There’s a claim that I endeavor to sell you – that Superman is the Best superhero. Obviously, this is a somewhat subjective matter, and to claim that something is Best can definitely be characterized as fighting words. It is important to first consider why you might hate Superman, or think that he is boring.
Who is Superman? This question points directly at the central issue with the common conception and portrayal of Superman, it puts an emphasis on the Super and disregards the man. Superman in movies, TV shows, and common discussion is characterized as a god. Every time he discussed, he is only as simply the son of Krypton, if even that and not simply an alien. He came in a rocket to Earth often, apparently to save humanity from themselves. This is Superman at his worst – an unearthly savior. Directors who do not understand superman fully think they are really doing something, for example, when they make him kill someone. They are in fact not, as they never delve into why killing would be so impactful in the first place. It simply places into his characterization as a god, almost as if he does what he likes because he can. Like all stories, to tell a Superman Story correctly, it must have proper build-up and context to have impact. Then what is so important about Superman and, what makes him the best?
To begin, it is important to recognize that Superman is the facade, and not Clark Kent or Kal-el. This may seem like a meaningless difference, as his power-level is the same – but what is different is who he is. He is not Thor masquerading as a beggar, he is fully human and fully Kryptonian. One of the most heinous crimes in storytelling is that stories of Superman are stories that put the Super before the man. This is one of the thousands of reasons that Superman kinda sucks in live action DC movies. He ain’t got any spunk or heart. It is like a movie about an atom bomb, staring the bomb, knowing that it will explode-It’s boring! It is an attempt to transfigure Superman into a facsimile of Batman, which from its very start will fail because shockingly they are a different character as their core. Other films depict Superman better without depicting him at all! – Captain America! Spider-Man Man! IP Man! Yet the corpse of Superman is paraded out each time, each time a gloomier and gloomier version of his origin story, all flavor whitewashed, and each time forgetting the man entirely.
So who is Superman? He is a himbo from Kansas that actually believes the world can be that the world can be better, and actually does something to make it better. He is a refugee from a planet that no longer exists and part of a culture that no longer exists. A culture that he only has fragments of – material artifacts that act as stand-ins for shadows of a part of him he will never be able to grasp completely. He is fully Human and fully Kryptonian. He believes in hope, fights for it, and tries so hard to reduce the amount of pain in the world. Because he has been so lonely at times, even amongst people he loves, he makes time to hold those who are ready to end it all – because sometimes the bad guys are the constant nightmares of the past, or fear of living with pain any longer. He understands what it is to be ostracized. Know what it is to feel compelled to assimilate to dominate American Culture. Knows what it feels like to be compelled to not fully be himself not just because of his power but because his being is too messy, his culture is too complex, too messy, his name is too foreign, he feels too alien for Smallville to ever accept. Yet he recognizes he has the power to do something, to actually help people. And might there be a better story to tell then scary alien Kyptonian will fight Superman for no discernible reason? Or another rehashed origin story without dealing with his actual origin or who he is? Why must the majority of Superman stories fail and not get past a simple stereotype?! It is not that I am even opposed to Superman killing per se or being dark, but rather he must be driven to it. Why does the man who tries to do everything he can to make a material difference in people’s live, who chooses hope, chooses to care when it would be so much easier to hate, why does he finally break and kill? IT CANT BE BECAUSE HES STUCK IN A DAMN CORNER, like in Man of Steel, another yet another rehashed origin story. The Superman who was raised by the Kent’s and the shadows of where he came from does the right thing simply because it’s the right thing to do. He’s kinda a dork, but he’s genuine and when complimented on his costume answers – Thanks! My Mom made it. He knows that not all problems are solved with a fist, and sometimes true justice is letting someone go because the criminal is the system. What leads him to kill? The man who can hear and see so much pain because of his power that he tries to save everyone until he finally understands that even he cannot save everyone. The man who has the powers of a god but believes that being a Journalist is his best career choice. The point is that being dark wouldn’t come easy to Superman, as he knows so much pain and hasn’t killed.
I’m not the only one who needs Superman, and there are many who need him more. He is often disregarded as a symbol of US imperialism, colonialism, or 1950s Americana. Fuck that. There’s enough stories of that. There are too many sad stories, too many power hungry tyrants, too many symbols of hope that have been infected with the disease of empire and hatred. There are too many stories where hope is the wrong choice. We need hope. Superman, rather than being some mascot of the US Government or some stand in for empire should, and mean this with all the sap and romantic sentiment, a symbol of who we can be. Superman is and should be the Man of Tomorrow – a hope of what will come. This is why Superman is the best Superhero – he believes in us, and he is one of us. Superman is the most Superman when he is a man and not a god. It is not his power, not his costume, not his many nicknames that are central to who he is, it is that ultimately his ideals and identity. Now precisely when the world seems so dark, and that hope is lost, we need Superman – a Character born at a time the only way many could survive was to hold on to hope. Hopefully sooner rather than later, the story of Superman will be given the Justice that it deserves.
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