6. There is always someone you can trust. Everyone else in the world may be out to get Jason Bourne, but there’s Joan Allen in her office, whispering into the phone and staring down the malefactors as she tries to bring him home safely. Bruce Wayne has both Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman to soothe his soul and mend his suits. And even if you lack such highly competent, Oscar-winning support, you can at least have a dog, a tagalong child, or an eager sidekick. The job may be lonely, but you don’t have to do it alone.

7. There is always enough time. Just enough. Even when things are most hectic and dangerous, even when the red LED digits on the doomsday timer are zooming toward zero, there are a few moments, at least, for a meaningful kiss, if not for a full night of passion; or for a night of passion, if not for a full-fledged honeymoon. There’s at least enough time to tuck your children into bed and tell them you love them, if not to have the heart- to-heart you’ve been hoping for; to sit down and open a beer, if not to drink the whole thing.

8. You should never get too comfortable. As soon as you’ve had that first sip or that deep kiss, or as soon as the kids are settled down, your cell phone will ring, the alarm will go off, the spaceship will land in your yard, or something will come crashing through the living-room window.

9. Everything will be OK in the end. The planet was very nearly destroyed and a lot of people may have died, but you will find your way back home, having done your job and quieted the demons. The point is not that all of those terrible things didn’t matter, but rather that, even in the wake of mass destruction and near apocalypse, life will find a way of going on.

10. There is always a sequel. Wipe the soot off your face, embrace your family or the love interest who has been eluding you for the last two hours, sail off into the sun- set, or walk slowly up the front steps of your house. Wounds will heal. Time will pass. But within a year or two―maybe even by this time next summer―evil will rear its ugly head and stuff will start blowing up again. But you’re prepared for that. You are a hero. Your work is never done.

About the Author
A. O. Scott is a film critic and a writer for the New York Times; he also writes for the newspaper’s Sunday magazine. The summer he turned 11, he saw Star Wars 11 times. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two children, a cat, and a dog.