I think it's very debatable. Why has Clark been driven to help people? Didn't he say that he wanted to hurt that kid so bad in MOS?
Yes, he said he wanted to do that, but he obviously chose not to do it. He shows restraint and mercy because he is compassionate and because he doesn't want his powers to be discovered. Afterward, we get to not only see the product of a previous act of mercy (Pete Ross whom Clark saved from the bus accident helps him up), we also get to hear him talk it over with Jonathan. Jonathan tells Clark about how someone with "good character" who can "change the world" is someone who does what Clark just did.
He could have easily taken on the suit, and connected more with his alien routes in other ways.
I don't see how or why that would have been necessary. Donner's first Superman film is universally lauded, yet his Superman simply is told by Jonathan that he was here for a reason that wasn't scoring touchdowns, he dies, Clark finds the green crystal that leads him to the fortress, the AI Jor-El there indoctrinates him for over a decade and he comes out Superman. MoS goes on a similar, yet richer path that is rooted more in Clark's agency as a character and shows us how he learns and grows.
He broods through both movies about how he laments having to do the heroic thing... when he doesn't have to at all.
He doesn't brood about having to do the heroic thing. He is passionate about helping people, but he broods about the best METHOD to do that. He doesn't feel like he has to help people, but he wants to and to do it in a way that best serves the greater good.
He goes right from putting on the costume, to questioning whether or not he should.
Not really. He puts on the costume after Jor-El talks about testing his limits. Practically, this type of testing first related to powers like flight, but more generally speaking making the decision about how to go public was the next test, which Zod's arrival precipitated. In that moment, Superman chooses to take a leap of faith on humanity and turn himself over to them instead of going directly to Zod or hiding. Once he's done that, he proudly explains his suit and mission to Lois and proceeds to embrace both for two years as an active superhero. He only questions himself briefly after the Capitol bombing because it's his existence and presence that is hurting people more than it is helping, based on what he was seeing. So, he pauses for a moment to consider his next move, goes to the mountaintop like Christ on Gethsemane and reaffirms his mission in spite of the "nightmares."
And then what happens in BvS? After all this effort in MOS, they erase it by essentially making him wonder if he shouldn't be Superman at all, and just live a human life. Basically, the biggest actual motivator for Superman seems to be Lois. Everything else rings hollow, because there's no set up to make it believable. Clark is not a character. He's just a stand in for all the things that Superman is supposed to be.
They make him wonder that because if Superman is meant to be a force for good, and the result of his presence is that it's hurting more than helping, he has to consider whether Superman, the public superhero, is serving its function. He reflects on this and chooses to be Superman anyway, not because of Lois, but because of what she represents: humanity's potential for hope. In Donner, Superman gives up being Superman to woo Lois, and Diana's heroic change of mind in WW is inspired by Steve whose words she parrots to Ares in their final confrontation. These characters are all characters with dimensions, ups and downs, and choices.
See, and none of that was earned, none of it. It's not development to plop a character on screen and just assert he's this great guy, who always does good, because that's just the way he is.
That's not exactly what happened, and this is no different than most other films of this nature. Not to mention the films never assert that this Superman "always" does good.
Meanwhile... that's not Clark at all. Clark has difficulty fitting in; he feels foreign; out of place; without a home.. he's an adopted orphan. Why would Clark have faith in humanity or even like humanity? He was bullied as a child, afraid to show his true strength his whole life, and ridiculed throughout his young adulthood... when he gets angry, he passive aggressively lashes out by destroying property, because he's afraid to do it in public. But then... one day.. he puts on a costume and is now Earth's protector?
Clark feels different than others but not entirely out of place or without a home. He had parents who adopted him even though he came from a strange ship and kept him even when his body worked differently than other kids' bodies did. When he felt scared about who he was and asked his dad if he could keep pretending to be his son, Jonathan comforts him and says that he doesn't have to pretend because he IS his son no matter where he came from or how difficult it can be. He destroyed property because the man was a bully and an abuser (Reeve Superman actually just hit a guy in
Superman II who did roughly the same thing); besides, I believe something like that would be covered by insurance. He still doesn't hurt people.
You should know full well that there are steps between the bar confrontation and going public as Superman, so don't create a strawman. After that incident, Clark finds out more at Ellesmere about his Kryptonian heritage. He also meets Lois. Both experiences give him the knowledge, direction, and support he needs to more fully conceive of his future role. When Zod arrives, everything he's learned is put to the test. He has to take a leap of faith on humanity and on Zod, and choices like wearing the handcuffs to make the military feel more secure and telling them that he's not their enemy are echoes of the lessons Jonathan taught him, the aspirations Jor-El shared about being a source of hope, and the product of those he's saved: Lois and the series of people she researched to learn more about Clark's character and his own story that made her respect and trust him enough to put her life and career on the line.
Meanwhile, let's not even talk about Superman's weaknesses. They never actually dwell on Superman's inability to fit in or his awkwardness; we're just supposed to kind of internalize it.
Sure, they do. Each scene from the flashbacks highlights this. As a child, he feels strange and can't control his powers. We hear that his parents don't let him play with other kids (probably because his powers are fickle and they're afraid he'll hurt someone or expose something, like the Kents did on the TV show
Smallville). As a teen, he's teased because he's quiet, and as an adult he gets flack from Ludlow at the bar for not fighting back. Once he is Superman, this repeats itself. So, first we get it in microcosm with family and acquaintances, then we get it in macrocosm with the world.
In BvS, Superman is depicted as this all good, but somewhat confused guy. None of Clark's character flaws come home.. he has nothing really to focus on, except this existential dread that's caused by people and places outside of him. Superman is perfect, but the world is against him. That's basically how the movie presents it. It's not about whether he's ready (according to the movie), it's about whether the world is ready.
Nope. Superman isn't presented as all good in BvS. The movie actually explicitly challenges that by asking if Superman can really exist in a world that expects someone of his power to be like a god and be omniscient and infallible when he isn't those things. The movie explores how both sides have to be ready, because "good is a conversation." Neither Superman nor the public are ready or perfect, and they won't always get it right (nightmares will happen, as the Lang farm story Jonathan tells implies), but they can agree to talk to each and try together.
BvS... to which.. I guess, you'd have to say he fails at that, right? His real last words were something like "no one stays good in this world," so he bought into the cynicism. Why now exactly? Because Lex kidnapped his mother? How does that make everyone bad? So, despite the fact that we don't why he's just a naturally good hearted person, he actually denies that part of himself at the end of BvS. So, one step forward, one step back.
No, I don't have to say that. Your entire above analysis is based on a total lack of knowledge of the chronology, plot, and dialogue of the film. The line, "No one stays good in this world," happens nearly 30 minutes before Superman's last words. They are not referencing anything close to the idea that everyone is bad. Superman is saying no one stays good (e.g. no one is perfect; no one is good all the time). Superman is referring to the fact that "good" isn't a status quo. The film itself argues,
"good is a conversation." The idea is that good people may sometimes do bad things. For every character in the film, the message is that this movement away from good doesn't have to be damning. While one may not stay good, one can fall and rise to be good again.
"Men are still good. We fight. We kill. We betray one another. But we can rebuild. We can do better. We will. We have to."
Superman's last words aren't "No one stays good in this world." His last words are: "This is my world. You are my world." At this point in the film, Superman has persevered in hope that there is good in mankind and good in this world worth fighting for. Despite Lex's ultimatum, Superman apologizes to Bruce and asks for his help. He tries several times to talk to him before choosing a nonlethal show of force: "If I wanted it, you would be dead already." Superman wants Bruce to know he could choose to be the monster Bruce believes him to be, but he's not. He's choosing mercy. Superman holds back until he ultimately has to fight for his life. He uses his last breaths to try one more time to break through to the good that is still left in Bruce. It works.
Superman then proceeds to pursue Lex who he saves from the fist of the abomination of Doomsday. He risks his life to take Doomsday into space and away from Earth where both are hit with a nuclear blast that could have killed them both. He sacrifices his life for a world that has rejected him because it is his world. Everytime Superman is confronted with hate, violence, or doubt, he pushes through it and chooses good. He is rewarded with Bruce's redemption and the world's acceptance.
Well said. I wish we had more 'mundane' scenes, without the world ending, between Lois and Clark. More moments for them to bond like Diana and Steve had.
