions and not the outer signs that define you, such as gender, race or age.”
The comic made widespread use of thought balloons - bubbles above the characters’ heads expressing their thoughts - allowing the readers access to Peter Parker’s feelings which were often at odds with the heroic action, creating dramatic conflict.
Spider- Man (1963) © Marvel Entertainment
Patel adapts the Western comic book word balloon and panel devices in his own work, too, combining them with traditional Indian henna painting in his Eva Series (2012) to further explore his own personal cultural conflicts.
Mehndi 14- the Eva series (2012) © Hetain Patel
He takes the comic book word bubble idea a step further in Letter to Peter Parker (2014). Here, he uses his thoughts about the personal debt he owes the fictional character of Peter Parker to create the familiar blue and red design of the Spider-Man costume itself, making his own inner feelings as visible as if they were a comic book thought balloon. Patel also finds comfort in the cultural similarity between Spider-Man’s familiar crouching pose and the common Indian squatting posture.
Letter to Peter Parker (2015) © hentainpatel.com
In The Jump (2015), Patel moves from comic books to the visual language of Hollywood films. Here, he actually inhabits the costume in a piece that explores the tension between his cultural influences, a subject which he addresses further in his TED talk Who Am I? Think Again.
In his Grandmother’s home, as the family pose in traditional dress for a photograph, Patel, dressed as Spider-Man, leaps across frame in slow motion. He is completely at home in the house, the family and the costume, but the culture clash is humorously obvious.
The Jump (2015) © Hetain Patel
A reverse shot, though, shows Patel, as Spider-Man against a black background - an inner world, akin to the comic book thought balloon - immersed in the fantasy, fully and joyfully himself; a cultural fusion, in a shot that references slow motion scenes from the Spider-Man movies themselves;
The Amazing Spider-Man 2013 ©Sony Pictures
In the decades since a young Patel’s only costume was a piece of string tied round his wrist with a paper clip attached, the Spider-Man character has grown into a successful Hollywood film franchise. It’s cultural impact is such that today all India shares Patel’s love of the character. The latest Spider-Man film, Spider-Man: Homecoming, was a huge box office hit and the Spider-Man films account for three of India’s highest earning top ten Hollywood movies in the country’s history.
And, in an interesting counterpoint to Stan Lee’s original remarks, the diversity of the Spider-Man character has expanded, too. Instead of disguising difference, it now celebrates it. For Patel, there was only one Spider-Man. Now, we really do have a black Spider-Man in Miles Morales, a Latino one, and even an Indian one in Pavitr Prabhakar (although, to Patel’s probable dismay, this Spider-Man wears Indian dhoti pants). And there are plenty of female variations, as well.
Ultimate Spider-Man // Spider-Man: India © Marvel Entertainment
Today, it seems there’s now a Spider-Person you can identify with, no matter who you are, including me (yup, there’s even a middle-aged version).
While Patel’s relationship with Spider-Man in his early works is a distinctly personal one, his later work continues to explore the theme of identity, drawing more broadly on mass media to examine how popular culture influences and shapes us all, whether we know it or not.
And he may have a point. While you may never have read the comics or seen the films, who doesn’t know the opening lines at the very least…
All together now…
Spider-Man © Marvel Entertainment