Disagree. I think it's important to think carefully about how "the way things were in the past" influence how we perceive "the way things are now". Tracing how opinions evolve over time is a good way to help understand why people behave the way they do.

Personally, my armchair theory on superhero media (and other fandom-oriented media) is that it's sort of becoming a nascent religion for people that aren't otherwise religious.