BvS Between the Lines - Gods, the Übermensch, and the "Unrelatable" Nature of Superman

[Binker]

Kyle Kallgren is the creator of Brows Held High, as well as Between the Lines, both on his Youtube channel, as well as Channel Awesome. After doing Batman, Spider-Man, and the Avengers, I've been wanting Kyle to do a Between the Lines video on Superman. And released after the debut of Batman v Superman, Kyle Kallgren has finally created an episode that looks into the history and philosophy of Superman.


Why is Superman considered “unrelatable” by so many? When people say they're don't like Superman because he's "unrelatable", what do they really mean? Why some people don't "get" the Man of Steel? This video he made explores the character through his history and philosophy associated with him to answer those questions.


Just a head's up, I don't agree with the ending simply because it has a double meaning. In that, its suppose to be connected to culture's view on Superman, not really a criticism on Man of Steel, which people would probably think first.


But it's a very thoughtful examination of Superman through the years and what he means to us as a society.


After watching this video, what do you think?


If you like this video, check out his other stuff, including his Between the Lines videos on Batman, Spider-Man, and the Avengers. I hope he does more superheroes in the future!

 

[LamboMan]

Great video all the way, until the last part. That's where the guy totally missed the point. It wasn't about a man "not being able to know that killing is wrong" it was about putting that god like perfect character through a 'no-win' Kobayashi Maru (from Star Trek) type situation where he must decide to act on the lesser of two evils when no other options exist, in this case the two options were letting Zod live and letting him continue and destruction of mankind (which is what that family stood for, a representation of the rest of mankind that Zod would kill) OR killing him there and ending the reign of his destruction and death.

The point of going through a no win situation is to push a character to their limit through a very realistic situation and see how that character evolves from that point onward. In Zack Snyder's Superman's case, that's what he meant, not that Superman should learn that killing is wrong, but experience things from a very human perspective and to challenge a character to accept that not every fight can be a perfect victory. He was challenging the character to grow instead of being this solid ideal. He made Superman a real story of a person instead of a myth of a god.

And those are also Synder's words by the way, so if that guy cares about what he said back then he should also care about what he said just recently. I have taken this reference from an interview of Zack Snyder by Mark Hughes of Forbes just published online recently.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhug...themes-behind-batman-v-superman/#41071da94df6

Superman is not dead, Superman has evolved.

At anyone reading this, please read Mark Hughes article on why "Zack Snyder loves Superman and BVS proves it".

http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhug...and-batman-v-superman-proves-it/#6406c761258e

 

[The Guard]

I do think they wanted Superman to unrelatable to the people in his world, at least at first, to make the controversy over his existence and actions more palpable. The "Must There be a Superman" section in the film is really well done. Look at the imagery, of Superman floating above, godlike and silent. They just assumed audiences would be able to look past that to see the moments of true humanity in his Clark scenes and apply that to Superman, and understand that Superman and Clark are one and the same.

 

[Binker]

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