As far as what has to be shown for this stuff to work. That much is subjective. There are alot of films out there that require their audience think for instance. You get enough alot of characterization and history from the les mes ensemble from what you, the analytical audience can put together and without precious story time of it being shown being required. A better example may be Gatsby. Especially when you suggest 'for a film to make sense' I mean we have things like Jon Wick with it's lead not confusing anyone. Why is Superman super nice even though he grew up in a mean world? How does he even know how to spell the world love, for his entire upbringing was seemingly devoid of it...
The difference is, it's an origin movie. Origin movies are about HOW the hero became the hero.
If the hero became the man he is because he was raised in a warm and loving environment, then you should SHOW that warm and loving environment as part of the heroes origin tale. If it's a HUGE part of how he became the hero (which I believe it is), you give it a fair amount of screen time. You don't just mention it in passing or allude to it slightly.
The fact is, the part of 'what made him the hero' that they gave huge amounts of screen time to was:
1. Jonathon warning him he had to wait until the world was 'ready'
2. Jor-el's telling him of his hopes for his place on earth
Those are the the two things that were repeated over and over, and so those are the things we are supposed to assume played the biggest part in his journey to becoming a hero.
The warmth and love of being brought up by an ordinary but truly GOOD couple (what I would argue should be the MOST important aspect of his backstory) is barely even touched upon, and is fairly difficult to even gleam from the small amount we do see (like you said, the photo album, the martha scene, the scene of JK watching him play with the dog) because of the heavy depressing tone of the majority of scenes we see of his interactions with his parents.
That being said I stand by the idea that plenty was actually shown(right down to the photo in the album). I imagine a take on this film that shows absolutely none of what I'm talking about would have me feeling somewhat differently.
But you're going in with a solid knowledge of how loving and warm and kind the Kents are because you know the story. And yes, the majority of the GA probably knows enough to know that, but it doesn't give the film makers a free pass not to bother with it. Especially when you're trying to make a film that's 'grounded in realism' and telling it as though there has never been a Superman story before.
If I watch that film and push all prior knowledge of JK aside, their relationship seems very disfunctional.
You've basically got a kid who is desperate to connect with a Dad that's kind of distant and so bogged down in fear and pessimism about humanity that he ends up stunting his sons capacity to be heroic. He still can't help himself, but his early heroism isn't a product of his family's support and encouragement... it's DESPITE his family's dissaproval and discouragement.
Lastly, I won't argue that showing more of such a thing wouldn't hurt. It may even help. Then again, it could be argued that more showing of such things would help any of these batman films as well. Just depends on what you want I suppose.
I think Batman Begins did a very good job of showing the loving relationship between Bruce and his father, and how good a man his father was.
FYI the stethoscope scene is still one of my favorite parts of the film. It's just such a sweet moment.
Ummmm ... he did not go off with the bullies. He stayed behind and lent Clark his hand.
He was at a distance from the group of kids, and they all walked off in the bullies line of direction when one of them pointed at Jonathan.
Pete helped Clark up, but he still went off in their direction.
He was friendly with him, but they weren't implied to be best friends.
Yeah that's not a friendship.
And geez, if it was, then him telling all to reporter Lois Lane when she came asking about the bus accident was a terrible betrayal.
Thats one of my biggest problems with this film, really. They turned a wish fufillment character into a guy who basically acts like most 21st Century Film Superheroes
Yeah, I mean I expected he'd be fairly '21st century' but thought that'd be more about them sticking to post crisis material.
I didn't think it'd mean them stripping a lot of what makes him stand out so that he could fit with the trends... cause it basically lead to a quite forgettable movie for the GA.
I see this thread has become a camping ground for those who still want to trash the movie.
The results must hurt. Ouch!
I know. It is amazing. Twenty four pages of mostly people who hated the film bantering back and forth about how much they hated it. The results of the poll must be killing them.
Why would other fans happiness hurt?
And why do you both sound like you would take pleasure in that if it was true?
Yeah exactly. Especially when he gave them his age as well. 
