{"id":105,"date":"2024-09-09T14:39:39","date_gmt":"2024-09-09T14:39:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/emily-sharkis-portfolio\/?p=105"},"modified":"2024-09-09T14:39:39","modified_gmt":"2024-09-09T14:39:39","slug":"uconn-spider-man-wants-to-remain-anonymous-for-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/emily-sharkis-portfolio\/2024\/09\/09\/uconn-spider-man-wants-to-remain-anonymous-for-now\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn Spider-Man wants to remain anonymous, for now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Emi\u00adly Sharkis
The Dai\u00adly Cam\u00adpus
March 7, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m sit\u00adting in McHugh 101 watch\u00ading some movie that\u2019s required for my Univ 3820 class. It\u2019s incred\u00adi\u00adbly dark, the only light com\u00ading from the screen. Sud\u00adden\u00adly, a door creaks open, light pour\u00ading in as a red and blue sil\u00adhou\u00adette ducks into the room, quick\u00adly looks around, and ducks out. I laugh and shoot my friends a look as if to say \u201cWas that him?\u201d They all smile, con\u00adfirm\u00ading my sus\u00adpi\u00adcions. UConn Spi\u00adder-Man is in the building. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been almost two years since UConn Spidey first appeared in Storrs, yet I have only seen him in per\u00adson a hand\u00adful of times. The seem\u00ading\u00adly con\u00adfi\u00addent man was often sur\u00adround\u00aded by groups of starstruck fans, yet his moti\u00adva\u00adtions and day-to-day life had always been some\u00adwhat of a mys\u00adtery to me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For two years I had thought about what I would say to Spidey if giv\u00aden the chance. I was about to hop on a Zoom call with him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using Insta\u00adgram DM\u2019s, Spidey and I had set up a time to chat. How\u00adev\u00ader, as I sat in the emp\u00adty Zoom room I won\u00addered if I had got\u00adten the time wrong. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHoly shit, I am so sor\u00adry I for\u00adgot,\u201d Spidey texted me three min\u00adutes after our set time, \u201cI\u2019ve been cram\u00adming for exams.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I laughed at the relat\u00adable mes\u00adsage and sud\u00adden\u00adly, Spidey felt like less of a celebri\u00adty and more like a peer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo wor\u00adries, I total\u00adly get it,\u201d I respond\u00aded, try\u00ading my best to seem \u201cchill\u201d in front of what some have called a \u201ccam\u00adpus legend.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet me just make sure my room\u00admate doesn\u2019t walk in\u2026he doesn\u2019t know,\u201d replied Spidey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sec\u00adond Spidey joined the call, I dis\u00adre\u00adgard\u00aded all of my pre\u00adpared ques\u00adtions, excit\u00aded\u00adly ask\u00ading \u201cYour room\u00admate does\u00adn\u2019t know? How does that work?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah. I mean, it\u2019s hard keep\u00ading a secret like that. I had a dif\u00adfer\u00adent room\u00admate when I first start\u00aded this, so he does know but he has\u00adn\u2019t told any\u00adone\u2026 my new room\u00admate does\u00adn\u2019t know,\u201d Spidey explained, \u201cHe\u2019s not real\u00adly much of a social per\u00adson, so I kind of doubt he\u2019s heard of me.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spidey went on to explain the hid\u00adden \u201cgo bag\u201d he keeps in his closet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf I ever need to put on the suit or some\u00adone needs some\u00adthing, I quick\u00adly go back to my room and grab my oth\u00ader back\u00adpack. It\u2019s got every\u00adthing I could need. My suit, the mask, the face shell. It\u2019s got wipes in case it\u2019s dirty. It\u2019s got like a stick of gum for breath, just like any\u00adthing I could need in that moment, it\u2019s there.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut why Spi\u00adder-Man as opposed to oth\u00ader super\u00adheroes?\u201d I asked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was the eas\u00adi\u00adest. It does\u00adn\u2019t have a face. You know, you could get a suit any\u00adwhere. But I also grew up with Spi\u00adder-Man too, so he very eas\u00adi\u00adly became the first choice. And I mean every\u00adbody likes Spider-Man.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
UConn Spi\u00adder-Man pos\u00ades with UConn junior Syd\u00adney Hay\u00adwood at the fall involve\u00adment fair on Sept. 4, 2024. Pho\u00adto by Emi\u00adly Sharkis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

UConn, in par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar, seems to love Spi\u00adder-Man. This pop\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adi\u00adty is best exem\u00adpli\u00adfied by a time he attempt\u00aded to walk past Gam\u00adpel Pavilion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As is nor\u00admal for bas\u00adket\u00adball sea\u00adson, the street sur\u00adround\u00ading Gam\u00adpel Pavil\u00adion was lined with stu\u00addents hop\u00ading for bas\u00adket\u00adball tickets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe lines were long and I mean like around the cor\u00adner, in every exit kind of long and every\u00adone was cheer\u00ading for the bas\u00adket\u00adball team,\u201d recalls Spidey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How\u00adev\u00ader, as he turned the cor\u00adner the crowd of stu\u00addents began cheer\u00ading Spidey\u2019s name instead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe cra\u00adzi\u00adest part was that peo\u00adple actu\u00adal\u00adly got out of line to come take a pic\u00adture with me and then went to the back of the line because they val\u00adued that pic\u00adture more than the bas\u00adket\u00adball game. It was\u00adn\u2019t even like two or three. I had like a line of like 40 peo\u00adple, like imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly. Thank God I had a mask because I was cry\u00ading, tak\u00ading all these pictures.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While his main goal is to make peo\u00adple smile, Spidey has also been involved in more seri\u00adous efforts, such as stand\u00ading up against the homo\u00adpho\u00adbic street preach\u00aders that fre\u00adquent UConn\u2019s campus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accord\u00ading to an arti\u00adcle from WHUS Radio, the pres\u00adence of street preach\u00aders at UConn goes back at least a decade. When they showed up on Sept. 28, 2022, Spidey knew what he had to do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, he told his boss he need\u00aded an hour off to com\u00adplete a job interview. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFuck\u00ading lie straight up,\u201d Spidey revealed, \u201cI had to get out there. That was one of the times I felt the most loved by the cam\u00adpus. I felt like an avenger walk\u00ading in.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Spidey is cer\u00adtain\u00adly a sym\u00adbol of hope and joy, he also wields a lot of pow\u00ader, a fact he learned while attend\u00ading his sec\u00adond protest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While stand\u00ading in the hot sun, Spidey noticed the crowd start\u00ading to get violent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI very quick\u00adly real\u00adized my role in the sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion. I was like, although I may dis\u00adagree with the preach\u00aders here, like fun\u00adda\u00admen\u00adtal\u00adly, there\u2019s no rea\u00adson to fight them. We don\u2019t want to get the police involved here,\u201d said Spidey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fun\u00adny,\u201d I added, \u201cBecause I imag\u00adine peo\u00adple would be like \u2018Spi\u00adder Man save us!\u2019 And then they\u2019re like\u2026wait.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not wrong. Peo\u00adple did that,\u201d Spidey began, \u201cBut I real\u00adized that when I was shout\u00ading at them, the crowd got real\u00adly excit\u00aded and they began, you know, almost try\u00ading to fight these guys.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not want\u00adi\u00adng to be the rea\u00adson for vio\u00adlence, Spidey decid\u00aded to step away from the ener\u00adgized crowd and stand in silence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe crowd sort of just fol\u00adlowed what I did\u2026it was real\u00adly strange,\u201d said Spidey, \u201cbut it was worth it because even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly the preach\u00aders walked away.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of Spider-Man\u2019s biggest appeals is that while he web-slings through\u00adout New York City, under\u00adneath the mask, he has a some\u00adwhat reg\u00adu\u00adlar life. While UConn Spidey is no dif\u00adfer\u00adent, stay\u00ading anony\u00admous is some\u00adthing he is sure about, at least for right now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe when I grad\u00adu\u00adate I will [reveal my iden\u00adti\u00adty],\u201d said Spidey, \u201cAt the same time, I don\u2019t real\u00adly want to be known for it. I like the idea that it could be any\u00adbody, that it is just an anony\u00admous guy try\u00ading to be nice and help out people\u2026I\u2019d hope to have it revealed in a dra\u00admat\u00adic way though.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, no mat\u00adter how you do it, I\u2019m sure peo\u00adple would be real\u00adly excit\u00aded,\u201d I told him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hope peo\u00adple don\u2019t see me and they\u2019re like damn, he\u2019s ugly\u2026that\u2019s part of why I\u2019ve just been so secre\u00adtive. I\u2019m not ready to be judged by the inter\u00adnet. I\u2019m shy as shit in real life as it is,\u201d Spidey said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spidey con\u00adsid\u00aders him\u00adself to be a reg\u00adu\u00adlar stu\u00addent, bal\u00adanc\u00ading work, stud\u00adies, and being a super\u00adhero. He\u2019s even changed his major mul\u00adti\u00adple times. The hard\u00adest part, he says, is liv\u00ading a dou\u00adble life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[When] my friends are like, \u2018how was your week\u00adend,\u2019 I\u2019d have to be like, \u2018Oh, it was bor\u00ading,\u2019 but real\u00adly I was like a frat rager\u2026at some points, I got con\u00adfused as to who I was and I got frus\u00adtrat\u00aded because I could\u00adn\u2019t share the expe\u00adri\u00adences that I want\u00aded to at the expense of the secret iden\u00adti\u00adty,\u201d said Spidey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Spidey has suc\u00adcess\u00adful\u00adly remained anony\u00admous for close to two years, there have cer\u00adtain\u00adly been close calls. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was study\u00ading with this group of peo\u00adple and I had to leave in a few hours because some\u00adone else want\u00aded to do an inter\u00adview for a pod\u00adcast thing. [When] I was head\u00ading over to the pod\u00adcast room, this woman start\u00aded call\u00ading my name. I turn around and it\u2019s the woman I was just study\u00ading with. And I was like, oh fuck, this is it\u2019s game over. This is where I get revealed\u2026all she want\u00aded was just a pic\u00adture and then she walked away\u2026I thought that might have been game over, but no, it was okay,\u201d recalls Spidey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look\u00ading toward grad\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion, I asked Spidey about the lega\u00adcy he wants to leave behind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hope that the peo\u00adple I had expe\u00adri\u00adences with keep them in their heart and move for\u00adward in the same way I do and for those who see me, just think back and laugh and take a minute away from the harsh real\u00adi\u00adty of school and edu\u00adca\u00adtion, and stress and exams and just remem\u00adber that there\u2019s a dude in a Spi\u00adder\u00adman suit just chill\u00ading,\u201d said Spidey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you think you\u2019ll try to recruit some\u00adone to take over [after you leave]? I asked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know. It\u2019s hard because at its best, this is a great way to social\u00adize and at its worst, it\u2019s cheesy. You need some\u00adone who is will\u00ading to do it and not take the fame for it\u2026I haven\u2019t real\u00adly found that per\u00adson yet,\u201d he explained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Spidey is a hum\u00adble indi\u00advid\u00adual, there is no doubt that he has reached a cer\u00adtain lev\u00adel of fame on UConn\u2019s cam\u00adpus. He\u2019s even dealt with imitators. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne per\u00adson told me that some guy tried to claim that they were me and pick up [a girl]\u2026and I just I was like\u2026what woman is going to be like, Oh, that\u2019s so hot. You\u2019re Spider-Man,\u201dSpidey joked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019d be shocked,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Emi\u00adly Shark\u00adisThe Dai\u00adly Cam\u00adpusMarch 7, 2024 I\u2019m sit\u00adting in McHugh 101 watch\u00ading some movie that\u2019s required for my Univ 3820 class. It\u2019s incred\u00adi\u00adbly dark, the only light com\u00ading from the screen. Sud\u00adden\u00adly, a door creaks open, light pour\u00ading in as a red and blue sil\u00adhou\u00adette ducks into the room, quick\u00adly looks around, and ducks out. [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":917,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-written-work","post-preview"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/emily-sharkis-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/emily-sharkis-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/emily-sharkis-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/emily-sharkis-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/917"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/emily-sharkis-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/emily-sharkis-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/emily-sharkis-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105\/revisions\/109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/emily-sharkis-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/emily-sharkis-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/emily-sharkis-portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}