It also boasts a host of overly loud moral messages, the kind that will be oft-referenced this month by hip preachers demonstrating their cultural awareness. Raimi's film teaches us about the importance of making right choices, the danger of giving oneself over to anger, and the vital need of overcoming a desire for vengeance with a willingness to forgive.

Believe it or not, Raimi's film also offers a profound piece of advice about intimate relationships. If the first film demonstrates the varied ways that the heroic quest endangers loved ones, and the second film counters with the suggestion that heroism and romance can coexist when bound by honesty, the third film illuminates the power that professional success has to blind oneself to anyone's situation but his own.

In the movie's first act, Mary Jane is flattened by a host of negative reviews following her debut as a Broadway singer, and goes to Peter's apartment in an attempt to find solace in commiseration. Peter, who was enraptured by his girlfriend's voice during the previous night's performance, and who is now preoccupied with listening to the police scanner for the hint of trouble on the streets, fails to listen fully to Mary Jane's complaints, and writes off her trials as surmountable, small-scale versions of the troubles he once faced with the public. She obviously feels unheard and, before matters can be rectified, is abandoned when Peter pulls on his mask and dashes off to save the day a few blocks away. Their relationship begins to stumble at this very point.

But, hey, Spider-Man's sudden entrance at the scene of crisis saves a life--a beautiful, blonde, and buxom life. Surely, a life is worth sacrificing a relationship, right?

Actually, not really. Raimi's subtle direction of his actors and the ensuing plot complications together suggest that Peter makes a critical mistake in this moment, that devotion to the grand cause of keeping New Yorkers safe 24-7 is, however, noble, not worth jeopardizing true love. Peter's mistake sets in motion a series of unfortunate events that jeopardize his relationships with Mary Jane and friend Harry Osbourne, open him up to violent attacks of jealousy and anger, and, ultimately, encourage him to ignore those core moral values that have consistently directed his actions as Spider-Man. In this morally enervated state, he is easy prey to the alien symbiote that will slowly turn him into a violent and unbalanced vigilante.

And all because Peter failed to set aside public for private responsibilities. Unfortunately, the message here is all too timely. Such errors occur frequently in our society, pushed as we are to prove ourselves on a public stage, to put most of our energy into improving the lives of strangers or the financial holdings of our company.

If our families are lucky, they sometimes get the leavings left behind after our professional endeavors have chewed us up and spat us out.