HR Super HeRo

So it's sunday morning and I just got through morning cartoon watching session. I watched the old X-Men series that was originally aired in the mid 90's. I'm moderately surprised that it's not half bad, for a children's cartoon. Perhaps the quality threshold for whats acceptable to show on Television was higher back in the day. My generation didn't really part with comic-books as they grew, which is clear when you think back on how many blockbuster movies were released with super heroes. Even rated R super hero movies, which makes it clear that their main audience didn't change from the kids who watched those sunday cartoons.
One of my favourite superhero quotes is from Batman the Dark Knight: "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain". Here's the youtube clip of that scene.

This quote can be used in reference to the Human Resources Departments of companies. Clearly any prospecting employee would consider the HR department useful and helpful if not purely good prior to join an organization. The whole process of apply for the job and going through the selection process in which both parties are trying to do the best for themselves to determine fit. Granted HR people don't make the hiring decisions, but nevertheless they provide a selfless service in the grande scheme of things. Their often impartial nature in the actual working relationship allows them not to be boggled down in the politics as much as a manager might be.

It also seems that with tenure employees develop a certain negative view of the HR department. For example, 

"The human-resources trade long ago proved itself, at best, a necessary evil -- and at worst, a dark bureaucratic force that blindly enforces nonsensical rules, resists creativity, and impedes constructive change"  - Fast Company, 2005

In other words, those who once might be considered a hero became a villain.
Also while studying HR and talking to my fellow students in the early years of the program the common response to a question "why are you studying human resources?" was "because I like people", or something about being a people person. Then one day a professor dropped a cold heart truth on the class, that HR is not for people people it's for business people. Expectedly this got a nice reaction from an audience. Evidently many people start in HR with the so-called pure, social work type ideals, which are eventually transformed or corrected to the ideals of someone who manages humans as resources.