Superman

The archetype Superman in movies

One of the Wired reviewers didn't like the new Superman movie. I can't comment with any knowledge, since I haven't seen the movie yet. However, lack of knowledge never stopped me before. It usually doesn't stop anyone.

Aside:

One friend sent me a quote yesterday from Thomas Sowell's piece on Townhall where he says "There seems to be something liberating about ignorance and inexperience. You are free to believe whatever you want to, unencumbered by hard facts and, if you have political power, to impose your headstrong ignorance on those with first-hand knowledge."

Since I am ignorant on so many issues, this seems to allow me to speak on any subject - and perhaps be taken seriously.

Don't take me seriously… Please.

Back to Superman

So, anyway, this reviewer doesn't like the movie. I sent this review to my buddy Wes and he commented back to me "Well, it was well written and he hit on some good points. It will be on the back of my mind when I watch the movie. I don’t normally pay attention to critics (because usually they get it wrong)…but this critic really knows his Superman."

I can't sum it up better than that (thanks, Wes).

Superman is the sum of all the goodness we should have in the human heart. This is what makes him an enduring favorite and makes most kids at some point put on a cape and jump off their bed to attempt flight. We want to be that good.

Apparently this movie tries to make a dark and gritty Superman. Well, who's in charge of this anyway? Dark and gritty is Batman's turf.

Wes and I both thought of the huge cross-over comic which starred Superman and Spiderman. (We each own a copy.) Lex Luthor and Doc Ock managed to zap Spidey with some sort of Red Sun ray and then engineered a fight between Superman and Spidey. The (evil) thought process was along these lines:

Spiderman is tough enough to do a little damage to the big guy as long as this Red Sun ray is working. Superman will lose his temper and clobber the web-slinger. At some point the Red Sun ray will wear off and Superman will kill Spiderman. Result: one dead Spiderman (Doc Ock is delighted) and a repentant Superman who will be so devastated that he will disappear and quit crime-fighting (Lex is happy).

There was this great scene that lasted about three panels in the over-sized comic. Superman threw a punch at Spiderman and was just about to connect with Spidey's jaw when Superman stopped himself. The backlash from the air displaced by Superman's fist knocked Spiderman a long, long way, but the web-slinger survived.

That's the Superman we all know and love; the one who looks for any other solution besides killing the bad guy. He looks for the good in everyone.

After all, we're all a little bit of a bad guy.

Except for Superman. Except maybe in this movie.

(Oh, I'll still go see it and I'll probably enjoy it, but I'll be watching more closely now!)