I, as a highly-functional and mature member of society, have just finished watching both the original Justice League and the follow-up Justice League Unlimited. Now, these are both cartoons that ran on Toonami and such channels, so obviously there's an element of childish nostalgia. What surprised me was the parts of Unlimited that were distinctly more adult than even most adults probably realized.
Justice League grew up a lot when it entered the Unlimited era in a lot of ways; most obviously, the cast of characters expanded, the episodes left the two-part Threat of the Week format for a more lasting, connected overarching story, social commentary colored almost every episode, etc. More subtly, the tone of the whole thing shifted. In the original Justice League, I think I heard the words "death" or "kill" maybe six times over the whole thing (the stakes were generally more ambiguously in terms of "conquest" or "attaining power" and the like), whereas in Unlimited death was a very real thing that characters discussed and threatened one another with. There were lots of these little changes, and I'd need a proper book to discuss them all. But even more interesting to me was this one particular episode.
The episode titled "Ancient History" opens thus: an archaeologist uncovers relics belonging to an alien race (to which a member of the League belongs). After some deliberation, it is revealed that he touched one, and it transmitted a memory to him of a life he and the League member lived together long ago, before their relationship was disrupted. This leads to a misunderstanding and the murder of the League member and her lover, followed by the suicide of the archaeologist's supposed past-self. Supposedly, the archaeologist and the League member are the latest in a series of reincarnations of themselves, destined for one another. Additionally, throughout this arc, the protagonists are harried by an entity called the Shadow Thief, who constantly stalks them and attempts various mischief (he tries to kill Batman, for example, and that simply is not done). Read that through a few times, because it's pretty heavy on the time-travel and cosmic forces, as well as just plain wonky, as any good comic book-esque plotline is. Now, to dissect.
First of all, the alien race in question has some subtle touches of the hawk about them, including wings sprouting from their back and wearing hawk masks at almost all times, along with a generally dominant attitude. This is not relevant until the "camera" shows the Egyptians venerating the aliens as ruler-gods in the manner of the pharaohs, and the wall paintings created for that purpose. Oh look, it's Ra. That's funny.
Next, the love triangle involving the two aliens and a human interloper. It ends like Romeo and Juliet with a twist. I hate Romeo and Juliet, but the reference bears at least a mention, because it's significant.
This is where I was a little more surprised. First of all, the Shadow Thief is an original character, but he represents a concept present in a lot of ethical theories about the self. The "shadow" is a prettier term for the ugly parts of the unconscious mind, the parts the conscious mind willfully turns away from rather than acknowledge them as part of the composite whole self. Facing parts of your shadow is a core activity in almost all the self-exploration programs and yoga retreats, and all those other things people snort at. At one point in the story arc, it is revealed that the Shadow Thief is actually the archaeologist's unconscious, repressed evil portions, split from him during the trauma of touching the alien device and made into an actual physical entity using Comic Book Plot Logic. Significantly, the Shadow Thief can affect the physical realm but remains deliberately evasive and nearly intangible, creeping up on the protagonists from behind and retreating when they whirl to face him or try to expose him to light. In the ethical theories I mentioned, this is exactly how the mental shadow works; its worst damage to your psyche occurs when you ignore it. I'm sure you can Google up the writings in question if you search for Connie Zweig and J.A. Sanford. They're pretty good, would recommend.
The Shadow Thief's nature itself has grounding in ethical theories of the self, but the complexity continues. In dialogue with the Thief, the archaeologist discovers that while he himself experiences feelings of attraction for the League member, the Thief represents the possessive, covetous part of his desire. This is interesting on its own, but this turns out to be another major reference, this one to the theory of the Having Mode and Being Mode by Erich Fromm (again, Google that business). According to Fromm, love can be centered around Having the other person (and therefore superficial, shakily grounded, and ultimately unhealthy) or Being with them (going through a shared experience and healthy growth together, even if the two ultimately grow apart). In facing the Shadow Thief, the archaeologist is forced to combat the inherently "bad" sides of a positive emotion. However, the combat's end is significant as well.
The protagonists try to deal with the Shadow Thief in all sorts of ways; the League members hit him with an energy-charged mace, explosives, and bright lights, and the archaeologist denounces him verbally the entire time. These means have brief effect, dispersing the Thief's constituency and staving him off, but are ultimately temporary, as the Thief simply re-coalesces anywhere darkness exists and returns. Eventually, the archaeologist confronts the Thief and finally defeats him by physically picking him up and forcing the shadow back into himself. According to all the theories of shadow-facing I mentioned, the only way to defeat the shadow's influence is through acceptance, recognizing that the shadow is part of you and ceasing to deny it. With awareness and consciousness of the darkness in all of us, it loses most of its power over us; something held unconsciously only works if its influence is ignored. In this way, the archaeologist accepts that his mind has a sinister, darker side. He incorporates it as an essential part of himself (as all the theories prescribe). In this case, the metaphor of defeating the shadow by physically pushing it back into his body is just slightly heavy-handed.
Yeah, I mean, cartoons are for kids.
TL;DR Watch Justice League Unlimited while thinking actively.
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