Return of Superman
June 15th, 2006
Scott Brown of Entertainment Weekly’s PopWatch just managed to do something unheard of: he made Superman sound interesting to me. Check out his : Superman as gay (parallels to recent X-Men conversations), Superman as Jesus, Superman as American Jewish immigrant, Superman as Nietzschean , and Superman as American hubris.
Personally, I find the last three most interesting. (Superman as Jesus doesn’t do much for me, especially because one of Jesus’ main characteristics is his humility, which isn’t a notable feature of Superman’s—or Clark Kent’s—personality, as far as I can tell).
One of the links from Brown’s post leads to an describing how Superman’s co-creator Jerry Siegel first drew his inspiration from Nietzsche’s Übermensch, and how this first Superman was “as evil mastermind with advanced mental powers.” That was 1933. Also the year that Hitler came to power. Thus, as Hitler began advancing his own twisted vision of the Übermensch, Siegel and Shuster revised Superman into a force for good. Fascinating.
I don’t know anything about the Superman of comics, but as for the 1978 movie, I can definitely see Superman as American hubris. That whole last bit in which he changes history to get Lois Lane back from the dead? “I didn’t get what I wanted! Therefore, I’m going to spin the entire world around backwards until I can have things my way again.” And what bothered me most was that there were no consequences for breaking the “laws” of how things work, despite Marlon Brando’s dire warnings to the contrary. Porpoise tells me that his may be because the director envisioned Superman and Superman II as one movie, and he says that there actually are consequences for some of Superman’s prideful actions in Superman II. I’m not sure I have the patience to find out.
Anyway, Brown’s post concludes in a way I think we all would approve, given the previous discussions about X-Men: “So who/what is Superman? It seems pretty certain that Superman, like every icon, is all of the above, and more. The test of a good icon is its ability to absorb a multitude of interpretations.”
Entry Filed under: Movies, Uncategorized
5 Comments Add your own
1. Dormouse | June 15th, 2006 at 2:40 pm
Actually, I have always found Superman to be humble…in a way. Clark Kent is very humble, but at the same time, I feel like it’s a false humilty on both their parts, b/c Superman has demonstrated the idea that he knows what’s best.
Have you ever watched Justice League with Porpoise? B/c that show has a pretty clear grasp of Superman, IMHO. He’s much less conflicted than Batman, in part b/c he’s not human, though he was raised as such. He can function as a Jesus figure, though more Jesus-if-tempted-by-Satan than the Jesus we’re all familiar with. Does that make sense?
You can tell my bias is towards Batman, b/c Batman is tortured by who and what he is, even though at the end of the day he’s just a guy. Superman has these moments of being really…alien, even though he’s been raised to be human. He’s almost too good, and that just pisses me off.
2. Jillian | June 15th, 2006 at 6:39 pm
Huh, I’m finding that I’m having a hard time thinking about this given that I just gorged myself on Smallville Season Four, and no. I do not intend on watching any more Smallville.
Because I have to agree with Dormouse’s comment that Clark Kent is rather humble. I think a lot of his good-boy personality comes from Ma & Pa Kent. And from the TV show and what I remember of the movies, Clark… er, Superman, is quite beholden to the parents that raised him. So perhaps it’s a bit of good ol’ homespun hubris?
I’d almost like to see Superman be *more* alien, but I suppose that’s why I drift toward Doctor Who. Because I like my Time Lord who has a chance to observe humanity without being part of it and do just whatever he pleases just because he is the way he is.
I have ZIP knowledge in the comic verse because that would be a DC comic and my teenaged budget only went so far. (I have a few issues of Robin.)
3. theotter | June 15th, 2006 at 7:00 pm
Okay, okay–everyone so far is challenging my assertion that Clark Kent isn’t humble. Keep in mind that I’m only speaking about the original 1978 Superman movie, since that’s all I’ve seen. And in that, I would argue, the Clark Kent facade is only falsely humble. He spends so much time smirking because he knows he’s not the dweeb he’s pretending to be. He’s pretty confident knowing that Lois Lane actually drools over his buff, Super-suited self. So much smirking. Makes me want to kick him.
Anyway, Dormouse, did you read the part of the EW post about how Frank Miller intended Batman to be the American id? I kinda like that. I guess that would make Superman the superego? Tee hee. I’m just recalling a time from the past in which Jillian dubbed me her superego, while a certain boy was her id.
Jillian, I’m with you about Doctor Who (though of course I speak as a recent convert). His non-humanness makes him quirky and fun, whereas, to me, Superman’s non-humanness simply makes him overearnest and annoyingly sure of himself. Plus, David Tennant vs. Brandon Routh (as the latest incarnations of their respective franchises)? Is there really any competition there? Give me the skinny Scottish guy any day.
4. theotter | June 15th, 2006 at 7:03 pm
Oh my goodness! I just found (don’t ask how) a photo of David Tennant wearing a kilt and Scottish dance shoes. LOVE!
5. Jillian | June 16th, 2006 at 6:53 am
You’re so absolutely right about DT.
AND, oh my goodness, you are my superego! What have I done without you–for so long?
Y’know the Superman that I forgot to mention was from Lois and Clark. I don’t remember that show as well… but, I can say that in the movies and in Lois and Clark, I was a Jimmy Olsen fan. I naturally gravitated to the sidekick (so when they switched JO’s in L&C I stopped watching… I liked the first one).
On the other hand, in Smallville, I actually really liked Clark just for himself.
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