Lessons from Spider-Man: Far From Home

I’m Matt, Irish and since I was about 5, convinced I was Spider-Man. That all fell apart when Tom Holland was cast in the role, as I am about a year older than him, so I can no longer be everyone’s favourite sarcastic web-head on the big screen! But, that doesn’t mean there aren’t lessons that can’t be learned from the new Marvel Blockbuster, Spider-Man: Far from Home.

As with all films, you have a choice when you go in to watch it: do I want to see what is right in front of me, or, alternatively, do I want to pick up on the themes and overarching ideals that the director has placed within the film to make us, the audience, think deeply and reflect on what we have just seen. (I try to do the latter)

From here, we got some spoilers, well, spoilers if you haven’t seen the other marvel films and some plot points centered around Far from Home.

***SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers!***

If you haven’t seen the movie yet and don’t want any spoilers, then save, bookmark, or pin this post so you can come back to it later after you see the movie!

1. Grief doesn’t have to end life.

This is the 1^st film after Avengers: Endgame, so we have the return of everyone who was lost during Infinity War. We are shown what this was like for the students at Midtown High, with some disappearing while the marching band played in a sports hall and then returning during a basketball game. This opening sequence played out as a message to the students and an explainer to the audience as to the setting for this film and how the 5 year jump in Endgame affects Peter & Co. As everyone who disappeared during the snap, reappeared, there was no ‘grief’ for those who didn’t disappear to suffer, at least, not anymore.

But Peter has suffered perhaps his biggest loss in his life with the death of Tony Stark. We see Peter struggling at times with how he feels and throughout the film question his decisions, and he has his grief over the loss of Tony turned against him during a couple of scenes. The thing with this is, during the 1^st half of the film, Peter does not deal with his grief; he accepts it, sure. He is aware Tony is dead and not returning, but rather than embracing this new life, he finds himself yearning for what came before. This was evident when he was being asked questions by reporters and his retort was ‘Does anyone have any neighbourhood questions?!’ He was asked about being the new Iron Man, the new head of the Avengers and he feels overwhelmed, causing a disconnect between what Tony wanted from him originally in Civil War to what the world needs in Far from Home.

He runs. Peter escapes the reporters and finds himself looking at candle-lit vigils of Iron Man and spray painted street art on the side of buildings. This resulted in his decision to want to live a normal life while in Europe and leaving any remnants of Spider-Man behind. Then when the call of duty arises, after a little bit of coaxing Peter comes to realise that he has a responsibility to the gifts he has, the father figure who died and the people who need him. After accepting the role he has to play in the world and the role that Tony played in developing him, he seems to have fully accepted Tonys’ passing in life and the figurative passing of a torch to Peter, allowing his grief to not consume him, but rather, drive him.

That is a lesson that all of us can take into our daily lives. Death is a natural part of life and it is going to happen to both you and to everyone you know. The question is not what will happen to you when you lose someone, but rather, what will you let happen to you.

 

2. Live your own life

Now, this may seem contradictory based on what is written above, so bear with me for a minute here. You cannot live your life for other people. Your parents may want you to be a doctor, a lawyer, a professor, but you may want to be a creator, a vet, a banker. This may cause some tension between you and whomever wants a different life for you. This creates a choice: do you do what the other person wants you to do, or do you go off and do your own thing. The key to remember here is most people don’t know what they want to do or how they want to live and it is something that is really only learned by doing. By living your life you may end up wanting to be the person others wanted you to be in the 1^st place, or you may not.

This was a theme throughout this film. Everyone we saw—Aunt May, the public, Happy Hogan to an extent—all wanted Peter to become Tony. But what that entailed, no-one was sure. Peter himself didn’t even know; all he did know was how he felt and what he wanted. He made this explicitly clear to May and the public. May via saying he wanted a break this Summer and was not bringing his suit (It was later snuck into his case). Then with the public by his questions showing a desire to be more neighbourhood based.

It was when his friends were in trouble and Peter came to realise the gifts that he has alongside his ability to know right from wrong and the lessons that being an Avenger has given him, Peter begins to feel more comfortable in accepting his new role. This role does not have to be as the Iron Man nor does it automatically lead to Peter becoming the head of the Avengers, rather, Peter has come to accept who he is and what type of life he wants to lead, irrespective of the views of others which may conflict with his ideals.

Which gives us the lesson to be comfortable in our skin and the decisions we make. Once we are happy with the life we lead and the options we take, then no-one can take that away from us.

 

3. Self-Belief is Key

In Spider-Man films past, we have seen what happens when Peter Parker lacks self-belief (Cough, cough, Spider-Man 2). This film does not go down that far a route, but we have seen a glimpse of Peters powers over the previous 4 films he has appeared in, yet, we only saw his Spider-Sense once, during the beginning of Infinity War.

This film makes reference to his Spider-Sense early on, when Peter fails to catch a fruit that is coming in his direction and a joke is made regarding his abilities. Peter states that he is having trouble with it lately. This seems to me, to tie in with his feelings of inadequacy following the death of Tony as he feels he has to step up to the plate and become a leader. He is struggling to believe in himself and is looking for a character with whom he can relate to and look to for guidance as he does not feel he is a strong enough individual to have a foundation in right and wrong.

In step, Mysterio, Peter looks up to him and is glad for his guidance as he is able to now talk to another hero and get a new perspective around how he is feeling and whether or not it is vindicated. Over the course of the film, you can see Peter wanting to attach himself to older male figures as he seeks out new figures. From his father – Uncle Ben – Tony Stark – Mysterio? It can’t be easy being Peter Parker, 16, blipped out of existence for 5 years to return and find life so different, yet in some ways, exactly the same. It is only reasonable that he would try to attach himself to another person in a symbiotic style relationship.

But as he grows in stature during the film and begins to feel more comfortable in what he does and is able to do, Peter is able to call upon every facet of his arsenal and take the fight to the villains in a way reminiscent to Homecoming after the building fell on him. This version of Peter Parker is someone who has repeatedly struggled with self-belief, he only believes in himself strongly when the odds are stacked against him and everyone needs him. But, if you are able to believe in yourself when the going gets tough, that proves it has been inside you the entire time and you are more than capable of facing any everyday challenge that gets in your way.

So, in order to embrace your gifts and to know there is ‘something inside of you greater than any obstacle’ (Christian D. Larson) you must believe in yourself and all that you are.

 

4. Self-Sacrifice

As I’m sure can be seen by now, Peter very much did not want to have to be Spider-Man in Europe (So he became someone else, something else); he wanted to have a holiday with his friends, go to Europe, flirt with MJ and execute his 6 step plan to tell her his feelings on top of the Eiffel Tower. That was all he cared about.

But clearly, this is a Spider-Man film, not a Peter Parker one, so where, when & why did this all change? While on his 1^st stop in Venice, Peter alongside his classmates is attacked and after the Elemental disappears, he is taken to speak with Nick Fury. But while there, Peter makes it clear, he is not interested in this battle as everyone is going to find out his secret-identity after also being at the Washington Monument. This is understandable from Peter and he is ‘relieved’ of duty. This was Peter putting himself first and the safety of the world second.

Then when manipulated by Fury to be in the city of the next Elemental attack, Peter has a choice to make. Does he spend time with MJ after agreeing to do so, or does he go out and help Mysterio battle another Elemental? That is not much of a choice for previous iterations of Spider-Man who have always sacrificed themselves for the greater good with little forethought as to the repercussions of their actions; however, here as an audience member, you can never be too sure what way Peter is going to sway. Will he appear straight away or perhaps when the fight is swinging away from our heroes?

This gives us as the audience a lesson around the ideas of Self-Sacrifice. Some might say the most noble way to die is for a cause (A martyr). But, for a lot of us, this is not an option. But self-sacrifice can be done in many little ways, it is another way of saying, ‘I’m putting myself out’. By sacrificing certain things in your life so that you can help others, you are leaving a legacy and an imprint on this world, but that is easy to lose sight of. At what stage does self-sacrifice become self-sabotage is only something that you can answer about yourself.

That is a question Peter parries with throughout the course of the film. Does he want to be Spider-Man and live up the legacy that has potentially been left for me or does he want to be a normal teenager?

 

5. Legacy

Which brings us to our final lesson and this one is going to be rather short.

Legacy is defined as something that is handed down or remains from a previous generation or time.

Tony Stark has left a legacy within the MCU and Robert Downey Jr in reality.

Peter is struggling to live up to the legacy that has been handed down to him as Iron Mans protégé and you can see the effect it is having on his mental health and how he wants the world to see him.

It is only when Peter feels strong enough to accept himself as who he is and that legacy, much like life and its choices, is what you make of it, creating a stronger person and one that he can live with.

Perhaps, that is the biggest lesson that can be learned from this film.

Live your own life and create your own legacy; don’t try and live up to the legacy of others.

 

I certainly enjoyed seeing Spider-Man Far from Home and while this iteration of the Wall-Crawler is my least favourite, this film gave me plenty of laughs, great moments and the above lessons for me to carry forward into my life, I hope you enjoy it as much as everyone else in my theatre did.

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Share your thoughts in the comments below!

What did you think of the movie? What were your key takeaways?

Want to check out my other lessons from film posts?

• Lessons from Avengers: Endgame
• 3 Life Lessons from Shazam!
• 3 Life Lessons from Captain Marvel
• 9 Life Lessons from Wonder Woman
• Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life Lesson
• 4 Life Lessons from Doctor Strange
• A Lesson on Strength from Star Trek Beyond
• 6 Life Lessons We Can Learn from Captain America: Civil War
• 6 Life Lessons We Can Learn from Batman v Superman